Everything You Need To Know About Materials Handling

INTRODUCTION Handling materials is a key part of the manufacturing process of everything from bread to rocket ships. Materials handling relates to the movement, protection, storage and control of raw materials, products and goods. This applies during preparation, cleaning, assembling and consumption, as well as during refuse operations of spent materials. Examples of equipment used in this aspect of making things include storage, engineering and transport. Involved in transport are conveyors, on-rails transfer carts, cantilevered crane loading platforms and the ubiquitous forklift.

HANDLING AND STORAGE EQUIPMENT The apparatus covered under this description are non-automated. It covers racking, shelving, carts, cages and pallets. Collectively, handling and storage apparatus are called catalog items, because they are all made to a universal standard and may be ordered straight out of the catalog. Everybody knows what a pallet looks like, right?

PALLETS Practically any manufactured item you could mention, from cupcakes to casks of beer, from telephones to toilet paper, spends at least part of its life cycle strapped to a pallet. Mostly, these are made of wood, although there are also requirements for pallets made of steel or other materials.

ENGINEERED SYSTEMS Unlike catalog products, engineered systems are custom-designed and built. This category of manufacturing equipment includes conveyors, robots and automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS). Care must be taken when designing and handling engineered systems that are destined to handle edible products in order to avoid contamination.

INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS The most common type of industrial truck is the powered industrial truck, or forklift. There are dozens of different kinds of forklifts. Tow tractors and stock chasers are other types of industrial truck. Each of these conveyances may be equipped with a wide variety of different attachments, making them extremely versatile.

ON-RAILS TRANSFER CARTS These are used to transport bulk materials in heavy industries. They are widely employed in the fields of coal mining, heavy manufacturing and metallurgy. They are able to handle weights in the region of one ton or heavier.

SAFETY Safety is everything in manufacturing. One of the blackest areas in manufacturing in terms of safety is the forklift. Hundreds of lives are needlessly lost each year and tens of thousands of injuries are suffered in accidents that could mostly be eradicated by proper training. OSHA comes down hard on employers who allow untrained and uncertified forklift operators to work in their premises.

Henry A. Parker has taught plastics molding techniques for over 15 years. He specializes in injection molding and thermoforming. If you are interested in learning more about plastic injection molding services then he recommends you visit his friends at PTM: Custom Plastics Injection Molding Company.