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Sometimes thinking big can cost you big, without delivering the real advantages your company needs in order to compete.   There is an industry trend to implement a bigger more complex and sexier solution to a problem when there may be a simpler, less expensive and uncomplicated answer available right off the shelf.   Two prime examples are automated parts carousels for inventory access and riding forklifts in mid-sized facilities.  In the right application, both can be incredibly powerful tools to help a business succeed, but in many applications the extra costs and complexities may not payoff in the short or even long term.

Every warehouse runs a little bit differently and every material handling operation has its own unique needs.  We understand that and don’t subscribe to the one size fits all philosophy to lift truck manufacturing.  Just as your business has its own advantages and selling points that separate you from your competitors, so does every player in the lift truck industry.  Big Joe’s is application driven design.  You’ll hear the major manufacturers talk about it, but they’re mostly concentrating their efforts on the large market segments with high volume orders.  They are more than happy to adapt a fleet of trucks for a national retailer or other power user, but a one-off custom unit?  Most brands won’t bother with it, or if they do, they will charge an extreme amount for it.  In most cases, they will try to force a bigger, more expensive unit into your application - the proverbial square peg into the round hole and tell you it’s a perfect fit.  At Big Joe, we are always willing to add an unusual attachment or create a unique option for a customer if it will make the truck a successful component in their operation.

No matter how your business has evolved, it’s probably safe to say your warehousing operations do not look like they did even ten years ago.  Amazon, eBay, and other e-commerce businesses have shaken up the retail landscape with online ordering and innovative delivery techniques.  Warehouses everywhere have had to make meaningful shifts in how they organize and fulfill product orders to make their distribution more efficient and responsive.  These actions have leveled the warehousing and distribution playing field for many, and those taking advantage are winning the game against competitors that are slow to embrace change.  Thanks to better technology,...

One of the questions I get asked by many Big Joe prospects and customers is - Should I buy, lease or rent my material handling equipment?  My name is John Hicks, and I am the Southeastern Regional Sales Manager for Big Joe Forklifts.  In my 32 years of experience in the material handling industry, I have answered this question innumerable times in a fairly consistent way, which is to suggest that - It depends.  I wanted to cover this questions and provide some basic guidance because this is one of those areas where we see companies miss opportunities to potentially...