Advantages & Disadvantages Of Material Handling Equipment

In this article, I will share with you the advantages and disadvantages of material handling equipment.

Material handling pieces of equipment are essential when it comes to handling materials in an industry or construction site.

Despite the amazing work they do they also have some limitations when it comes to how they operate and other things that I will share with you in this article.

Without wasting time, let me share with you what you need to know about this information.

Advantages of material handling equipment;

These are the advantages of using material handling equipment;

1. It reduces cost.

When using material handling a large amount of material can be handled within a very short period.

If you compare this with the use of manpower the cost will be different.

One will have to hire so many people to handle the same amount of material that would be handled within a very short time with the material handling equipment.

So, the material handling equipment reduces the cost of handling the material since they have a large capacity for handling them.

2. It’s time-saving.

Using material handling equipment saves a lot of time.

The amount of material that can be handled by material handling equipment is large compared to the one handled by manual labour.

The time people will use to handle the material will not be the same time the material handling equipment will use.

This facilitates time-saving since the material handling equipment is faster compared to man.

3. It reduces the wastage of the material.

The material handling equipment is designed to handle materials of a specific form.

We have the pieces of equipment that handle materials that are in powder form and we have those that handle material that is in a fixed unit.

This is to ensure that there is no wastage of the material being handled.

When you think of the bucket elevator, it handles a large amount of material with very minimum spillage.

This could have been impossible if manual labour was put into use.

The material handling equipment reduces the wastage of material due to its design and speed of operation.

This ends up increasing the output of the industry since the material is used to the maximum to produce the required goods.

4. Promotes the safety of the operators.

Using material handling types of equipment promotes safety for the production personnel in the industry.

For instance, if the material being handled is hot or corrosive the operators won’t have to worry about handling such material.

They would let the machine handle the work of handling the material.

Also, if the material handling types of equipment are used the accidents will be reduced in the industry.

The material being handled won’t fall on anyone handling it and this will enhance their safety.

So, material handling pieces of equipment are advantageous due to the safety they provide to the operators.

5. Improves the control of stocks.

The use of material handling types of equipment makes it easier to control the stocks within the industry.

The move of materials from one point to another within the industry will facilitate this feature.

Material handling equipment can do the repetitive work without any problem.

To control the stock will never be a problem with the machine.

If material is needed in a particular station then it will be very easier for the equipment to handle that without issues.

There will be no point to plan who will be in charge of the control of the stocks.

6. It reduces employers’ fatigue.

When the material is handled by the equipment the employers will have a small to work to do.

They will only deal with the control system of the equipment since the heavy work is being handled by the machine.

This will reduce the fatigue of the employers.

If the employers’ fatigue will be reduced then they will do work perfectly increasing products produced in that industry.

7. Source of the prestige of the organization.

An industry that uses material handling types of equipment is considered a well-developed industry that the one that doesn’t use it.

This will make the industry seem advanced and everyone will want to work in this industry.

People will want to be associated with an industry that works with better pieces of equipment.

This will make the industry have a large number of customers because they are using material handling pieces of equipment.

One will be sure that working with an industry that has these pieces of equipment will lead to better product production.

The name of the organization will be well marketed across the area that it’s located due to these types of equipment.

8. It improves the relationship between the management and employees.

The use of material handling will create a good relationship between the management and the employees.

Because the employees work less when it comes to handling the material in the industry, this will make them valued.

They will make them feel that the management cares about them and this will create positive relationships.

No employee will want to resign from that organization because they make their work easier and fun.

If the management doesn’t have this material handling equipment and the employees feel pressured by the work they do in that industry then this will make them want to quit working in that industry.

The relationship between the management and the employees will end up being poor.

Disadvantages of material handling equipment

These are the disadvantages of using material handling types of equipment;

1. They are expensive to purchase.

Material handling equipment is expensive to purchase, the organization will have to use a lot of money to purchase them.

Also, after purchasing them there is the cost of maintaining and operating them.

All these are cost that makes the material handling pieces of equipment disadvantageous.

2. They require a lot of space.

This is another feature that makes this material handling equipment disadvantageous.

The space they require to use for their operation is usually big and this ends up taking up much space in the industry.

Though some occupy less space if they are more of them they will still take up a big space.

3. Skilled operators are required.

When material handling types of equipment are used skilled operators will be needed.

There is no way someone who has no idea of how these pieces of equipment work will operate them effectively.

If even if they will be able to operate them the moment there is a small complication they won’t be able to do anything about it.

The skilled operators that are required to operate these types of equipment will cost the organization to hire them.

This is another disadvantage of using material handling pieces of equipment.

4. Material handling types of equipment render employees lazy.

When employees are used to operating using these types of equipment they will end up being lazy.

They will not be willing to work without these types of equipment. The moment the pieces of equipment fail to work it will also stop working.

You can’t blame them for this since they are used to handling material in a different way and the easy one.

No one will be willing to do the work that is handled by the material handling equipment.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions leave your comment. See you in my next article.