Material Handling Equipment – Defined and Simplified

Have you ever been riding down the road and see the guy in the truck that has just started his new handyman or construction business? I am sure you know the guy. He usually has 47 ladders hanging off an oversized ladder rack that does not fit his truck and a generator with three layers of concrete splattered on it, sitting precariously in a dirty wheelbarrow. The wheelbarrow itself looks like it could bounce out of the truck bed at any minute, causing the next 6 PM news headline. Well, 95% of the time somewhere on that truck they will have the words “Specializes In.” This is very odd to me because it is always followed by 143 bullet points of things they “Specialize In,” covering everything from cleaning out gutters and pressure washing to building decks to building brand-new houses. How can they specialize in all that? The word special itself signifies that you do something unique. In all honesty, they might as well use the phrase “Jack of All Trades and Master of None,” which is 180 degrees, completely opposite of the message that they are trying to communicate. In the MHE world, I feel like they do the same thing because it sounds very unique, but it offers a broad range of equipment types. You must look at the MHEDA (Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association) website at the member listings to see the varying types of equipment being sold.

https://members.mheda.org/mheda-member-listing

All of the following items are considered material handling equipment or sold by companies that consider themselves MHE distributors.

• Conveyors
• Sortation
• Software
• Lift tables
• Pallet racks
• AS/RS systems
• Turntables
• Ergonomic Platforms
• Forklifts
• Pallet jacks
• Dock equipment
• Modular offices
• Plastic totes
• Pallets
• Guarding

And that is to name a few. I could easily list 50 more bullet points. Do you see where I am going with this? While I am very sure that each distributor Specializes in something, the industry as a whole seems to be that jack of all trades and master of none as far as the broadness of the classifications.

Where does Russell Conveyor & Equipment fit in here? When people ask us what we do, I give them the following explanation. “We manufacture conveyor and support equipment. If it has anything to do with loading, unloading, or utilizing a conveyor to move a carton or pallet from point A to point B inside a warehouse, distribution center, or fulfillment center, then we can do it.” That simple description seems to work well for us when explaining where we fit in. Conveyors play a considerable role in the material handling equipment spectrum, and I would argue that they are the true workhorse of the industry. They can move pallets, cartons, or raw materials in almost any environment, and choosing the suitable conveyor will save you time and money.

It does not matter if you are a small business or a large corporation the profitability of the company will always determine its longevity. Small businesses have no choice but to be profitable to survive, and investors and stockholders in large corporations demand that they be profitable for the same reasons. As companies grow and expand, their investment (or lack of) will impact their overall capability to be profitable. An example of “the lack of” is I recently visited a 1.5 million square foot distribution center that does not own 1 inch of conveyor or any automation. They were also using a 30-year-old DOS system for inventory management, and their forklifts were outdated. We were trying to make suggestions on adding select pieces of conveyor and automation, and they were not interested in changing their way of doing things regardless of how good the ROI was. We all know change is hard, but if the ROIs are there and you can improve efficiency and profitability, then not moving forward will eventually be detrimental to the business.

In today’s world, where time literally equals money investing in the right material handling equipment, such as a conveyor, will help you increase efficiency, reduce costs, and meet your throughput and production goals. Of course, this is assuming you have invested the time to consult an expert and design your needs based on short- and long-term business goals. The continuous and fluid movement of products through your warehouse or distribution center is imperative to your success.

Russell Conveyor & Equipment can assist you in doing all of this. We listen first and offer honest analysis of your material handling equipment needs. We offer reliable, efficient, and scalable material handling equipment solutions because your business matters to us, and quite frankly, that’s what we enjoy doing. Our focus is solving problems and meeting the challenges presented to us by our customers daily. If we couldn’t solve problems for our customers, coming to work every day would not be nearly as much fun.