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Material handling equipment types

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About material handling equipment types

Industrial trucks

Industrial gantry trucks, a kind of material handling equipment, are employed to move heavy items around the facility, especially on the production floor, warehouse, or any other industrial settings. Manual industrial trucks are operated by hand, while power-operated industrial trucks are driven by electric motors or fuel.

Some examples of industrial trucks are pallet jacks, forklifts, order pickers, and sideloaders.

Conveyors

A conveyor, which is material handling equipment, helps move material from one section to another. Normally, it is used to transfer bulk materials such as aggregates, ores, grains, etc. They can also transport unit loads like cases, boxes, and pallets packaging.

Some common types of conveyors are belt and roller conveyor systems.

Manual lever trucks

Manual lifting and lowering trucks are hand pallet trucks with a lever used to manually transport, lift, and lower pallets and loads on pallets. However, some are only manual trucks for transporting without any lifting or lowering. These manual trucks are widely used in some warehouses where the load is not too heavy and there is no need to keep doing it electrically or even hydraulically.

Trolley jacks

As the name applies, a jack trolley is a vehicle positioned on tracks to haul materials up, down, or across an incline.

Hand pallet trucks

A hand pallet truck or hand pallet jack is a manual truck/table raised with two forks, which is used to lift and transfer a palletful of load.

Forklifts

A forklift or forklift truck is a powered/material handling equipment that employs hydraulic lifts to raise or lower the load and a set of tines, or forks, to transport the load. Forklifts can also be described as industrial or warehouse vehicles. They are also known as palette trucks, stackers, or hoppers.

Stackers

Stackers are materials handling equipment used to lift and stack loads such as pallets.

Automatic guided vehicles (AGVs)

These are wireless vehicles that are driven automatically to transport materials to specified locations following preset paths. For example, these guided vehicles may have a forklift, a platform, or a trolley. In a high bay warehouse, these vehicles are also employed to move loads from one store to another stores vertically, horizontally, and on an incline.

Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS)

This is a system that is employed for automated placing and retrieving of stored materials. Mostly, this system is integrated with automated guided vehicles to transport items to and from storage locations.

Hoists

This is a mechanism utilized to raise and lower items by employing a hook, clamp, magnet, or sling to hold the items. For instance, a chain hoist involves the use of a chain; electrical power is used for electric hoists.

Crane

Material handling equipment that can lift heavy loads and move them horizontally is referred to as crane. Examples of crane include overhead bridge crane, gantry crane, and jib crane.

Racking

Racking is the systematic arrangement of materials in a particular order or number. Racking systems employ vertical frames and horizontal beams to provide storage for pallets. However, it allows some space for empty pallets in case.

Dock equipment

Dock equipment such as levelers and plates are employed in loading and unloading trucks.

Return systems

Especially in the case of conveyors, transport systems are provided for the return of empty containers or materials.

Miscellaneous equipment

Some other conveyors are chain pulls, spiral conveyors, turntables, etc.

Accessories

There are also some material handling equipment accessories like anti-slip coating, load stabilizers, and protective inserts.

Types of containers used in material handling

  • Bulk containers

    Bulk containers are used to contain and protect large quantities of bulk fragile, liquid, or powdered materials during processing and transportation. Most of these containers are made of strong materials like metal, wood, or hard plastic to ensure they don't get destroyed easily. Some examples are drums, gaylords, bins, and supersacks.

  • Boxes and crates

    Boxes and crates are rigid or semi-rigid container products used to store, transport, and protect a wide range of products. Metal, wood, and plastic are used to manufacture boxes and crates. Some examples are cardboard boxes, wooden crates, plastic boxes.

  • Barrel

    A barrel is a cylindrical container made of staves and a heading used to store some liquid products. Metal, wood, or plastic is used to manufacture most barrels. Both the head and the staves bind the round barrel spokes together and enclose the contents.

  • Drums

    Drums are like large barrels used for powder, granules, and liquid storage. They are either open or closed. Closed ones are suitable for gases and liquids, while open ones can be covered with a closed drum or used as an easy opening drum for easy access. They are mostly made of plastic or steel.

  • Bins

    Storage bins are containers with an open top used to store and transport bulk solid materials. Stackable, easy to handle, and with the ability to protect the contents from moisture, they are a great storage solution. They are mostly made from galvanized sheet steel, plastic, metal, etc.

Commercial uses of material handling equipment types

Transportation

One of the major uses of material handling equipment is to transport materials from one place to another within a warehouse, distribution center, or manufacturing production floor. It is also used to transport goods from storage to trucks for shipping, ensuring efficiency and safety while reducing damage and labor cost.

