A Must-Have Warehouse Equipment List

A warehouse works as a complex engine. It is composed of people using a variety of warehouse equipment in the form of machines or tools across different processing areas. The right equipment can complement human effort to continually raise the bar on the performance of a warehouse. Therefore, it is vital to choose the right equipment that can save cost, time, and effort.

In this article, we will discuss common warehouse equipment types and how each can make a difference to your warehouse operations.

Importance of Warehouse Equipment

Getting the right equipment for your warehouse will not only ease the flow of goods through each process area but will also reduce the possibility of injuries and product damage. 

Looking at the picture above, you see a warehouse clerk struggling to carry a box. But, given the right equipment to perform the task, the situation in this picture would be a different story. This highlights the power of using the right warehouse equipment.

You can have the best manpower to streamline your warehouse operations, but it’s the equipment that plays a pivotal role in assisting humans to complete a task efficiently.

Given below is some of the most important equipment to help optimize your warehouse operations. These are must-haves for almost any type of warehouse, regardless of function.

Some of the Must-Have Warehouse Equipment

Dock Equipment

Choosing the wrong dock equipment can jeopardize warehouse safety and put employees at risk. As the docking area is the junction of the receiving and shipping processes, its safety should always be your top priority. If you are looking to optimize your dock area workflow, you need quality warehouse loading equipment to transfer goods to and from the trucks. As truck designs keep changing and safety is becoming a huge issue, selecting the right dock equipment can make your process more efficient, customizable, and safer as well as less time-consuming for workers.

Examples include:

1. Dock Boards and Plates

2. Edge of Dock Levelers

3. Truck Restraints

4. Dock Seals and Shelters

5. Dock Bumpers

6. Yard Ramps

7. Wheel Chocks

8. Dock levelers & Dock Lifts

To increase the productivity and efficiency of your docking operations further, here are four tips to optimize warehouse loading dock operations. 

Conveyors

Conveyors are material handling machines that can move cargo from one location to another. Compared to manually moving materials, this can speed up or automate the process in order to save time and labor.

Additionally, because they involves minimal human intervention, they can reduce the risk for injuries and serve as safe warehouse equipment, in the same way forklifts do. They can help improve picking, packing, and dispatching times while also helping automate and streamline the dimensioning, weighing, and sorting process.

Lastly, conveyors can be expensive; however, the above-mentioned benefits make it worth an investment if used in the right processes and installed optimally.  

Examples include:

1. Gravity Roller Conveyor

2. Belt Conveyor

3. Plastic Belt Conveyors

4. Flexible Conveyors

5. Vertical Conveyors

6. Spiral Conveyors

7. Pneumatic Conveyors

8. Chain Conveyor

9. Dust Proof Conveyors

10. Automotive Conveyors

Storage Equipment

With the help of the right storage equipment, a warehouse can fully and efficiently use its space to achieve fulfillment goals. It will not only help your staff find inventory in a fast and efficient way but also protect your valuable inventory. Additionally, storage equipment can come in various options to match the specific needs of a warehouse.

Examples include:

1. Bins and Totes

2. Shelves

3. Racks

4. Carousels

To increase the productivity and efficiency of your docking operations, here are four tips to optimize warehouse loading dock operations.

If you want to learn more about optimizing the storage process, you can read our blog by clicking here.

Lifting Equipment

Lifting equipment refers to the different types of machines that help streamline transportation and storage of goods. Unstable lifting equipment can wobble, which can result in poor handling while lifting the goods. Moreover, it can damage the equipment/property, which can then put a halt on warehouse operations.

To help choose the right lifting equipment, you must consider factors such as your type of inventory (pallets or smaller units) and the height of your shelves.

Costs often fall on the higher side while purchasing such equipment, but they have the functional advantage to prove. They can reduce manual operations, be used across different areas, are highly customizable, and easy to maintain.

Examples include:

1. Forklifts

2. Pallet Jacks

3. Hand Trucks

4. Service Carts

5. Cranes, Hoists, and Monorails

6. Dollies and Castors

Packing Equipment

Packing involves wrapping a product or designing a container to provide protection and easy handling. Hence, packing equipment plays a crucial role in shipping goods by assisting the staff in packing faster, and increasing productivity.  

The right packing equipment can reduce labor costs and provide consistency in the wrapping process. Moreover, packing equipment also improves inventory control by eliminating the possibility of product separation, which saves time in inventory counts. 

Examples include:

1. Industrial Scales

2. Strapping and Banding Equipment

3. Stretch Wrap Machines

4. Packing Tables

Summary

After reviewing the warehouse equipment discussed in this article, you can see that a modern warehouse is composed of machines and humans working together to accomplish an array of processes and tasks. Choosing the right equipment will not only increase the productivity of your warehouse but will also eventually result in higher customer satisfaction.

Apart from equipment, productivity can also be increased using warehouse technologies. Click "Get the Guide" below to learn more!

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