5 Must-Have Material Handling Equipment for 2020

Last Modified: 2022.08.29

Warehouse material equipment constantly experiences a growing demand, with an expected growth of 10.57% in 2020. This, because there is an increased interest to replace outdated machinery with new, automated material handling systems and robots – especially automated guided vehicles and conveyors.

Knowing what new warehouse material equipment your facility needs can be difficult. Therefore, we have collected our best recommendations for you!

Top Material Handling Equipment for Heavy-Duty Loads

When handling heavy materials, the equipment required must be sturdy and have the capacity to support heavy loads. The best options available to you for heavy-duty loads include:

1. Tugger Carts – This material handling equipment are excellent options for transporting heavy equipment across the shop floor. With tugger carts, you get the added advantage of driving it manually or in a tugger train system. The option of using a tugger cart in a tugger train allows for the picking of multiple orders regardless of their weight. Tugger trains are also safer options to use with a tugger cart when compared to using a forklift.
2. Standard pallet Cart – The standard pallet cart is another great choice for moving large assemblies and materials across the shop floor. Like a tugger cart, items on the pallet cart can be transported manually by the order picker or be attached to a tugger train. The cart comes with swivel casters, which adds to its mobility and provides a solid support base. You can choose to use either the tugger cart or pallet cart for heavy-duty material handling in warehouses.

Top Material Handling Equipment for General Warehouse Use

When the item to be transported is lightweight, choosing to go with heavy-duty carts can be considered a waste of resources. Thus, it is best to use the following material handling carts for generic order picking tasks:

1. Flow Shelf Carts and Flow Racks – Flow cart or rack options are designed to transport different items across the shop floor at the same time. These carts come with multiple shelves or racks that also aids the arrangement of the materials being transported. The angular orientation of the shelves and racks also simplifies the task of taking items off this material handling equipment. In terms of handling, flow solutions can be equipped with tires for transportation or without to serve as a storage solution.
2. Tube Carts and Kit Carts – In shop floors where tubes and wires are needed for everyday operations, tube carts are recommended for use. Tube carts offer hangers for hanging these items as they are transported from one workstation to another. Kit carts, on the other hand, is a more versatile option of tube carts. These carts consist of shelves for tools and kits, as well as hangers that support the transportation of tubes. These carts are also equipped with support handles and swivel tires, which aid manual transportation.

Top Material Handling Options for Milk Runs in Warehouses

When handling multiple materials or items from different suppliers, efficient equipment that enables compartmentalization is required. Thus, even though a shelf cart may do a good job, the following options can do better:

1. A Mother-Daughter Cart – The mother-daughter cart is a beautifully partitioned material handling equipment that simplifies the transportation of different loads. The mother-daughter cart can come in a 4-in-1 configuration or as much as an 8-in-1 configuration. Depending on the details of your facilities’ milk runs, you can choose a configuration that helps pickers achieve their goals with ease.

Go the Customization Route

The five material handling equipment options listed here are designed to meet your diverse warehousing requirements. Check our solutions library to find the perfect flow solutions, tube carts, and mother-daughter carts that meet your requirements. Also, for more specific warehouse transporting needs, you can choose to customize your material handling equipment. Our design team can help you build a modular material handling solution for your warehouses.