5 Questions to Ask When Considering Lifting Device

Buying and installing material handling equipment is a significant investment for any organization; this is why it’s imperative that you make the right decision while buying these devices for your facility. That’s why you should ask yourself these 5 questions when considering a lifting device.

1. Will the lifting device help in cost reduction?

Cost reduction is one of the biggest reasons for shopping around for your material handling equipment. In some industries, material handling cost can come up to 50 % of the total product cost. Therefore, you should ascertain whether your lifting device is cost-effective or not. Moreover, you should be better controlling costs incurred on the damage of materials during handling. Most material handling machines should give you even better utilization of factory space, another reason proper material handling equipment can save you costs. Lastly, it should result in an increase in productivity leading to higher output at lower costs.

2. Will the device result in better ergonomics in the facility?

When you have ergonomic lifting solutions installed in your facility, the operators don’t have to do the heavy lifting. Your lifting devices should improve the ergonomics of your operation. Nevertheless, ergonomic lifting devices are more efficient in lifting and transporting heavier loads. This should be freeing the workers to do other tasks more suited for them while there is also lesser chance of human error.

3. Will the device improve safety in the facility?

An important question to ask while considering lifting devices is their safety features. Workplace accidents and injuries are very common; and most of them occur while manual handling of materials. Your lifting device should ensure the safety of employees and improves working conditions. This in turn will reduce accident costs, lost time, and damage to materials. Nevertheless, proper handling equipment handles heavy jobs with faster speeds and at a constant rate throughout the period of production. This enables high morale and lowers worker turnover.

4. Will the device complement the layout of the facility?

Your new lifting device should integrate well with the layout of your facility. For an efficient layout that ensures greater productivity, a complete analysis of the flow of materials, volume of material, and timing between operations should be done before making the purchase. When the space requirements are optimized and travel times are reduced through the use of efficient handling systems and equipment, material handling proves to be more cost effective.

5. If the lifting device of sturdy quality?

This is a very important one of the 5 questions to ask while considering a lifting device. To ensure that the lifting device you buy lasts long without trouble, you should source it from a good manufacturer who’s been in the business for a good amount of time. It is important that you get a sturdy device with great design and superior build quality. Not only that, but you should also research companies that provide service and maintenance for the life of the machine.