Textile and footwear plants run a long chain: receiving fabric, yarn, leather and trims; storing by lot; cutting, sewing and lasting; packing and loading containers to vessel schedules. Each stage has different goods and layouts, so no single truck type fits everything. This page summarises STILL forklift solutions for each stage of the sector, with a detailed article for each truck type.
Operating challenges in textile and footwear
- Light but bulky goods: fabric rolls, cotton bales, leather pallets and finished cartons take up volume, have a high centre of gravity and shift easily. Long fabric rolls need special handling.
- Lot and SKU management: fabric must be stored by dye lot; trims and finished goods split by colour and size. Rack positions and picks are numerous.
- Goods must stay clean: fabric and leather absorb odours and soil easily, so enclosed areas favour electric trucks with no local emissions.
- Fibre dust and combustible materials: these affect truck maintenance and the layout of battery charging areas.
- Cramped, busy floors: narrow aisles between lines, many pedestrians and many home-made trolleys.
- Seasonal output: order peaks make demand for trucks and drivers fluctuate.
Summary: truck type – STILL model – application
| Truck type | STILL model | Application in the sector |
|---|---|---|
| Electric counterbalance forklifts | RX 20, RXE, RCE, SXV-CB | Receiving fabric and leather; loading cartons into containers |
| Reach trucks | FM-X, FXR, FM-4W, FM-X SE | Fabric stores by lot, long rolls, finished goods |
| Stackers | EXV, EXV-CB, ECV, EXD, FXV | Trims stores, WIP racks, packaging stores |
| Electric & hand pallet trucks | ECH, EXH, EXH-S, EXH-SF, HPS/HPT | Inter-workshop moves, goods lifts, docks |
| Order pickers | OPX, OPX-L, EK-X, OPX iGo neo | Trims kitting for lines, picking by size and colour |
| Very narrow aisle trucks | MX-X, NXV | High-density fabric, leather and finished-goods stores |
| Tow tractors & platform trucks | LTX 20, LTX 50, LXW | Tugger trains feeding WIP and trims to lines |
| iGo automated trucks | AXL iGo, EXV iGo, EXV-CB iGo, FM-X iGo | Store-to-cutting routes, automated truck loading |
Diesel & LPG forklifts (RX 70, RCD) are less suitable for fabric stores, leather stores and enclosed workshops because of local emissions. Consider them only for outdoor yards, container yards or very heavy loads. See the diesel and LPG forklift range and electric vs diesel forklift.
Choosing trucks along the material flow
An effective approach is to map the plant’s material flow and assign trucks to each section. At receiving, electric counterbalance trucks unload fabric rolls and leather from trucks. In raw-material stores, reach trucks or VNA trucks put goods away by lot; the FM-4W handles long rolls. From store to cutting, electric pallet trucks or automated trucks run fixed routes. On the lines, tugger trains feed WIP and trims to the rhythm, while trims stores use stackers and order pickers. At the outbound end, order pickers consolidate orders and compact counterbalance trucks or the AXL iGo load containers.
Every plant has its own layout, loads and shift pattern, so a site survey should come before finalising truck numbers and configurations.
Solution articles
- Electric forklifts for textile & footwear: receiving and shipping
- Reach trucks for textile & footwear: high-bay fabric stores
- Stackers for textile & footwear: trims stores and workshops
- Pallet trucks for textile & footwear: internal transport
- Order pickers for textile & footwear: picking trims and orders
- VNA trucks for textile & footwear: high-density storage
- Tow tractors for textile & footwear: feeding production lines
- iGo automated trucks for textile & footwear: warehouse automation
Related services
- Maintenance and repair: fibre-dust cleaning schedules, cooling fan checks and wheels suited to garment workshops.
- Forklift rental: top up the fleet during order peaks.
- Fleet management: track hours, drivers and impacts to allocate trucks between workshops.
- Operator training for rotating staff.
Plants with large logistics operations may also see the 3PL logistics solutions page.
Need forklift advice for a textile or footwear plant? Send a quote request with a plant layout, load types and number of shifts, or call our hotline 0902 63 79 70 for a site survey.
Real delivered projects
Dalat spinning mill
Ninh Thuan spinning mill
- Handover: 2024