Essential Warehouse Material Handling Equipment

Without the proper tools and equipment, working in and owning a warehouse are dangerous prospects. Material handling equipment gives your workers the tools they need to keep themselves and others safe from accidents, workplace injury and other serious situations. Using effective and proper equipment also ensures that your products remain undamaged.

When it comes to most warehouses, their primary function is to store away items and move them as necessary. The more efficient and safe you can make the transportation of goods in your warehouse, the more productive your workers will be.

To guarantee that you have the proper equipment for your staff, you will need to focus on three specific areas where you need to have acceptable equipment. You’ll need to have equipment that helps your employees lift, store and pack the items in the warehouse.

What Equipment Is Needed in a Warehouse?

For the most part, all warehouses will need equipment that helps their staff lift and move the products around the warehouse. There are various types of material handling equipment in warehouses that your staff will need to use every day.

They will need to be able to safely lift as many items as possible at once. Once they have the items, your workers will need a sturdy and reliable place to set them, so they are not in walkways. Finally, once someone has purchased the item, you workers will need to be able to remove the items from storage and prepare them for shipment.

Warehouse Lifting Equipment

In a warehouse, the majority of your workers will be spending time lifting and moving products from one area to another. Moving products quickly and efficiently will enhance productivity and make your warehouse operations as a whole run more smoothly. To prevent serious injuries and make transportation as quick and easy as possible, you will want to invest in a wide assortment of warehouse lifting machines:

• Dollies: A dolly is the most popular manual form of transportation available for a warehouse. You slide the end of the dolly underneath the item you need to move, tie it with ratchet straps, lift and wheel to your destination.
• Pallet trucks: Pallet trucks are a cheaper and manual way to move pallets around a warehouse. If a majority of your pallets are on the floor, pallet jacks work well to move them around the floor.
• Forklifts: Forklifts are one of the best pieces of equipment you can have in any warehouse. They easily lift and store items on higher shelves, and you can transport them around with extreme ease.
• Sideloaders: Sideloaders store and lift items from the side rather than head-on. If you have items that are much longer than the width of your shelf, you will want a side loader to transport them length-wise.
• Walking stackers: Walking stackers work similarly to a forklift, but instead of it driving you where you need to go, you walk it. These machines still have the capabilities of a forklift, but they require a little more human influence to get them where they need to go.

Warehouse Storage Equipment

Having a multitude of products does not amount to anything if you don’t have a proper place to store them. You will need to be sure that you have adequate room for storage that you space properly to allow room for transportation. Check out these warehouse storage solutions:

• Shelves, bins and drawers: For the most part, you will rely heavily on using shelves, bins and drawers to keep your products organized and out of any foot traffic. You will want to use ones that are easy to assemble and can support a higher weight limit. You can stack some of these equipment pieces as high as your ceiling, so you’ll want to be sure you have lift equipment that reaches high enough.
• Pallets: Pallets are an excellent way to store a larger quantity of your products with ease. You stack your product on the pallets and use a forklift to move them around. Pallets also work well for transporting a lot of heavy items at once.
• Pallet racks: If you use pallets more than other storage equipment, you should consider using pallet racks. These racks are a great way to keep your warehouse organized and your pallets easily accessible.
• Stacking frames: When you stack items on pallets, they tend to be able to support the weight of the items on top of them. However, in cases of fragile items, you will want to use stacking frames, which allow you to safely stack fragile items on one another.

Warehouse Packing Equipment

Once your items make it onto the delivery truck, they are out of your control. Properly packing your items for delivery is essential in keeping you safe from accidental damage. To make sure your items arrive at their destination in the same state they left, you will need to invest in proper packing equipment, such as:

• Packing tables: For some of the smaller items, your employees will need a guaranteed workstation to wrap and box items needed for delivery. These handy stations should have everything your staff needs to securely pack an item. Each station needs a set of supplies for them to be as efficient as possible. Some supplies to consider are packing tape, bubble wrap, boxes, tape gun and packing paper.
• Industrial scales: Before you can send an item on its way, you’ll need to create a packing slip for it, and those will require an accurate weight amount. If you focus solely on small and lightweight items, you can opt to use a traditional digital scale. However, for the larger items, you’ll need some industrial scales that can accurately display the weight of each item to ensure proper transportation.
• Stretch wrap machines: Pallets require a little more finesse when it comes to packing. You will need to secure the items onto the pallet and keep them from shifting during transit. Stretch wrap machines use a stretchable plastic film to hold the items on the pallet as securely as possible. It keeps them from falling and damaging during travel.

Contact T.P. Supply Co for Warehouse Material Handling Equipment Today

Using the proper material handling machines in your warehouse can prevent accidents and increase your employee’s efficiency. You can choose from a variety of different equipment for storing, packing and lifting to ensure the safety of your employees and the proper handling of all products.

To keep you and your warehouse organized, trust T.P. Supply Co and our selection of high-quality equipment, shelving and racks to help you get the job done. Contact us today at 877-302-2337 or chat with us online.