In terms of Material Handling Equipment, There are Four Main Categories:
storage, engineered systems, industrial trucks, and bulk handling equipment.
Equipment for Storing and Handling Materials
There are a lot of storage equipment examples that aren't automated, and these examples are usually grouped into a system that is engineered. Storage equipment is used to store or buffer materials during "downtimes," or times when they are not being transported, during which time they are held or buffered. It is pertinent to note that these periods can refer to temporary pauses during long-term transportation or long-term storage that are designed to allow for the gradual accumulation of stock over time. Pallets, shelves, and racks are the most common storage equipment and are used to store materials until they are transported or consumed. By designing proprietary packaging, many companies have increased the efficiency of storage equipment while saving space while storing materials and products of certain types.
A Few Examples Of Storage and Handling Equipment Include:
It is safe to say that pallet racks, drive-through racks, drive-in racks, push-back racks, and sliding racks are all basic, yet effective methods of storing items. Racks save floor space while keeping their contents accessible at the same time.
As the name suggests, stacking frames can be placed like blocks, and that is what makes them so popular. Stacking crushable pallets of inventory, such as liquid containers, in this way will allow you to save more space without causing damage to them.
The use of work assist tooling in numerous industries in applications that require the movement of products makes assembly and manufacturing operations safer and more efficient. This improves the efficiency of operations across many industries.
As with upender inverters, pallet inverters also help rotating or repositioning heavy items as well as fully loaded pallets with ease due to their similarity to them.
Systems Designed By Engineers
As a result of the engineering of systems, a variety of units can be included that work together to allow storage and transportation. In many cases, they are automated. A suitable example of an engineered system is the Automated Storage and Retrieval System, which is commonly abbreviated AS/RS. This is a large automatic storage and retrieval system involving racks, aisles, and shelves, which are accessible by a shuttle system of retrieval. A shuttle system can be compared to a mechanized cherry picker. This is because it can be operated either by a worker or by an automated solution. It can be used to locate storage items quickly, retrieve them, and relocate them to other locations.
The following are other types of engineered systems that can be used:
It is pertinent to note that there are several different types of conveyors that are available, depending on what they are used for. These include vibrating, overhead, chain, vertical, and apron conveyors to name a few.
This is a type of truck that is autonomous and computer-driven. It transports loads along a predetermined route while being equipped with sensors and detectors so that it doesn't bump into anything in its path.
Trucks For Material Handling
Various kinds of transportation items and vehicles are used in materials handling to move materials and products. A hand truck, pallet jack, or forklift can be used as transportation devices. Different operations require different characteristics of these trucks. Some trucks have forklifts or flat surfaces for lifting items, while others require an additional loading device. Manual or powered lift trucks are available, and can be pushed or ridden by hand. A stack truck can stack items, while a non-stack truck is used for transportation and not loading.
Industrial Trucks Come In Many Types
Using a hand truck, you can set a heavy object on the platform and leverage it with the long handle. Tipping whatever is being moved so that it rests on the handle and is carried at a tilt is required.
Known as pallet jacks, pallet trucks carry pallets. Pallets are lifted by sliding into them. Manual and electrical pallet trucks are available. Unlike forklifts, walkie stackers don't have a place for the operator to sit. Powerful or manual, they're available.
Transporting goods with a platform truck is easy due to its low height.
On a platform several feet above the ground, order pickers retrieve or store goods on high shelves.
VNA (Very Narrow Aisle) trucks are sideloaders that load objects from multiple directions, enabling them to fit into narrow warehouse aisles. Long, awkward items can also be moved with them.
AGVs, or automatic guided vehicles, shuttle products along a route automatically, without human guidance.
Materials Handling Equipment
Various types of bulk materials require different types of conveyors.
Material is piled onto stockpiles in a yard by stackers, which are usually automated.
They retrieve materials from stockpiles, some using bucket wheels, others scrapers or portals to carry the material.
Grain legs, or bucket elevators, use buckets attached to rotating chains or belts to carry material vertically.
A grain elevator is a tall building that stores grain. The elevators have equipment that conveys grain to the top for processing.