Supermarkets, big chain stores and small stores alike, all rely on storing vast quantities of goods in warehouse and distribution centers across their supply chain, ready to be transferred to trucks and driven through the night to get to your local branch of their store.
Forklift trucks were specially designed to navigate the wide aisles of the distribution centers, taking the pallets off the shelves onto waiting lorries.
Early civilizations have always used a ‘lever’ of some kind for lifting and in the 19th century, manually powered sack trucks were in common use. The modern forklift was developed in the 1960s by a number of companies, bringing together mechanical advancements in the US, the UK and Japan.
In 1906, the Pennsylvania Railroad in the US had battery powered platform trucks for moving luggage, and in the UK, the Ipswich-based engineering company, Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries used various types of material handling equipment to overcome labor shortages during the First World War. In 1917 in the US, Clark started using powered lift tractors in their factories and in 1919, Towmotor Company. In 1920 Yale & Towne Manufacturing also began producing forklift trucks. One of the impacts of the two world wars was improved use of the forklift technology and warehousing, as huge quantities of cargo were loaded onto ships and containers bound for the troops.
Today, warehouse forklifts can lift loads between one to five tons, while shipping forklifts can lift up to 50 tons.
Another innovation that further optimizes warehouse operations is the robotic, or autonomous, forklift that can maneuver throughout a warehouse moving merchandise automatically without a manual operator.
Contribution to Retail History
The invention of the forklift (and its work partner, the pallet) allowed suppliers and retailers to move products more effectively throughout the supply chain. Without the forklift, global giants like Costco and Metro would have struggled to achieve the scale, scope and profitability of the operations they enjoy today.