In today’s industrial landscape, efficiency and safety are paramount. When it comes to moving goods between floors, a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t cut it. That’s where bespoke goods lifts come in. Custom-designed to meet the specific needs of your business, bespoke goods lifts offer a multitude of advantages over off-the-shelf solutions.
Keep reading as we discuss these lifts in more detail, explaining what they are and where they’re used, before going on to discuss the benefits that they offer – along with the benefits of bespoke solutions in particular!
What is an Industrial Goods Lift?

Also simply called a goods lift, an industrial goods lift is a type of freight lift that is designed for transporting various goods, materials or equipment (often large or heavy) between levels within a building. Their main objective is to streamline working operations, offering for easier and quicker goods loading, transportation and unloading.
Places that often feature lifts for goods include:
- Warehouses
- Factories
- Hotels
- Retail stores
- Hospitals
As for the goods that they transport, these can range largely depending on the specific requirements of an organisation. Some examples might include:
- Furniture
- Raw materials
- Pallets
- Luggage
- Equipment
Since these lifts are designed to hold goods and not people, then their design features are considered with this purpose in mind. For example, our goods lifts come with the option for slip resistant finishes on the platform surface, ensuring goods stay put when being transported and minimising the risks of accidents from occurring.
There are also various barrier options available depending on the type of loads being transported. For example, open aspect shafts can be utilised for more efficient loading and unloading, especially of large and bulky items. Meanwhile, fully enclosed shafts can be used for better protection during transportation, especially for loads that risk moving or falling during use.
The Benefits of Goods Platform Lifts
Increased Efficiency
There’s no denying that a goods lift is both easier and quicker to operate than various other solutions that may otherwise be utilised within industrial settings. For example, forklifts are an alternative option for raising or lowering loads, however they require a trained, licensed driver to be present, are less secure and often require goods to be first loaded onto a pallet.
Another option is manual handling. However, this poses a whole host of challenges. Firstly, larger and heavier loads would require multiple personnel to move, which is taking them away from being able to perform tasks elsewhere in the business. Not only that, but manual handling is often quite slow.
As for a goods lift, this is much safer and simply requires goods to be loaded into the lift and the push of a button to operate. Ultimately, this reduces the time and labour needed for manual handling, allowing for faster and more efficient movement of goods between floors.
Improved Safety
There is always a risk of injury when working with heavy goods; according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), manual handling causes more than one in three workplace injuries, from injured backs to sprained necks and everything in between. By relying on goods lifts instead, this can be significantly reduced.
They remove the need for employees to manually handle loads, thus also mitigating the risk of any associated injuries. Not only that, but goods lifts are safe to operate, being designed with safety as a key feature in order to adhere to the necessary regulations and further reduce the risk of accidents.
For example, the majority of goods lifts will feature emergency stop buttons, overload sensors and other safety features, such as lockable gates and safety chains depending on your requirements.
Reduced Risk of Damage
The safety features of a goods lift aren’t just beneficial for ensuring the safety of personnel, but they also reduce the risk of damage to the goods themselves.
Should loads not be properly secured, then they run the risk of falling and either becoming damaged or causing damage to other surroundings within the building. By having safety gates, anti-slip flooring and other measures in place, loads will stay secure when being transported between levels.
Reduced Operating Costs
Whilst they may seem like a costly investment, in the long run, goods lifts can actually help to reduce your organisation’s operational costs.
There are multiple ways in which costs are being saved. The first is through the increased efficiency that these lifts offer. By speeding up operational efficiency and freeing up employee time to work elsewhere, downtime is minimised and targets are more likely to be hit consistently, maximising the cost-effectiveness of your operations.
Furthermore, less money will need to be spent on additional resources, such as hiring additional staff or paying for staff to be trained on operating machinery such as forklifts. Instead, your resources can be utilised for other essential purposes.
You may also be able to claim a capital allowance for installing a goods lift, thus further reducing your costs.
Optimise Space
Goods lifts are a great way to maximise the use of the available space within your building. Spaces such as warehouses and stock rooms tend to be large and open, often featuring lots of equipment, machinery and/or shelves of stock. Having a space-saving vertical solution (such as a goods lift) to offer further storage and multi-level transportation solutions, then, can be highly beneficial.
They are especially useful in buildings that feature basements and/or mezzanines (a level between two main floors, or between the ground floor and the ceiling of a building). Such spaces don’t tend to occupy the entirety of a building’s floorspace, yet still offer various storage benefits.
A goods lift, then, is a great way to maximise the efficiency and usefulness of these spaces, offering easy transportation of goods between them.
Why Bespoke?
As you can see, goods lifts can offer a large number of benefits to your business. If you’re looking to take these benefits to the next level, though, then consider opting for bespoke design.
Bespoke goods lifts provide several additional benefits to the ones already on offer. Firstly, you can invest in a lift that seamlessly fits into your available space. By working with us to achieve a custom-design, then you’ll benefit from a lift that meets your specific needs and requirements without negatively impacting the surrounding environment – this is especially useful for organisations with limited spaces or awkwardly-shaped layouts.
Not only can their shape meet your needs, but so can their function. Bespoke goods lifts can be tailored to meet the specific requirements of the goods you require them to transport, such as weight and size requirements. Having these features optimised for your needs ensures the lift operates with maximum efficiency for your workload.
Not only can you tailor features and functionality to your needs, but you can also tailor these based on your preferences. We offer a variety of features that can be incorporated into your bespoke goods lift, such as various door options, platform finishes and colour finishes. We’re also able to fit both standard and low profile solutions, depending on the space available.
Discuss Your Bespoke Goods Lift Today
Would your organisation benefit from a bespoke goods lift? Here at Loading Bay Lifts, we supply both standard and bespoke scissor goods lifts to suit your requirements.
With lifting capacities ranging from 1,000kg to 25,000kg, remotely mounted or integral microprocessor controlled power packs and either two or four chrome, honed and air tested hydraulic cylinders, we offer goods lift solutions you can rely on.
If you’d like to enquire about the solutions we can offer you, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today to discuss your requirements.