When working with heavy materials in bulk, granular, liquid or metal items, it’s important to use the right material handling equipment. This helps keep employees safe, reduces storage costs and ensures that all materials are handled correctly during production and distribution. These systems can help boost productivity and efficiency in manufacturing, retail, warehousing, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing and facilities management.
There are many types of material handling equipment to choose from based on the needs of your facility, the size of your operations and your budget. Some common examples include pallets, cranes and conveyor systems. These systems make it easier for your workers to move and store bulk materials, reducing the risk of injuries and increasing productivity.
The type of material you’re working with will also dictate the type of equipment you need. For instance, if you’re dealing with bulk, loose material, you may require silos or drums to hold the items until they can be more easily manipulated and moved. Hoppers, shaped like funnels, are another useful tool for moving loose materials. They can be closed off at the top to hold onto a bulk material until it’s needed for production. If you’re dealing with granular items, boxed materials or metal items, it’s best to use a conveyor system that moves these materials from one area of the warehouse to another.
Warehouses and facilities that don’t invest in the right material handling equipment often have problems with misplaced goods, which requires additional storage space, higher labor costs and dissatisfied clients who expect their products to be well cared for. Improper storage and transportation can also cause damage to the product and waste materials. Choosing the right equipment for your operation will prevent these issues.
Incorporating material handling equipment into your facility improves the flow of inventory throughout the facility and reduces the risk of injury to workers. These pieces of equipment can be a significant asset to any warehouse, cutting down on wasted time searching for the right materials and helping your employees work more efficiently.
A reliable material handling distributor can supply you with the high-tech conveyor system you need to speed up your warehousing processes or more space for growing inventory. They can also provide you with the palletizers that help automate the process of stacking and releasing items from a pallet for shipping, sortation systems to automatically route your materials to their destination, and warehouse robots to streamline tasks such as picking products off of shelves. You can find a material handling distributor that meets your company’s unique requirements through the search function on our site, which filters by supplier, category and location. Some of the most popular suppliers offer a variety of different types of material handling equipment, including industrial carts and trucks, shelving and racking, warehouse automation software, automated high-density warehouses, layer picking and repacking solutions and robotic palletizers. Some of these companies also have diverse business status, which can be an important criterion when sourcing products from businesses that are committed to addressing the gender and racial equity gap.