Material Handling Equipment Basics
Material handling equipment is general mechanical equipment used for the transportation, storage, control and safety of materials, products and goods during the processing, manufacture, distribution, disposal and aging process. This equipment facilitates the personnel in the various stages of material handling activities by minimising accidents, lost time, costs and human error. There are many categories of material handling equipment, such as material handling equipment for permanent storage, material handling equipment for temporary purposes, material handling equipment for construction sites and maintenance and material handling equipment for installation processes. Most of the equipment types can be classified according to the functions performed and their type of use. Some of them include pneumatic, automatic, hydraulic, electric, gas, pneumatic pumps and material handling equipment.
Pneumatic material handling equipment is suitable for dry or moist storage. It includes all the tools and accessories for permanent storage, transportation, and retrieval, as well as the construction itself. For temporary purposes, it includes material handling equipment for storage and transportation, such as material handling cranes, forklifts, pallet trucks, and forklift attachments for construction sites. Electric material handling equipment, on the other hand, includes all the tools and accessories used for temporary storage and transportation, such as forklifts, forklift attachments for construction sites, and material handling cranes. On this link: https://www.shannahancrane.
Hydraulic material handling equipment includes all the machinery and equipment required for a temporary purpose, such as cranes, forklifts, and material handling cranes. The major types used today are pneumatic and electric . The electric chain hoists are better suited for low-rise applications and are capable of lifting the most weight categories. Hydraulic cranes are generally available in two variants; boom and line. Boom cranes are more suitable for large projects involving multiple stories, while line cranes are best suited for medium-rise projects and other applications involving repetitive movements.
There are also various types of material handling equipment for storing materials at a warehouse. For short-term purposes, a self-service storage facility can be built, including free-standing racks, bins, shelves, and automatic storage lockers. These types of facilities are capable of storing a wide range of items, such as bulk materials handling equipment for general warehousing, material handling equipment for standard warehouse activities, and machinery for pick and pack operations. Other types of self-service warehouses are set-up facilities, which include loading docks, mobile shelving units, and fully enclosed equipment.
For long-term storage and retrieval, automated material handling equipment includes both conveyor systems and automated warehouse shelving systems. Conveyor systems include a series of linked equipment that transfer products from one level to another, and which includes roller conveyors, gravity-fed pallets, and screw conveyors. Automated warehouse shelving includes free-standing racks, shelves, and specialized fixed shelf systems. Specialized fixed shelf systems are ideal for materials with limited shelf space.
Another major category of material handling equipment is that of engineered systems. Engineered systems include roller conveyor systems, high-speed electric conveyors, and automated point-of-sale or pick-and-pack systems. All of these types of equipment can help companies with their current and future inventory needs. If you want to know more about this topic, then click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Material-handling_equipment.
