Material handling equipment is equipment that relate to the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods and

products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption and disposal. Material handling equipment is the mechanical equipment involved in the complete system.[1] Material handling equipment is generally separated into four main categories: storage and handling equipment, engineered systems, industrial trucks, and bulk material handling.

Ways in Which Material Handling Equipment Can Improve Efficiency

Material handling equipment is used to increase output, control costs, and maximize productivity. There are several ways to determine if the material handling equipment is achieving peak efficiency. These include capturing all relevant data related to the warehouses operation (such as SKUs, measuring how many times an item is touched from the time it is ordered until it leaves the building, making sure you are using the proper picking technology, and keeping system downtime to a minimum.

Types of Material Handling Equipment

Storage and handling equipment
Storage and handling equipment is a category within the material handling industry. The equipment that falls under this description is usually non-automated storage equipment. Products

such as pallet racking, shelving and carts, among others, belong to storage and handling. Many of these products are often referred to as "catalog" items because they generally have globally accepted standards and are often sold as stock materials out of Material handling catalogs.

Engineered systems
Engineered systems are typically custom engineered material handling systems. Conveyors, Handling Robots, AS/RS, AGV and most other automated material handling systems fall into this category. Engineered systems are often a combination of products integrated to one system. Many distribution centers will optimize storage and picking by utilizing engineered systems such as pick modules and sortation systems. Equipment and utensils used for processing or otherwise handling edible product or ingredients must be of such material and construction to facilitate thorough cleaning and to ensure that their use will not cause the adulteration of product during processing, handling, or storage. Equipment and utensils must be maintained in sanitary condition so as not to adulterate product.

Industrial trucks
Industrial trucks usually refer to operator driven motorized warehouse vehicles, powered manually, by gasoline, propane or electrically.[2] Industrial trucks assist the material handling system with versatility; they can go where engineered systems cannot. Forklift trucks are the most common example of industrial trucks but certainly aren't the extent of the category. Tow tractors and stock chasers are additional examples of industrial trucks. Their greatest advantage lies in the wide range of attachments available; these increase the truck ability to handle various types and shapes of material.

Bulk material handling

Bulk material handling equipment is used to move and store bulk materials such as ore, liquids, and cereals. This equipment is often seen on farms, mines, shipyards and refineries. This category is also explained in Bulk material handling.

On-Rails Transfer Cart

On-rails transfer cart is a kind of material handling equipment. It moves on the rails and can transfer heavy cargoes or equipment with the weight 1-300t between the workshops or warehouses in the factory. It is widely used in the line of metallurgy, coal, heavy manufacturing, automotive assembly, etc. Its power can be AC or DC. DC Power has rail transmit power and battery power, while AC power includes cable power and slippery touch line power. In addition, there is the manual rail transfer cart or towed rail transfer cart, also called motorized transfer trolley.

Conveyors

Conveyors are another form of material handling. Conveyors can be used in a multitude of ways from warehouses to airport baggage handling systems. Some types of conveyors are unibilt, power and free, chain, towline and roller conveyors.

Cantilevered Crane Loading Platform

Cantilevered crane loading platforms are temporary platforms attached to the face of multi-storey buildings or structures to allow materials and equipment to be directly loaded on or shifted off floor levels by cranes during construction or demolition. They may be fixed or rolling and a variety of designs are used including fully fabricated and demountable types. The platforms are supported on needles (cantilevered beams) anchored to the supporting structure.

Variety reduction
A definition of the term variety reduction is presented. It refers to the process of controlling and minimizing the range of new parts, equipment, materials, methods, and procedures that are used to produce goods or services. Variety reduction aims to minimize the variety of all elements in the production or service delivery process. Variety adds costs to any organization and variety management and reduction can immediately benefit profitability.

How does the process of standardization lead to variety of reductions?

The process of standardization leads to simplification of variety reductions. These implies reduction necessary varieties and standardizing to be most economically sizes, grades, shape, colors, types of parts and so on. The process of standardization and variety reductions as follows: 1) Prepare the list of all the items use to make the final product. The list can be made out of the design blue print in case the product design is just over but production has not started, or from the actual record of consumption in case the product is in production. 2) classify the items according to their performance and dimensional characteristics.

3) Group the items with similar functional characteristics and then subgroup according to major dimensional values. For example all bushes around 5 cm dia. Will be in one group. While all around 3 cm dia will be in other group and so on. 4) For a group of items with similar functional characteristics, study the dimensional features. In case of large number of items, several items with the same and similar functional requirements are likely to show the dimension clustered in much closed vicinity. If the performance characteristics are within satisfactory zone, these items are produce of the same dimensions. This a very important step in variety reduction.

5) If performance is acceptable, the items has been standardized according to the National or International standards. If the performance is not satisfactory, organization will adapt a local standard, the dimensions being of the representative value.