As a business owner or manager, you must know the importance of material handling equipment. In industries and warehouses, using the right tools results in increasing productivity, saving money, and improving operational efficiency. Industrial material handling equipment includes a wide…

As a business owner or manager, you must know the importance of material handling equipment. In industries and warehouses, using the right tools results in increasing productivity, saving money, and improving operational efficiency. Industrial material handling equipment includes a wide range of tools, vehicles, storage units, appliances, and accessories. The different equipment serves different purposes like transporting, storing, controlling, and protecting products at any manufacturing and distribution stage.

The material handling equipment can be grouped into four main categories- storage, engineered systems, industrial trucks, and bulk material handling. Using the right type of equipment makes it possible to ensure smooth production flow, minimize production cycle time, reduce the risk of accidents, and achieve better working conditions. Now you may wonder how to determine what type of equipment you need.

When choosing the right material handling equipment, you need to first determine the type of material you’re looking to handle. Besides this, several other factors also come into play when choosing material handling equipment for your warehouse. Whether you need automation solutions, storage equipment, or bulk material equipment, you need to first evaluate your needs and goals. To ease your selection process and make sure that you pick the right equipment for the job, here we’ve listed the major factors to consider when choosing the material handling equipment.

Material to Be Moved

There’s a type of equipment designed to handle different types of materials. To choose the right type of equipment, you need to answer a few questions: how sensitive are the materials you will handle, and how often you will need to move them. You should also consider the weight, size, and shape of the product you need to move. Then you should focus on the perishable nature and hygienic requirements of the material. By figuring out these requirements, you can choose the right equipment.

Facility and Space Considerations

The next factor is the factory layout and space. Once you’ve determined the type of material to be handled, the next step is to look at the space in which your team will be operating the handling equipment. You need to consider the width of aisles, floor leveling, doors size, height of the ceiling, floor conditions, walls, columns and pillars obstructions, etc. All these things play a vital role in the working of material handling equipment. If there are any environmental or regulatory standards, then that should also be considered. Besides building layout, you should also figure out whether your equipment will be operated manually or require automation.

Cost & Features

Once you’ve determined your material handling needs and warehouse layout, you should look at the cost and features. It is important to find out what features are available at what price. The equipment you buy should have adaptability and flexibility to handle more than one material. It should also meet your load requirements. The equipment must have sufficient load-carrying and power capacity to do the job effectively. Speed is also an important feature that ensures the quick movement of material. After checking all the required features, you need to make sure that the product fits your budget. In addition to the equipment’s initial upfront cost, you also need to consider operating and maintenance costs.