How to Use Material Handling Equipment Efficiently

The ultimate goal of any business is increasing profits, which largely depends on operational efficiency. Inefficiency in business operations translates into the loss of money and efforts. While more efficient procedures, on the other hand, generates higher revenues.

Achieving efficiency is even more important in a warehouse or production process that deals with numerous material handling equipment items. Material handling is accompanied by numerous risks, especially when done manually. Even the equipment of material handling does not offer a ‘miracle cure’ and needs proper handling. As such, simply investing in high-quality material handling equipment is not enough if your system of execution is defective.

As you might already know, the purpose of material handling equipment is to facilitate the movement, protection, storage, and control of materials and products. In manufacturing industries and warehouses, tasks such as lifting, carrying, and pushing can make the workplace unsafe for employees. To avoid such incidences and speed up the process, companies purchase the best material-handling equipment. However, these tools do not automatically make a warehouse runs efficiently. To ensure efficiency in operations, you need to make sure that you’re using the right type of material handling equipment. This means, to achieve maximum proficiency in material handling, you should have proper organization and strategic planning. This equipment needs to be well managed by the employees, and there should be an organized way of distributing the task. So if you’re not getting the most out of these items, here are some tips to get the most out of your material handling equipment.

Using the Right Tools for the Job

For handling weight loads of various sizes and styles, conveyor belt systems are quite useful. And if you’re looking for storage equipment, you will find various options such as shelves, racks, and pallets. In the case of bulk material equipment, you can go for trucks, silos, hoppers, drums, and grain elevators. Investing in the best items of material handling equipment is not sufficient unless you have the correct tool for each process. If you want to run your processes efficiently, you need to make use of the right tool. For instance, it doesn’t make any sense to use extremely heavy pallet jacks for transporting items if it takes two men to move a pallet. Besides using the right tool, it is also important to use those tools in the right way. Often workers take shortcuts while using material handling equipment, which leads to accidents. So, it is crucial to educate them about the right way of using tools. Also, make sure that only authorized and trained individuals operate it.

Ensure Proper Maintenance Tasks

You might have high-quality material handling equipment, but every piece of equipment needs some maintenance. So, make sure you follow a maintenance routine and employ staff to check all of the equipment from time to time. If any equipment suddenly fails, it may hamper your other processes also and can involve significant downtime. Moreover, routine maintenance will save you money in the long-term as compared to costly repairs.

Manage Your Traffic

If you want to ensure a smooth flow of all operations, you should engage in traffic management. The material handling equipment like forklifts, pallet jacks, and motorized pallet trucks are like the automobiles of your warehouse. They all need space to operate between your storage racks smoothly. If you don’t maintain traffic flow, all this equipment may cause traffic jams and even accidents in your warehouse facility. To avoid such a chaotic situation, develop a traffic management plan for your warehouse or production facility, such as a one-way system.