Material Handling Equipment (MHE) is used for storing, moving, protecting and controlling the goods, products and other kinds of materials that are used in distribution, manufacturing, and the disposal processes. Some are also used in the consumption processes. They can be broadly classified into the transportation, positioning, unit-load formation and storage equipment.
Proper selection and care of Handling Equipment is quite important as it can save you costs and add greater efficiency to your processes. There are some other benefits also related to selection, care, and maintenance of the equipment or MHEs like better efficiency and greater cost-effectiveness among others. You can use the tips given below to choose your MHEs more wisely.
Foresee and Forecast Your Business Requirements
You can forecast the equipment requirements of your company will be using shortly, by studying about the developments that are going to affect your company’s supply chain, in the future. This way you can lease the right kind of equipment in advance (instead of buying all of them), which is a cost-effective way of using the equipment. The number and kinds of material handling equipment that your processes use may vary and hence proper study ensures that you have the right of materials every time, in a cost efficient manner.
Your company may go in for another product production process, or it may acquire a whole new business as well, in the future. In these cases, some equipment used in handling will be over utilised while some will not be fully used. A proper study helps you get the most value for money and help you to select the right kind of equipment for your business processes that hold their value in the long run as well.
A Better Charging
Miniscule as it may look, battery charging is an important area that needs mentioning and supervision. Your warehouse or process area should have ample of battery charging space so that you can handle all the electrical charges related to the equipment manufacturer specification with ease. This helps in proper and prompt operations, and also increases the life and efficiency of the equipment. You get relief from overspending and unwanted spending in the unwanted areas when you properly maintain and charge the equipment as specified.
Utilisation of Space
Your warehouse or process may have limited amounts of space. You need to utilise this space fully and should select the MHEs in a way that they offer all the features and functionality in the given limited spaces. The modern MHEs come in compact sizes and are designed to offer superb efficiency, in the most space-saving way. With features like automatic-retrieval, these modern machines improve the efficiency of your processes manifold. If your warehouse has got some stories, then you can also use industrial trucks for the ramps and chutes.
The Flow of Production
When you have a constant production flow, then you can well use the chutes and the conveyors, which are a kind of fixed equipment. When the flow has changed directions, occasionally, then you may use the trucks. Trucks are employed when the process produces some goods.