WH Smith has installed a number of RDS Technology’s on-board load-monitoring systems to forklifts at its Swindon distribution centre.
The devices, which include the Liftlog 100, are used for weighing heavy pallets in the goods inwards and dispatch areas.
Alongside overload warning alarms, the system also displays the load as a live weight, allowing the operator to load vehicles without the risk of exceeding the permitted weight capacity.
The hub can receive up to 1,000 pallets a day and often outputs more than 1,500 in 24 hours, made up of different stock lines, specific to each store’s requirements. This means the weight between pallets can vary greatly and when loaded onto a trailer could be very uneven and pose a danger.
Gus Bell, health and safety co-ordinator at the centre, says: “The need for knowing the weight of each pallet came from a desire to ensure that all loads were legal and safely loaded. RDS was recommended to us by our Toyota supplier and with this new technology we can be sure of the pallet weight and position it accordingly.”
Working alongside Wincanton, the forklift operators now complete a loading sheet and distribute pallets on the trailer according to weight.
