The Different Equipment Used For Material Handling Transportation

By Roger Snyder


Material handling is one type of process in transportation which is being utilized in buildings for the movement and transportation of materials. This is using different equipment types such as automated, manual, or semi automated and the control, protection, and storage of facilities are being considered. The process are performed for consumption, manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, and disposal.

In manufacturing and in logistics, material handling has an important role. The reason for this is because items are going to be transported frequently using conveyors, lift trucks, and other equipment to be used in material handling transportation for manufacturing plants, retail stores, and also warehouses. This is also important because it is required for the production workers and operators during the transportation of various goods into industrial settings.

Manual handling is the type of this transportation where in containers are being moved by workers with the use of their hands in emptying, lifting, filling, lowering, and carrying the containers. But this kind of transportation often exposes the workers to physical conditions that result to having serious injuries such as musculoskeletal disorders. It involves sprains and also strains to upper limbs, lower back, and shoulders.

The most commonly used handling type as a replacement of manually handling the material is semi automated. This is because human operators are needed for some difficult tasks such as loading, unloading, or driving. These tasks can be a bit difficult for the machine to perform although advancements in machine intelligence, robotics, and sensing have been made.

The transport facilities will be used for the movement of materials from a particular location to another while the purpose of positioning materials is manipulating the materials only in one location. These materials have their sub categories including industrial trucks, conveyors, and cranes. Manual materials can be used as well without any equipment.

Conveyors are used whenever there is a frequent movement of materials between two specific points with fixed paths and whenever there is a sufficiency in volume flow for justification of fixed investments of conveyor. A conveyor may either be a unity load or a bulk load. And also, it has different locations such as in floor, over head, or on floor. Bucket, magnetic belt, screw conveyors, and troughed belt are examples of a bulk conveyor.

The cranes are used for the transportation of goods that are loaded either in a horizontal or vertical variable path in the restricted areas. These are also used with an insufficiency of volume flow. These are said to have more flexibility if compared to the conveyors because loads are properly handled according to the shape and to the weight.

But if these are to be compared to those industrial trucks, these are less flexible due to some restrictions in its area during operation. Cranes are usually utilized with hoists in vertical movements and trolley and tracks in horizontal movements. Cranes have different types including gantry, jib, stacker, and bridge cranes.

The industrial trucks do not have licenses to be driven in the public roads. The purpose of these is for the movement of materials in some variable paths, also, when there is insufficiency in its volume flow. The trucks have more flexibility than cranes and conveyors because areas of movement are not restricted.




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