Laser Welded Stainless Channels for Forklift Applications
U-channels are a structural staple of forklift construction, and for years they have been supplied to this market as hot extruded sections. Working with manufacturers in the material handling sector, Montanstahl reviewed what these profiles actually have to deliver and separated the mandatory requirements from the features that are simply inherited from the production method. The outcome was a switch to laser welding, which keeps the mechanical properties unchanged, removes the inclination that hot extrusion leaves on the inner faces of the section, and makes it economical to produce even a single bar.
Material Handling and a Shift in Production Technology
The transportation and logistics sector relies heavily on stainless steel, particularly for forklifts and their accessories, where durability and resistance to wear and corrosion determine how long a machine stays in service between overhauls. What is changing is not the material but the way the sections are made. Manufacturing processes evolve continuously, and the industry is moving towards technologies that improve performance while keeping quality at the same level, optimizing the production process and lowering costs along the way, with a growing preference for routes that use energy and material more efficiently. In practice this means revisiting profiles that have been specified the same way for decades and asking which of their features are genuinely functional. Sections used in transportation and material handling equipment are a good example, because their geometry often reflects the constraints of an older production method rather than the needs of the machine.
Five Conditions for Replacing an Established Process
Changing the production route of a structural component is only acceptable if nothing important is lost, and the list of conditions was clear from the start. The new process had to deliver the same mechanical properties as the section it replaced, since the channel carries load in service and the design cannot be revisited for every batch. It had to lower production costs rather than simply move them elsewhere. It had to maintain or reduce lead times, because a forklift assembly line does not absorb a longer wait for a structural part. It had to make small batches viable, given that models and configurations multiply and each variant needs its own section. Finally it had to work in stainless steel, the alloy already established in this application. Hot extrusion satisfies the material and the mechanics but it carries tooling costs and minimum quantities that sit awkwardly with short runs, a trade-off explained in our overview of the hot extrusion process.
Application Context
Working directly with customers made it possible to distinguish the mandatory requirements from the ones that were never specified but simply came with the previous process. Laser welding preserves the mechanical properties of the section while removing the inclination of the inner faces typical of hot extrusion, a feature that turned out not to be mandatory for this application. Because the profile is built from cut plate rather than pressed through a die, there is no tooling to amortise, so a single bar can be produced quickly and at a lower cost, and small batches stop being a penalty. The same logic applies across the Montanstahl range of stainless steel channels, where parallel flange series such as UPE are produced alongside custom sections, and the practical differences between the profiles are set out in our article on stainless steel channel types. Questions on dimensions, grades and minimum quantities are answered in the technical Q&A.