DOING THE MATH ON NARROW AISLE FORKLIFTS
Purchasing any type of forklift is a major commitment. Put: You are investing tens of thousands of dollars into a machine with the hopes that it will exponentially improve your ability to move material in and out of your facility. If that forklift (or fleet of equipment) works out well, your company should prosper. If it fails to live up to expectations, your company could be in serious trouble. It is no exaggeration to say the success of your company is directly tied to the success of your equipment fleet, among other factors, of course.
With this in mind, many of our customers have shown some initial sticker shock at the price of the Narrow Aisle Forklifts, such as the Bendi. Brand new Bendi’s start at around $65,000 which is quite a bit more than the starting price of a traditional sit-down forklift or stand-up reach truck. Needless to say: That ain’t pocket change.
So, what could justify spending thousands of dollars more on a Narrow Aisle Forklift versus a traditional one? If it costs more, the Bendi had better provide some sort of extra value to your operation, right? You better believe it! Let’s run the math on your facility’s output with a Bendi Very Narrow Aisle Forklift versus traditional lift trucks:
Let’s Do The Math!
When looking at the cost of a Bendi forklift, you must consider the overall facility square footage cost allocated for pallet storage. Calculate that square footage cost with a traditional forklift versus how many pallets you could store in that same space with a Bendi forklift. Then you can see, plainly, the value of the Bendi for your company.
For example: Let’s say you have a 50,000 sq foot warehouse. This size of facility costs around $40,000/month in rent on a 5-year lease which equals $2.4 million just to have space!
Traditional Forklifts
Now, standard forklifts with aisles at 12-feet will give you 500 sections +/- of racking with 8+/- pallets per section which equals 4,000 pallets. Pallet racking will cost $250,000 +/-. Equipment costs $250,000 +/-. The total estimated cost (not including operational expenses such as staff) equals $3 million. So, the square footage cost is approximately $750 per pallet position. The number of inventory turns you have with each pallet position over those 5-year periods will affect the yearly cost (i.e. 8 turns per year equals 40 turns per 5-year period) drives the cost to $19 per pallet position.
Stand Up Reach Trucks
If you are using a stand-up reach truck, you will fit 600 sections of pallet racking in that same area with 10-foot aisles and more than likely go higher so you can fit 10 pallets per section, which equals 6,000 pallets. Pallet racking will now cost $350,000 +/-. Equipment costs $400,000 +/-. The total estimated cost (not including operational expenses such as staff) is $3.3 million. So, the square footage cost is approximately $550 per pallet position. The number of inventory turns you have with each pallet position over those 5-year periods will affect the yearly cost (i.e. 8 turns per year equals 40 turns per 5-year period) drives the cost to $14 per pallet position.
Bendi Very Narrow Aisle Forklifts
Now, with the Bendi, you will fit 750 sections of pallet racking in the same area with 7-foot aisles and more than likely go higher so you can fit 10 pallets per section, which equals 7,500 pallets. Pallet racking will now cost $500,000 +/-. Equipment costs $500,000 +/-. Total estimated cost (not including operational expenses such as staff) equals $3.6 million. So the square footage cost is approximately $480 per pallet position. The number of inventory turns you have with each pallet position over those 5-year periods will affect the yearly cost (i.e. 8 turns per year equals 40 turns per 5-year period) drives the cost to $12 per pallet position.
The basic idea here is that, yes, Bendi forklifts do cost more than traditional forklifts. But they return exponentially more value on your investment by allowing you to store and move more material in and out of your facility. When you run the math on the Bendi, getting over the initial sticker shock becomes a lot easier.
