The basic operation functions of the 4ton forklift are divided into horizontal handling, stacking/picking, loading/unloading and picking. According to the operation functions to be achieved by the enterprise, it can be preliminarily determined from the models described above. In addition, the special operation function will affect the specific configuration of the forklift, such as the paper roll and molten iron, which need to be installed on the forklift to complete the special function.
Operation requirements
The operation requirements of forklift trucks include general requirements such as pallet or cargo specification, lifting height, operation channel width, and climbing degree. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider the requirements of operation efficiency (different models have different efficiency) and operation habits (such as driving or standing).
Operating environment
If the goods or warehouse environment to be handled by the enterprise has requirements for environmental protection such as noise or exhaust emission, consideration should be given to the selection of vehicle model and configuration. If it is in a cold storage or in an environment with explosion-proof requirements, the forklift should also be cold storage or explosion-proof. Carefully investigate the place where the forklift needs to pass during operation, and imagine possible problems, such as whether the door height has an impact on the forklift when entering and leaving the warehouse; The influence of lift height and load on forklift when entering and exiting the lift; When working upstairs, whether the floor bearing capacity meets the corresponding requirements, etc.
When selecting the type and determining the configuration, the working conditions should be described in detail to the forklift supplier and the field survey should be carried out to ensure that the selected forklift fully meets the needs of the enterprise. Even after the analysis of the above steps, it is still possible that several models can meet the above requirements at the same time. At this time, we need to pay attention to the following aspects:
① Different models have different work efficiency, so the number of forklifts and drivers required are different, which will lead to a series of cost changes. See the discussion on cost in the performance evaluation section of this article for details.
② If the forklift operates in the warehouse, the required passage width of different models is different, and the lifting capacity is also different, which will lead to changes in the warehouse layout, such as changes in cargo storage.
③ Changes in vehicle types and their number will have an impact on many aspects such as fleet management.

④ The market share of different models is different, and their after-sales support capabilities are also different. For example, the low-driving three-way stacker forklift and the high-driving three-way stacker forklift belong to the narrow-channel forklift series, and can complete the stacking and picking up in a very narrow channel (1.5~2.0 meters). However, the cab of the former can not be improved, so the operation vision is poor and the work efficiency is low. Because the latter can fully cover the functions of the former, and its performance is more outstanding, the market sales of the latter in Europe is more than 4-5 times that of the former, and more than 6 times that in China. Therefore, most suppliers focus on the development of three-way stacking forklifts driven at high positions, while three-way stacking forklifts driven at low positions are only used in small tonnage and low lifting height (generally within 6 meters). When the market sales volume is small, its after-sales service engineers, engineers' experience, spare parts inventory level and other service capabilities will be relatively weak.