Last Updated on June 21, 2023 by Ossian Muscad
Material handling equipment is a crucial element of every productive warehouse, making goods and products easier to locate, transport and deliver. It also plays a role in manufacturing efficiency and customer service through lifting solutions, reducing moving time, and preventing commodity damage by handling products appropriately. This guide will discuss material handling equipment and its objectives, the types, proper usage, and essential ways to maintain equipment.
Material Handling Equipment: What is it and its Objectives?
Material handling equipment (MHE) refers to machinery used in warehouses and other storage facilities to transport, guide, secure, or store materials through different operations. Depending on the operation, various forms of employee engagement may be required, including fully or partially automated material handling processes.
Material handling equipment is crucial in meeting production objectives and goals in every business. It enables industries to utilize a system of automated procedures as effectively as possible while minimizing costs. The following are the key objectives of material handling equipment:
- Assist in minimizing material degradation to enhance quality.
- Decreasing production time by creating effective material transport.
- Greater control of material flow.
- Building and promotion of a risk-free and safe working environment.
- Boost output and performance.
- Improved time and resource management.
When promoting job improvement, industrial organizations must recognize the significance of material handling equipment as an essential component.
What are the types of Material Handling Equipment?
A wide variety of material handling equipment is available for use in various industrial operations. The type of machinery is determined by the kind and size of product that needs to be transported; this generally falls into four groups.
Engineered Material Handling
Engineered systems, often called automated systems, are pieces of bulk material handling machinery used to move and store commodities. Automated systems frequently include many pieces of machinery due to the fact that they don’t require physical effort to execute various tasks. Engineered material handling equipment includes robotic delivery systems, conveyor systems, Automated Guided Vehicles, and Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems.
Forklifts
Forklifts are a general term for vehicles used to move products throughout a factory or warehouse. They are also known as industrial trucks or lift trucks. A person handles this machinery, but it removes the need for physical lifting and transportation by automatically picking up and placing goods. Some kinds of these industrial trucks are hand trucks, side loaders, pallet trucks, and order pickers.
Storage and Handling Equipment
Storage and handling keep materials in place when they’re not being put to use or transported. Materials are awaiting production cycles, and shipment is usually kept in this category and contains storage options that enable the ordered collection of commodities, such as racking, pallets, and shelves.
Bulk Handling
This includes material handling equipment that transports, stores and manages large quantities of products/ raw materials. Bulk material handling is crucial in sectors including construction, mining, manufacturing, farming, and logistics that have to do with loose, fine, or free-flowing materials (like minerals, liquids, food, and metals) in large quantities. Reclaimers, stackers, conveyor belts, hoppers, and bucket-grain elevators fall under this group.
Proper Usage of Material Handling Equipment
Policies and proper usage of material handling equipment is the first step to a safe workplace. The safety compliance activity, which is necessary for the operation of the company, is a fundamental component of the policy which includes:
- Make sure the person using the equipment is competent and properly trained.
- Always check the equipment before each shift. Document damage, mark issues, and inform management regarding equipment concerns.
- Check to see if the load is steady, reliable, and right for the item of equipment being used.
- When moving, always make sure the operator has visibility well. Ask for assistance if required.
- When transporting commodities, move forward on ascending and backward on descending ramps.
- Lift loads to a suitable elevation before transport and carry them with a little back slant.
- Always be aware of the gross weight of the cargo and verify that the equipment can support the load.
- Loads should only be raised and lowered when not in motion.
- Maintain safe environmental speed limits. Keep a safe space between yourself and any other moving or stationary objects.
- Remove the keys from the forklift and turn them off when not used.
- Always wear seatbelts.
If followed, these guidelines will lay a solid basis for properly utilizing material handling equipment within your place of work.
Maintaining Material Handling Equipment
Fundamentally, material handling equipment is also prone to deterioration and would malfunction anytime. Preventing issues is preferable to responding to them. Therefore, using a preventative maintenance strategy instead of reactive maintenance is very important. These are the essential MHE maintenance that will lower the likelihood of unforeseen failures:
Routine Equipment Inspections
Before usage, every piece of equipment should undergo routine inspections. Additionally, planning the inspections is wise to prepare the crew members better using the equipment and to organize their time. This precaution helps the MHE work better while avoiding potential problems.
Daily Housekeeping
A routine cleaning procedure ensures that all material handling equipment is functional and safe. In addition to keeping the workplace clean, housekeeping can manage inventory and storage systems more effectively, improving warehouse management.
Repair Damaged Equipment
Even the least utilized machinery might develop faulty components over time. Therefore, replace or repair damaged components before the entire MHE completely fails. To prevent prolonged downtime, it is recommended that you should have replacement parts and a repair crew on standby. Compared to broken MHE, which can significantly influence your production flow, this will save you time.
Lubricate
Most MHEs found in warehouses contain moving elements that might wear out if not properly maintained. Thus, lubricate all moving components precisely in line with the supplier’s recommendations for MHE. The main goal is to guarantee that the machinery is constantly in working order without running the danger of serious breakdowns.
Conduct Material Handling Equipment Maintenance and Inspections with DATAMYTE’s Low-code Platform
The need for inspections and checklists is the stepping stone of every productive warehouse facility, assuring safe day-to-day operations as well as properly maintained material handling equipment. DATAMYTE’s low-code solutions provide a digital transformation that allows quick deployment of customized inspections and audits, saving you from tedious paper documentation and confusing data spreadsheets.
The DataMyte Digital Clipboard is a low-code automation software with the following capabilities to help you conduct your MHE maintenance and safety checks.
- Digitized checklists. Premade templates and customizable workflows in a drag-and-drop interface allow the creation and utilization of automated inspections/audits almost immediately.
- Data Integration. The ease of data collection made it simpler as data input is sieved to a unified server, allowing managers to evaluate equipment conditions and give go-signals.
- Device-compatible. The Digital Clipboard is compatible with modern technology devices from smartphones, tablets, and computers. Allowing employees to download checklists on facility-issued as well as personal devices.
- Real-time monitoring. Track every area of your storage facility. You’ll have access to data insights and analytics, and communications that will notify you about usage and equipment problems before it escalates.
- Layered Process Audits. Assess trends between various departments of non-compliance or malfunctions and reduce equipment downtime by implementing corrective measures.
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Conclusion
Businesses rely on material handling equipment to enhance customer service, decrease inventory, speed delivery, and reduce handling expenses throughout production, distribution, and transportation.