Loading and Unloading

They also help load and unload products from vehicles, making the whole process easier and saving time and energy.

Storage

In warehousing, material handling equipment is also used to store products and keep the warehouse organized so that things can be easily found when needed. For example, racks and shelves hold products in an orderly fashion, making the best use of space.

Order Picking

In retail businesses, they are also used to select specific items from larger quantities to fulfill customer orders. For example, some small tools are used to pick individual items, while larger equipment handles bigger loads.

Stacking and Storing

Some are used to stack products higher and save space on the floor, which is ideal for places with limited space. These machines also help put away and retrieve items quickly from high shelves or storage units.

Safety and Ergonomics

Using the right equipment reduces injury risk for workers since heavy lifting and awkward postures are less needed. Many tools include hand trucks and hoists to help with lifting and moving large objects safely.

Industrial benefits of the material handling equipment types

Increased Efficiency

Material handling equipment increases the movement of materials and the loading and unloading processes like stacking and storage systems. This also helps to complete tasks in a faster manner than doing it manually, which helps to save over time.

Enhanced Safety

Mechanical means reduces the risks of injuries and accidents that can result from carrying heavy items manually. All the equipment or machines listed and explained in this article have been designed to handle heavy workloads safely compared to how one would do it with his bare hands, thus minimizing the possibilities of falling down or hurting oneself.

Lower labor costs

As material handling equipment speeds up the work processes, it still leads to the decrease of some labor costs because some tasks that need more training and more sophisticated equipment may not need to be left for just anyone to do.

Improved Inventory Control

Machines such as forklifts, conveyor systems, and automated guided vehicles have been found and developed to help transport items in a more effective way. Materials monitoring and tracking equipments like bar codes, scanners, and computerized information are intended to provide storage spaces where items can be kept and retrieved easily and quickly in order to avoid running out of stock or having excess stock.

Better Space Utilization

The use of racks, shelves, and stacking equipment makes a higher and better use of storage space in warehouses and stores by escalating and arranging materials in unique classifications.

Streamlined Operations

The combination and integration of various types of material handling equipment can help ease and smoothen the process of flow in the movement of materials from receiving to storage, processing, and ultimately to distribution.

These operational systems also help deal with problems of capability and create a system for businesses to adjust to changes when needed.

Environmental benefits

Increased energy and efficiency of electric-powered equipment, such as hand trucks, lifts, and automated transport vehicles, can also reduce dependence on fossil fuel consumption, thus reducing carbon emissions. In turn, this also helps the environment.

How to Choose Material Handling Equipment Types

There are several factors to consider when purchasing material handling equipment. They are listed below.

  • Weight of the materials to be handled

    When choosing equipment, one needs to ask the heaviest weight of the load that will be handled. Some equipment weighs heavily, then requires that the load be of an average weight, while others can handle lighter weights. For example, a forklift can carry a very heavy load compared to a pallet jack.

  • Size of materials

    The size of the materials to be handled also matters. When handling large materials, large equipment must be used and the contrary is true for small ones. One has to consider the equipment's clearance, width, and length in order to be sure of its fitting capability within the environment and for the load.

  • Type of material to be handled

    The type of material to be handled will also affect which material handling equipment to use. While rough terrain and other materials will need a special type of handling equipment, slippery and fragile materials may require special consideration to be taken to ensure they do not get damaged in the process.

  • Space available

    The kind of handling equipment to use will also be determined by the amount of space that is available. In tight spaces, small equipment should be used, and large equipment in large spaces. This is because, though they are small in size, hand trucks and pallet jacks are more suitable for small areas, while for larger areas, forklifts and cranes are appropriate.

  • Environment

    The environment in which the equipment will be used is very important. Indoor equipment can be distinguished from outdoor equipment. Certain equipment commonly found in a wet, slippery, or outdoor environment needs to be rust and water proof.

  • Budget considerations

    Cost is always a factor when choosing handle material equipment. One has to choose what is affordable between purchasing and maintaining. Electric and automated equipment are costly but come with savings on labor costs in the long run.

Q and A

Q1: Which are the common types of material handling equipment?

A1: Conveyors, cranes, gantry, and forklifts are some of the material handling equipment that are common.

Q2: What is the purpose of material handling equipment?

A2: They transport, store, and safeguard material from receiving to processing, then to dispatch.

Q3: Which factors affect the selection of a material handling equipment type?

A3: The characteristics of the materials to be handled, the budget, the environment, and the space available are some factors that affect the choice.

Q4: How does material handling equipment contribute to safety?

A4: They minimize the risks associated with manually carrying heavy objects and classify them, upper arm endowed with appropriate mechanical means of handling the material's distinct types to cushion it against destruction.