Material Handling Equipment For Sale

Material Handling Equipment For Sale

Buying material handline equipment is a delicate balance between cost and benefit. You might find it cheaper to just equip your warehouse with manual hand trucks, but it decreases efficiency and increases worker hazards. On the other hand, your production level might not justify having an engineered system with multiple conveyors.

Types of material handling equipment

Material handling equipment is grouped into different categories depending on the role they play within the facility.

Transport equipment

Transport equipment moves items from one location to another. This movement can be small, like between workstations or different machines, or greater, such as between a loading dock to a storage area.

There are different subtypes of transport equipment. Each subtype is ideal for a specific situation.

Cranes can transport goods over a wide area within the crane's reach. This reach covers both vertical and horizontal axes and can be used to stack many items atop one another, like shipping containers.

Conveyors are used to transport a consistent or large amount of materials over a fixed path. Conveyors are an efficient way of moving materials between workstations at a predictable and controllable rate.

Industrial trucks are different from commercial trucks in that they are limited to use within the boundaries of the facility. They are more flexible than conveyors and cranes and come in manual and powered versions.

Positioning equipment

Positioning equipment is used to reposition materials and products at a single location. Examples of positioning equipment include turn tables, hoists, and balancers. Automated positioning equipment like industrial robots can also be used.

Manipulators can be used when the product is dangerous or unwieldy for manual positioning, like ingots or freshly-stamped components.

Unitizing equipment

Large amounts of items can be secured into one single load using unitizing equipment. Pallets are often used as a unit base, but smaller amounts can be packed into cartons, boxes or crates.

Units are usually secured using manual or automated strapping equipment, which applies multiple metal or plastic bands around the load to secure it. Shrink-wrapping is also an option, and shrink-wrapping machines are often paired with turntables.

Storage equipment

Storage equipment is used when goods need to be held for a short period of time. When choosing storage equipment, you need to balance ease of access with maximizing how much space is being used. Storage racks are usually more efficient than placing items directly on the floor, as well as bin-style shelving or carousels for small items.