Major Types of Material Handling Equipment

The process of moving the heavy goods around the warehouse is only possible with the right materialhandling equipment. This can include items like storage units, vehicles and tools that take an active part in the process of moving supplies in and out of the warehouse. Here are some of the major types of material handling equipment:

Storage equipment

Storage equipment relates to the racks, shelves, pallets or mezzanines that are used when goods are in temporary storage and waiting to be transported to an ongoing destination. A great benefit of using the purpose made pallets or racks is the ease in which they can be stacked to minimize the usable footprint. Many of the large warehouses rely on the proprietary packaging system to increase the ability to store a high volume of goods while conserving space.

Engineered systems

The engineered systems include a variety of automated tools that improve the ability to move heavier loads around the warehouse floor. One of the most popular engineered systems is the fully automatic storage and retrieval system. This type of system involves an automated structure that consists of shelves, aisles and racks that is controlled via a shuttle system. The actual shuttle system is a type of cherry picker and is operated via a fully automatic system or by a worker. This is a very fast and efficient method to locate and retrieve items in a large warehouse.

Industrial Trucks

The industrial trucks are essential tools used to move the heavy products and materials in and around the warehouse floor. This type of equipment can vary quite significantly and include several types of forklifts, pallet-jacks and hand-operated trucks. The trucks differ in size and function to make it possible to easily move the different types of loads. A common method for lifting items is a flat surface or forks like on a forklift truck. The operation of the truck can also vary. For instance, there are trucks that have a person to manually operate the control, while other systems are more automated.

Forklift trucks are potentially very dangerous machines in the workplace setting, every year around 70 people are killed in transport-related accidents in the workplace and around eight of those involve lift truck. If you wish to choose forklift truck driver courses, go for the ones that are renowned and well-established in their field.

If you are in Newcastle and looking for material handling equipment or forklift truck driver courses, search for the required company. If you have any related queries, do call their office today.