Supply Chain Logistics: Material Handling Equipment Overview

Overview of Material Handling Equipment:
- A large variety of material handling equipment is employed in the supply chain, ranging from simple hand trucks to advanced automated systems.
- This chapter focuses on the most commonly used equipment while acknowledging that unique operations may require specialized handling equipment.
- The chapter includes diverse modes of transportation, facility types, and product requirements that necessitate various equipment.

Hand Trucks (Two-Wheel Dolly):
- Usage: Generally used for moving small items short distances, commonly in storage and parts rooms.
- Limitations: Ineffective for moving large quantities or palletized products efficiently.
Platform Trucks (Picking Carts):
- Usage: Utilized in confined spaces to pick items to be placed on a conveyor for transport to a shipping area.
- Operation: Requires manual placement of products on the platform.
Pallet Jacks:
- Usage: Designed primarily for moving single pallets short distances, particularly in constrained spaces (e.g., trailers, containers).
- Operation: Can be manual or battery-powered. The design includes front wheels embedded in forks that slide under a pallet, allowing a hydraulic jack to lift the pallet just above the floor.

Overview:
- Various styles of lift trucks are tailored to perform different tasks within material handling operations, powered by electric, propane, or gasoline.
- Electric trucks are the most widely used due to their maintenance ease, environmental benefits, and quieter operation.
- Sit-down forklifts powered by propane and gasoline are used in more open, ventilated areas, suited for faster travel and handling heavier loads.
Forklift Safety Concerns:
- According to OSHA, forklifts cause many injuries and fatalities in the workplace:
- About 85 deaths annually in the U.S.
- Approximately 35,000 serious injuries and over 60,000 non-serious injuries per year.
- An estimated 850,000 lift trucks are in operation in the U.S.
Hazards Associated with Lift Trucks:
- Different types of powered industrial trucks present various operational hazards.
- For instance, sit-down high-lift trucks are more prone to falling load accidents compared to motorized hand trucks due to their ability to lift loads at greater heights.
- Workplace conditions (e.g., retail settings) face greater safety challenges due to the presence of pedestrians.
- Common accidents involve lift trucks falling off loading docks, falling between docks and unsecured trailers, or workers being struck or injured while on elevated pallets.

Stand-up Counterbalanced Lift Truck: Driver stands while operating, offering better load visibility and travel path awareness.
Sit-Down Counterbalanced Truck: Highly common in warehouses, can be powered by electric, propane, or gasoline; typically rated to handle up to 6,000 pounds; widely used in shipping and receiving.
Order Picker: Designed for operators to be elevated with the load, used for retrieval and putaway operations, including picking items from partial pallet loads.
Sideloader: Handles larger-than-pallet-sized loads by allowing for side loading with forks mounted perpendicular to travel direction.

Single Pallet Truck: Operated alongside by the worker, moving at about 3 mph.
Single-Pallet Rider Truck: Operator rides on the truck, reaching speeds around 7 mph.
Double-Pallet Rider Trucks: Capable of picking full cases in long warehouse aisles.

Narrow Aisle Trucks: Designed for tighter rack spaces requiring narrower aisles (8 ft instead of 10 ft), allowing for better storage efficiency.
Very Narrow Aisle Trucks: Can utilize wire or rail guides for better cubic space efficiency, often involving turret trucks that rotate 180 degrees for load retrieval.
Counterbalance Truck: Defines the weight balance between the truck’s weight and the load being carried to prevent tipping.

Scissor Lift or Portable Platform: Device that raises a platform for loading and unloading to align with truck height; the worker drives onto it for lift.
Dock Board/Plate: Used to connect the dock height with the trailer height; hydraulic docks can support capacity up to 30,000 lbs.
Yard Ramps: Facilitate vehicle movement from the yard to trailers or containers.

Types of Conveyors:
- Generally used for short-distance product movement, especially in loading/unloading.
- Gravity Conveyors: Basic design with metal bars and wheels; relies on gravity for movement, can be permanent or portable. Types include:
  - Gravity wheel conveyors
  - Roller conveyors
  - Accordion wheel conveyors
Carton Clamp Trucks: Feature large rubber-lined clamps to handle bulky floor-stored items; adapted for safe handling using hydraulic pressure.

Equipment designed for specific product types and packaging includes varying attachments like clamps that allow one piece of equipment multiple uses.
- Examples: slip sheet, carton clamp, roll clamp.
Yard Lift: Trucks designed with pneumatic tires for outdoor rough terrain operation.

Types of Overhead Equipment:
- Overhead Traveling Conveyor: Moves items above the workspace on motorized rails.
- Overhead Cranes and Hoists: Primarily for maintenance or specific operations, not typical for warehousing.
- Components of Overhead Cranes:
  - Runways
  - End Trucks
  - Bridge Beam
  - Hoist mechanism
Powered Conveyors: Use motors and belts to facilitate horizontal and vertical transportation of products.

These systems function with minimal human intervention to transport materials.
Sorting Systems: Efficiently sort products based on barcodes, capable of sorting up to 20,000 cases/hour with accuracy.
Vertical Reciprocating Conveyors (VRCs): Designed for vertical transport of materials using buckets or platforms.

Define: A crane using a bridge beam to straddle a load for lifting, movable around the facility without a fixed path.

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs): Follow set paths via magnetic guides, or lasers; designed for autonomous operation.
Automated Storage/Retrieval Systems (AS/RS): Robotic appliances that manage storage and retrieval operations in high-density storage, capable of handling loads 100 feet high or more.
Shuttle Systems: Operate within AS/RS and increase throughput by handling multiple loads across different levels simultaneously.

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) System: A network to route material handling devices automatically to predetermined destinations.
Counterbalance: The term for how a lift truck's weight is designed to balance with the load's weight.
Dock Board (Dock Plate): A physical structure that allows safe transition between dock and trailer for personnel and equipment.