Whether it's to feed a production line, for storage, for refuelling or even to ship goods, handling is an essential aspect of management.
There are two handling methods: manual and mechanical. What are they, and what's in it for them?
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Manual handling: a physical task
As the name suggests, it involves the manual handling of goods for storage, shipping, supplying production workstations, and so on. Loads are lifted, pushed, pulled, carried or moved, using virtually only the body and limb strength of the material handlers.
The benefits of manual handling
Despite advances in materials handling, this traditional practice is still common in many sectors such as construction, agriculture, industry and so on. It's one of those activities that hasn't lost much ground to mechanization and technology. This type of handling is advantageous in certain aspects of goods management: low volume of goods to be handled, cramped warehouse conditions, and so on. It's also an economical and ecological solution, reducing the use of expensive handling equipment.
Manual handling equipment
Manual handling is a physically demanding and risky activity. It is all the more subject to strict regulations and demanding standards in terms of safety and well-being at work. The company has a duty to provide the minimum equipment required by handling workers, whether for transporting, lifting, pulling or other handling of crates or boxes: dollies for moving heavy loads, industrial trucks, Pallet truck and other small wheeled machines for medium-distance movements.
Mechanical handling: getting the job done fast
Given the risky and physically demanding nature of manual handling, we turn to mechanical handling. This alternative uses the power and technical expertise of wheeled equipment.
The benefits of mechanical handling
Mechanical handling is used to handle objects and materials of considerable weight. It is generally used for loading and unloading, shipping and warehousing. It responds to the need to save time in moving and lifting boxes or cartons. This method of handling reduces fatigue among handlers, and sometimes completely replaces manual handling.
What resources are deployed for mechanical handling?
When it comes to mechanical handling, there's a wide range of dedicated mechanical equipment to choose from: lifting equipment, reach trucks, motorized handling and transport trucks, mechanized platform elevators, electric pallet trucks, mechanical cranes, and so on. This category of equipment includes machines capable of handling up to tens of tons of product.
Manual and mechanical handling: complementary activities
When it comes to logistics in production, storage or loading/unloading environments (factory, warehouse, store, port...), these two types of handling are often complementary. In fact, apart from handling and moving light or small materials or objects, manual handling enables us to manage goods that are difficult or impossible to handle with large mechanical equipment. Conversely, mechanical handling takes over from manual handling for the handling and storage of materials and goods that need to be placed at height, for example.
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