Attachments help adjust lift trucks to an application. The right service and technology trends help make for a perfect fit.

Christopher Lyon is an expert at improving processes. In fact, as process improvement manager of fleet services for Nestlé Waters North America (based in Greenwich, Conn.), his lift truck maintenance expertise helps ensure the timely delivery of bottled water to retailers across the country.

Efficiency in this business depends on the ability of lift truck operators to carry two pallet loads of water at a time. At Nestlé Waters distribution centers, that's done with single/double attachments (Cascade, www.cascorp.com). Two full pallets of bottled water can weigh as much as 4,500 pounds, so Lyon makes sure these attachments are kept in good repair.

The need for timely service and support from fleet managers like Lyon is driving dealers and suppliers to collaborate even more closely on the following trends.

Lyon advises anyone whose materials handling productivity depends on lift truck attachments to make sure the equipment is backed by strong aftermarket support, especially if a facility relies on specialized attachments. "For us to be consistent across the board, it's easier if the manufacturer has parts availability and that parts are interchangeable," he says. "The more specialized the attachments, the harder it can be to get parts when you need them."

The most commonly used lift truck attachment in any industry is the side shifter. It enables operators to shift the truck's forks 4 inches to the left or the right to align them to properly engage a pallet. The latest trend in side shifting is the addition of automatic fork positioning. This enables the operator to fine-tune the fork adjustment to a load from the cab.

To live up to the demand for field service flexibility, Cascade ships its F-Series side shifters predrilled for its K-Series fork positioners. Its C-Series integral side shifters can also come predrilled for the same fork positioners. This makes field retrofits possible.

The biggest trend in clamps, another popular attachment, is technology to regulate the pressure required to hold specific loads without crushing or dropping them.

"Different products require different pressures," says Ronnie Keene, vice president of sales and marketing for Bolzoni Auramo (www.bolzoni-auramo.us). "Lift truck manufacturers are trying to make their trucks work more efficiently and get more hours out of the battery, and the attachment people are trying to work with them to deliver the pressures needed to handle these loads."

Bolzoni Auramo developed the Force-Matic valve with this in mind. Mounted on the lift truck, this manual valve adjusts the flow of hydraulic fluid based on the kind of load the lift and tilt cylinders tell it they are handling.

As fool-proof as these innovations seem, operator training is still essential to the proper application of any attachment. Keene puts it in perspective for his customers this way: "You have $60,000 tied into an attachment and a lift truck. Putting an operator with no training on top of that is like putting your 12-year-old son behind the wheel of a Mercedes and pointing him toward downtown traffic."

Contact Tom Andel at tandel4315@aol.com