Before launching the formal procurement process for phased old forklift replacement, the facilities management team shall first complete full-site basic data sorting work. It is advised to make a complete inventory of all in-use old forklift units on site, record the accumulated operation hours, annual failure frequency, traditional energy consumption data and safety component aging degree of each unit, and mark out units that pose potential operation risks and units that can continue to operate stably for 1 to 2 years, to make clear the priority sequence of phased replacement. The team also needs to align the replacement rhythm with the overall facilities planning progress, refer to the newly adjusted storage shelf height, operation channel width, conventional cargo handling tonnage and personnel activity density of different functional areas, and sort out differentiated performance requirements for forklifts to be put into different zones, which can effectively avoid the problem of mismatched equipment parameters that reduces overall operation efficiency.

The second core procurement reminder focuses on whole life cycle cost accounting. Many procurement teams only pay attention to the one-time purchase cost of new electric forklifts in the selection process, while ignoring the assessment of long-term operation cost. It is suggested to calculate the total cost of each optional procurement scheme in 3 to 5 years, including average power consumption per working hour, routine maintenance cost, spare parts supply accessibility and residual value after service period, to select the scheme with optimal comprehensive benefit, rather than blindly choosing the lowest one-time quotation which may bring higher follow-up operation burden. The handover and commissioning time of each batch of new equipment shall be arranged in the non-peak operation window of the warehouse, to minimize unnecessary interruption to normal cargo handling work.

The third important reminder covers safety verification and supporting resource coordination. All selected electric forklift units shall meet local industrial operation safety specifications, and complete no-load and rated load test before formal put into use, while corresponding operation skill training shall be arranged for on-site operators in advance. The facilities team shall also synchronously complete the layout of supporting charging facilities and dedicated forklift parking zones in accordance with the phased replacement schedule, to ensure each batch of new equipment can be put into use smoothly after arrival. A reasonable transition period can be reserved between two adjacent replacement batches, and part of the qualified old forklifts can be retained as standby units during the transition, to cope with temporary peak handling demands and avoid operation gap caused by insufficient number of new units.