In the Material Handling Equipment industry, Indian SME manufacturers often face several challenges, including limited access to advanced equipment, high costs of acquisition and maintenance, and difficulties in selecting the right tools for specific applications. These issues can lead to inefficiencies in material movement, increased labor costs, and potential safety hazards, ultimately affecting overall productivity and profitability.
This blog post will explain the different types of Material Handling Equipment, their use cases, and applications, providing valuable insights for Indian SME manufacturers. By understanding these options, manufacturers can make informed decisions to improve their material handling processes, enhance operational efficiency, and reduce costs.
What Do You Mean by Industrial Material Handling Equipment?
Material handling equipment is a tool or device businesses use to move and organize products. It has electronic devices like forklifts to move boxes and other tools in different industries. Searching for the right material handling equipment according to the company's needs will help businesses to move, control, and protect the material from damage.
Industrial material handling equipment includes tools and machines for moving and storing products. These tools help with storing, managing, and protecting materials during manufacturing or distribution.
Material handling equipment is usually used in warehouses, commercial storage units, and industries. They are helpful in industries where workers need to move materials and products from one place to another. These tools are ideal for moving, loading, shifting, and storing products for inventory in large amounts.
Different Types of Material Handling Equipment
There are four kinds of material handling equipment: storage systems, engineered systems, industrial trucks, and bulk equipment. Each type is useful for moving heavy materials and helps industries safely store large volumes of products.
1. Storage and Handling Equipment
Storage and handling equipment help businesses store and manage materials between two stages, such as manufacturing and distribution. This type of material handling system is non-moving and non-automatic.
Some common examples of this material handling include stacking frames, racks, drawers, and shelves. Stacking Frames are one of the main storage and handling equipment types as they save space and safely store delicate tools.
2. Engineered Material Handling Systems
- Engineered systems are also called automated systems. These have many automatic features that help transport and store material. The reason they are so popular is that they reduce manpower.
- Automated storage and retrieval systems have racks and shelf features that help companies track or monitor inventory. It also manages loose products and handles a lot of work.
- Some common types of engineered systems are robotic delivery systems, conveyor systems, automated storage systems, and retrieval systems.
3. Industrial Material Handling Trucks
- Industrial material handling trucks of various sizes are used for material transportation. They can be divided into two types: stacking and non-stacking trucks.
- Stacking trucks load and stack material, while non-stacking trucks are used for transportation.
- Other types of industrial trucks are hand trucks, pallet trucks, order pickers, and side loaders. These truck varieties help industries choose the desired truck according to their needs.
4. Bulk Material Handling Equipment
Bulk material handling equipment includes tools that store, move, and control bulk materials. These equipment are ideal for handling food, liquid, metal items, etc. Manufacturers use this equipment to move such products in a loose state.
The main types of bulk material handling equipment include stackers, conveyor belts, hoppers, and reclaimers.
- Stackers are a key type of bulk material handling device. They help assemble loose products before packaging.
- Hoppers are used to pour loose material into large containers.
- Conveyor belts transport products between two places through a moving belt.
- Reclaimers recover material from a stockpile.
Read 5 Common Mistakes in Material Handling and How to Avoid Them
Material Handling Equipment Usage
Different industries need different machines and tools for better management of products. Industries that use material handling equipment are:
1. Agriculture
Hoopers and grain elevators are popular material-handling equipment in the agriculture industry. It helps to move materials like seeds, crops, and fertilizer from one place to another.
2. Construction
Many construction companies need heavy materials to be loaded and moved at the project's site. They use equipment like aerial lifts and forklifts to move and store products.
3. Distribution
This industry depends on material handling tools to move final products before delivery. It uses equipment like stackers and AGVS (Automated Guided Vehicle Systems).
4. Warehousing
Businesses that use warehouses need handling equipment to store and move materials. This industry uses tools like reach trucks and stackers for better productivity.
5. Manufacturing
This industry is dependent on material handling equipment. Some manufacturing material handling equipment is pallet trucks, AGVs, and forklifts.
Importance of Material Handling Equipment
Material Handling Equipment offers many benefits to industries. It improves productivity and safety in the workplace by managing products with less cost and lower wastage.
Some major advantages of handling equipment are
1. Better Productivity
It improves the movement of products from one stage to another. It provides a consistent flow and reduces production stops to speed up operations.
2. Reduced Wastage
With fewer man-hours and more machines, material handling reduces product waste. It helps in cutting down on human errors and keeping products safer.
3. Better Warehouse Space Usage
Different types of material handling equipment save a lot of space, which helps in better organizing racks and shelves. Sideloaders also help save space and increase your warehouse capacity.
4. Lower Costs
Material handling equipment increases profits by reducing product wastage and saving products from human errors. The speed-up process without error helps with more products in less time.
5. More employee safety
Secure storage devices and machines help industries in worker safety. Regular lifting and handling of heavy goods can hurt workers and increase the risk of product damage. With heavy loading and unloading dependent on machines, workers are safe from hurting or falling.
How to Choose the Correct Material Handling Equipment for the Company?
Before Investing in material handling equipment, retailers must find the right equipment for their company.
1. Material Type
Retailers can start by deciding which type of material they want. Different types of equipment are needed for handling solids, liquids, and gasses.
2. Facility Layout
The equipment industries need to have space to do the task. For smaller spaces, heavy machines cannot be used. Industries must select equipment suitable for their space.
3. Budget
Businesses should choose the most affordable options while selecting the equipment as per budget. The equipment with less operational and material handling costs will help companies in the long run.
4. Structural Factors
It is important to select equipment that is suitable for the location. Before investing in new equipment, verifying its size and dimensions is important.
5. Reliability
Companies must choose the most reliable product in the market that offers less operational costs and helps with after-sale support as well.
Improve Your Material Handling Equipment Journey With Tranzact
TranZact is a software specially designed for the Indian SME Manufacturing industry. It helps you digitise, automate and take control over all production processes from enquiry to dispatch. Using TranZact, you can automate all your sales enquiries and quotations.
Read How does TranZact help the Material handling industry
FAQs for Material Handling Equipment
1. How to find the best material-handling equipment supplier?
TranZact is among the best material-handling equipment suppliers. We offer the most value for money and reliable equipment.
2. Which material handling equipment list manufacturing industries need?
Manufacturing Industries use a variety of equipment. The material handling equipment list has pallet trucks, order pickers, forklifts, and AGVs. This industry is most dependent on material handling equipment.
3. How to choose the best among the material handling equipment manufacturers?
To select the best material handling equipment manufacturers, retailers must look for manufacturers offering durable products.
4. How does material handling equipment save companies from product wastage?
Material Handling Equipment reduces human involvement, which lowers human errors. In addition, with automatic machine-based processes, product wastage is very low.
5. What equipment is used by construction industries?
Construction sites use a lot of material handling equipment to load and move materials such as steel bars, cement, and others from one place to another. These equipment are aerial lifts, AGVs, and forklifts.
6. What is the use of side loaders in warehouses?
Sideloaders are used in warehouses to increase the space. They lower the row width, which helps organize more products in the warehouse.
7. How is the automatic system safer for the workplace?
Automatic machines help to reduce heavy lifting tasks for workers. It saves them from getting hurt while lifting heavy products, creating a safer workplace.
8. How does material handling equipment make companies profit?
Material handling equipment saves time. It helps industries to deliver products with less waste and in less time. All these benefits result in making the company a lot of profit.
