Material Handling Equipment: All the types and categories

Material handling is a term that carries high significance in industries and factories. The main units of the businesses, the products get manufactured in the factories. Therefore, if any inconvenience happens during the manufacturing or distribution, the whole business would face a great loss. As a factory owner or product supplier, you can never underrate the handling process of the materials.

Do you need to handle the materials with the help of the workers? Well, those old days are gone now. Currently, there is a lot of material handling equipment and applications that make the handling process far easier. Now, what are the material handling applications? These are devices that ease your efforts to move, store, control and protect the goods and products till disposal. Clearly, these devices are highly essential throughout the whole product handling process. In this article, we are going to introduce you to all the material handling devices and their uses.

How many categories of material handling devices are there?

According to the latest industrial norms, all the material handling applications can be categorized into four slots. The four categories are as follows-

• Transportation equipment and applications
• Positioning applications
• Applications to form the unit loads properly.
• Storage equipment

Now, let’s know about all the devices and applications that come under these four categories.

Transportation equipment and applications: You might have already understood the functions of the equipment from the name. Yes, the main uses of these applications are to move products from one place to another. The following devices are the main ones among all the transportation equipment.

• Conveyors: You can use a conveyor when you have a fixed load to transport or move. Also, keep in mind that the movement path has to be the same every time. That means when you move a fixed load between two specific points, a conveyor can be used. You can divide the conveyors into different types according to capabilities. Like based on load taking capacity, there are two types- unit load conveyors and bulk load conveyors. Also, you can do that based on the conveyor’s location, such as- in-floor conveyor, on-floor conveyor and overhead conveyor.
• Cranes: Almost everyone is familiar with cranes. Cranes, in the industries, come to use when the loads are too heavy to move with conveyors. Cranes can lift the loads both vertically and horizontally, and the maximum load-taking capacities are much higher. But cranes too have a limitation. You can use cranes to lift loads within a limited area.
• Industrial trucks: These are the trucks that can be used within the factory or warehouse premises. The industrial trucks have the capabilities to take up more loads than the conveyors. You can also overcome the limitations of cranes by using Industrial trucks. With an industrial truck, you can carry the load in variable paths according to the needs. There several different types of industrial trucks, like- hand trucks, pallet jacks, forklift trucks, etc.

Positioning applications: These kinds of applications are mainly used for positioning the material in the right way. The main purpose of the positioning applications is to make sure that the products are in the right conditions. Throughout the whole manufacturing and processing process, the workers can condition the products easily with positioning applications. With these applications, the workers can enhance the quality of the product and limit the chances of damaging. Some of the examples of positioning equipment are- hoists, balancers, manipulators and industrial robots.

• Hoists: Hoists are the most common equipment for industrial purposes. Lifting of heavyweights and loads can be easier with different types of hoists. There are different types of hoists like- manual chain hoists, electrical hoists, etc.
• Balancers: These are the devices that help you to balance the products in the right way. While storing the products in the warehouse, balancing the products is highly important to keep the quality intact.
• Industrial robots: An amazing gift from advanced technology, an industrial robot can be highly beneficial. These robots can make functions as human and capacities of these robots are very high. These kinds of robots can be highly beneficial in handling and positioning the products.

Unit loading equipment: The unit loading equipment is essential during the transportation of the products. While transporting the products, these equipment keep the integrity of the products intact. Pallets and slip-sheets are main among unit loading equipment.

• Pallets: Pallets can be made of wood, plastic, metal and rubber. A pallet has enough space that is divided into segments under the top surface. You can insert the products in those segments to keep the products safe.
• Slip-sheets: Slip-sheets include several tabs that you can bring out by pushing or pulling. You can insert the products inside the tabs and keep those in a safe and compact condition.

Storage equipment: Storage is an important factor that you need to keep in check after manufacturing the product. Storage applications can be of different types. Double-deep racks are highly efficient in storing a large number of products safely. You can also bring an automatic storage or retrieval system. With such a computer-controlled system, you can store your products in more safe and accurate ways. These kinds of storages can provide you with additional safety that other types can’t provide.

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