4 Types of Material Handling Equipment

Material handling is the most essential part of a warehouse or a factory. And, this equipment comes in handy when you are required to transport the goods from the warehouse to the factory, vice-versa, to the end consumers.

Undoubtedly, material handling selection is very crucial in bringing more profit to the manufacturer.  If the right equipment is used they decrease the manufacturing and delivery time and hence, they help in gaining profit margins. Material handling equipment like material handling pallet trucks, material handling containers is of great help in the manufacturing process too.

These equipment are categorized into 4 categories:

1)  For Transportation:

These are used to move goods from one location to others, e.g., from storage area to loading area. These include internal and external machinery.

·         Internal- Includes a conveyor belt, hoist or forklift truck, this category may port the goods between production areas or from an assembly line to packing or storage room.

·         External- Includes commercial trucks or shipping containers, used to move goods to stores or retail outlets.

2)  For Positioning

 This type of equipment reposition the material or goods, it includes automated robots or feeders. These fit precisely into assembly line equipment and involve transfer tilt tables or material handling lift tables to lift or lower the pallets or gathered goods.

3)  For Storage and Retrieval

All the shelving and racking of the goods to house after the production process is assisted by such equipment. The inclusion varies from warehouse racking to shelving systems to cabinets and bins for the lesser or smaller goods. For storing liquids, drums or silos are included. Mostly, the goods that are stored on the floor or on pallets directly do not require any equipment for storage.

4)  For Load-Formation

This type of equipment includes the machinery that is used to make the goods ready for shipping. This entails:

·  Skids and pallets for stacking the products.

·  Crates and boxes.

·  Shirk-wrapping machines for wrapping the plastic around the pallet of goods tightly.

·  Bulk handling containers to pick goods like oil, grain, or liquid.