Material Handling Systems

Material handling is the protection, storage, movement, and control of products and materials used throughout any company’s manufacturing warehousing, consumption, disposal, and distribution phases. Within material handling systems, there is a wide and diverse range of automated equipment that support logistics and make the supply chain work smoothly. This includes a variety of manual, semi-automated, and automated material handling equipment, as well as technologies available to aid in the movement, storage, protection, and control of materials and products. These include:

• Automatic guided vehicles (AGVs)
• Controls
• Conveyors
• Dock equipment
• Ergonomics
• Hoisting equipment
• Industrial robots
• Lift trucks
• Overhead cranes
• Protective guarding
• Racks
• Software
• Storage

The Components of a Successful Material Handling System

It is always important to implement best practices to ensure that all equipment and processes, including manual, semi-automated and automated, work together in a unified system. A properly designed material handling system will improve customer service, shorten delivery time, reduce inventory, and lower overall handling costs. These best practices include:

• Planning
• Standardization
• Work
• Ergonomics
• Unit Load
• Space Utilization
• System
• Environment
• Automation
• Life cycle cost

A company’s material handling system and processes are put in place to bring all the company’s aspects together. When you don’t have a thorough understanding of material handling, you will never achieve effective forecasting, flow and process management, production planning, resource allocation, and more. To assure company goals are met, regular assessments of your material handling processes should be conducted. Once goals are aligned to the principles of material handling it will be easier to achieve your manufacturing, distribution, consumption, and disposal goals.

At FI CON, we offer services to deliver the most challenging custom construction and fabrication services, as well as material handling systems. We can fabricate a wide variety of products, including barges, silos, piping systems, and, of course, material handling systems. With our expertise, you will see your project through to success every time. Contact us at ficonusa.com or (386) 792-3060.

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