Forklift Management in Warehouses

Problems: Products on pallets are transported by forklift both inside and outside the warehouse, but it is necessary to have better control over forklifts entering and leaving the warehouse for product-liability reasons. Instructions to tell the forklift drivers which warehouse number to go to are generally given either in the form of job sheets or by wireless communications. Sometimes, however, drivers end up going to the wrong warehouse due to human error. A better system is needed. Place an ID Tag on the roof of the forklift (secure with a magnet if necessary). Then install one Antenna each at the entrance and exit of the warehouses. (For the most accurate control, these should ideally be designated as one-way routes. This point must be covered by control measures.) Store the number of the forklift and, if necessary, the name of the driver, in the ID Tag. The Antennas will then read the data from the ID Tag each time the forklift enters and leaves the warehouse, and send it to the host system. A system can also be built so that an alarm is sent to the forklift driver if he tries to enter the wrong warehouse. For additional control, the time that the forklift passes each Antenna can be written to the ID Tag. That data can later be uploaded to a database to show the operational flow of the forklifts.