Chapter 3 / CLA 4.0

Purpose: To explain various types of material handling equipment from the simplest hand truck to the most complex automated systems.
Importance: Different modes of transportation, types of facilities, and types of products necessitate diverse equipment for efficient movement of products throughout the supply chain.
Focus: Introduction to commonly used equipment and explanation of their applications.

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Hand Trucks (Two-Wheel Dolly):
- Used for moving small items short distances.
- Commonly found in storage and parts rooms.
- Inefficient for large quantities or palletized products.
Platform Trucks (Picking Carts):
- Utilized in confined spaces for picking items to be sent to shipping areas via conveyor.
- Manual placement of products required.
Pallet Jacks:
- Purpose: To move single pallets short distances, typically in constrained spaces (e.g., inside trailers or containers).
- Mechanism: Includes front wheels embedded in forks rolled under the pallet; hydraulic jack lifts the pallet off the floor.

Variety: Many styles designed for diverse tasks in material handling operations, powered by electric, propane, or gasoline.
Electric Trucks: Widely used for their ease of maintenance, environmental friendliness, and quiet operation. Commonly used for stand-up equipment.
Propane vs. Gasoline Trucks: Propane trucks are preferred as they handle heavier loads, travel faster, and have greater environmental acceptability.
Safety Concerns:
- Forklift accidents are a leading cause of injuries:
- 85 deaths per year in the U.S. (per OSHA).
- Approximately 35,000 serious injuries and over 60,000 non-serious accidents annually.
- More than 850,000 lift trucks in operation in the U.S.
- Sit-down trucks have greater risk of falling load accidents compared to motorized hand trucks.
- Unique hazards depending on workplace type (e.g., retail establishments have significant pedestrian safety challenges).
- Common accidents include:
- Trucks driven off loading docks.
- Equipment falling between unsecured trailers and docks.
- Workers being struck by lift trucks.

Stand-Up Counterbalanced Lift Truck:
- Driver stands while operating, which enhances visibility of the load and travel path.
Sit-Down Counterbalanced Truck:
- Common warehouse equipment, can be electric, propane, or gasoline-sustaining up to 6,000 lbs.
- Also referred to as forklifts, fork trucks, or lift trucks.
Order Picker:
- Enables operator to be lifted with load to elevated rack locations for retrieval and putaway of items.
Sideloader:
- Designed to handle oversized loads with forks mounted perpendicular to direction of travel for side loading.

Single Pallet Truck: Operator walks alongside while it moves at approximately 3 mph.
Single-Pallet Rider & Double-Pallet Rider Trucks: Allow operators to ride the truck as it moves at about 7 mph; useful for picking full cases in large warehouses with long picking aisles.

Narrow Aisle Trucks:
- Ideal for rack areas, requiring narrower aisles (8 ft instead of 10 ft), allowing for increased storage density.
- More expensive, often feature platforms for operators and a small turning radius.
Very Narrow Aisle Trucks:
- Developed for optimal cubic space utilization; guided by wires or rails.
- Capable of lifting loads to great heights (32-35 ft).
- Require extremely flat floors for precision.
Counterbalance:
- Refers to the truck's own weight balancing against the weight of the load to prevent tipping.

Scissor Lift / Portable Platform:
- Raises a platform to match the height of a trailer or railcar for loading/unloading tasks.
Dock Board/Plate:
- Used to bridge gaps between vehicles and docks for safe movement of workers and equipment.
- Hydraulic dock plates can hold up to 30,000 lbs.
Yard Ramps:
- Allow vehicles to access trailers or containers from the yard.

Types of Conveyors:
- Gravity Conveyors: Basic type, consisting of metal bars with wheels or rollers, sloped for gravity-assisted movement.
- Variants include gravity wheel, roller, and accordion wheel conveyors (easy to store).
- Carton Clamp Trucks:
- Equip with hydraulic clamps for gripping large, bulky items, adaptable for use on standard forklifts.

Several pieces of equipment can handle specific products or packaging types, with interchangeable attachments like clamps for diverse applications (e.g. slip sheets, sip clamps, roll clamps).
Yard Lift: Designed for outdoor use, equipped with pneumatic tires.

Types of Overhead Handling Equipment:
- Overhead Traveling Conveyor: Moves items above floor level on motorized rails.
- Overhead Crane and Hoist: Used less frequently in warehouses; often in maintenance roles, consists of:
- Runways
- End Trucks
- Bridge Beam
- Hoists (usually electrically powered).

Automated Conveyor Sorting Systems: Sort products based on bar codes, handling speeds of 10,000-20,000 cases per hour with accuracy.
Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors (VRCs): Transport materials vertically within a warehouse; equipped with movable buckets or platforms.

A crane equipped with a bridge beam and movable mechanism beneath, offers flexibility in movement around the facility.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV):
- Operate without human intervention, guided by fixed paths using various technologies including magnets and cameras.
Automated Storage/Retrieval System (AS/RS):
- Large machine operating between storage racks for efficient load management; capable of servicing racks over 100 feet tall.
Shuttle System:
- Enhances AS/RS efficiency; multiple shuttles operate simultaneously for high activity throughput.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) System: A network directing material handling devices automatically without operator input.
Counterbalance: The weight of a lift truck balances load weight to prevent tipping.
Dock Board (Dock Plate): A device used to safely facilitate movement between a dock and trailer openings.