Application of Material Handling

Material handling systems have become an integral part of many industries involving manufacturing, the heavy lifting of materials, and the transportation and storage of goods and services within confined areas like factory compounds or warehouses. With the advent of industrialization in many countries, material handling systems have gained more traction. Material handling equipment has reduced the dependency on manual labor for material handling, directly leading to increased handling capacity, higher efficiency, reduced error rates and lower chances of accidents. Material handling systems have wide-ranging applications spanning numerous industries. In this article, we shall discuss those in detail.

Following are the various applications of material handling equipment in major industries:

• Manufacturing: Manufacturing industries across the world heavily rely on material handling equipment to cope with the fast production environment. Positioning equipment like industrial manipulators, pneumatic air hoists, and air balancers are used to handle material at a single point. It is used at workplaces to feed, orient, load/unload, or manipulate materials so that they are in the right position for subsequent manipulation, machining, transport, or storage. These also help workers to work on the materials with relative ease while the equipment helps keep them in the desired position. Transport equipment like overhead cranes and automated guided vehicles (AGV’s) are often used to move large and heavy loads on an assembly line or inside the plant. AGVs can move small but heavy raw material between storage facilities and workstation.
• Automobile Industry: The automobile industry is one of the largest end-use industries for material handling systems after they’ve revolutionized assembly lines. Conveyor systems are used heavily to efficiently move vehicle components and bodies through the various stages of an assembly line. AGV’s are also used to transport material between storage facilities and assembly lines. This industry also employs modern storage systems for efficient storage of vehicle parts and components. They use inline lifters and pneumatic balancers for engineers to work on automobile parts.
• Construction Industry: The construction industry relies on efficient lifting and moving equipment for aid in the building process. The industry employs various kinds of cranes including single or double bridge overhead cranes, articulated jib cranes, low headroom jib cranes, and mobile floor cranes to lift and move construction material, concrete blocks, and construction equipment. AGV’s and conveyor systems are also present in building operations to ensure fast movement of heavy equipment and raw material on the same floor.
• Third Party Logistics Industry: The 3PL industry is omnipresent across the globe for sustaining the global supply chains. With the advancement of the e-commerce industry, the logistics industry has seen a boom. This industry heavily uses lifting equipment like jib cranes to move products and goods. They also use equipment like automated forklifts and conveyors to transport products across warehouses. They use storage systems like pallet racks, carousels and automatic storage/retrieval systems (AS/RS).

There are other industries like the pharmaceutical industry that also use material handling systems. To know more about material handling equipment and their applications for your industry, contact Conco on (712) 841-4548.