Material-Handling Equipment to Increase Efficiency in Warehouse

Warehouse management is quite important for hassle-free organization of inventory secured in the warehouse and for a smooth process of off-loading, storage, transportation and inventory management. A lot of factors come into play when it comes to managing a warehouse. From manual labor to material handling equipment, warehousing depends on several things for efficiency and cost reduction.

Since warehousing primarily involves a lot of material movement here and there, there’s an increased dependence on equipment. Here is some of the important material-handling equipment that every warehouse needs to reduce the load on manual labor and increase efficiency.

Fork Lift: Fork lifts are the most important tool for any warehouse. They reduce manual labor considerably. However you need to have a licensed fork lift operator at your warehouse to avoid accidents. Fork lifts are not only best to move entire pallets of stuff but you can also actually stock pile warehouse stuff simply using a fork lift.

Industrial Trucks: Industrial trucks are very important to efficient transportation of goods to and from the warehouse as well as moving things within the warehouse. From simple wheel burrow styled, manual trucks more suited for transportation of small items or cartons from one shelf to another to twin fork pallet jacks more suited for transportation of entire pallets, industrial trucks are used in a variety of ways. Another important type of industrial truck is the Platform truck, which is 4 wheeled and can be manually operated or attached to a bike or cycle.

Scissor Lifts: Scissor lifts can also be quite beneficial for warehouse management as it allows moving goods up vertically. They can also be used by warehouse workers to stand and organize the shelves securely without fearing falling down.

Bucket Elevators: Bucket elevators are more suited for the transportation of small and loose items upwards. They are best used for moving items placed high on the shelves. It is a small motorized device but can be operated manually as well. Buckets generally scoop material from one level usually the ground level and disperse the materials on the top of the shelves.  

Conveyor Belts: Conveyor belts are most useful if you need to price stamp or tag items before shelving them in your warehouse or transporting them out. A conveyor belt works on a simple mechanism where a belt rotates on a motor-driven platform. It is best suited if you have to move large quantities of material out of the warehouse for transportation.

Stackers: Stackers are small motorized trucks, chiefly operated by hand and are used to lift items from the ground to be placed on the shelves. They are suited best if you have high rising shelves all around your warehouse which require to be taken down or replaced every now and then.

Hoppers: Mostly installed in warehouses where candies or other such small items are stored, hoppers are funnel shaped devices with a long pipe which can be placed where ever you want your items to land. They are best used for packaging of items. However, hoppers have a slight disadvantage that they can be blocked very easily.

If you are chiefly into food warehousing, you might want to read our tips on Food Warehousing Techniques.