In land-scarce Singapore, SMEs typically operate in tight flatted factory units of about 2000 square feet each. Trades like food production, furniture carpentry, metal parts machining and fabrication, to stockists and resellers of hardware, spare parts, and vehicle repair workshops etc… all require different types of material handling equipment to operate their businesses correctly and safely. These SMEs of different trades collectively contributes a sizable percentage of Singapore GDP and hire a large number of our total work force. (photo of a typical flatted factory in Singapore)
Material Handling Equipment for General Lifting and Moving of Materials
We can summarise the following material handling equipment for the various workflow applications:
Electric Forklifts
A forklift is a general purpose material handling equipment used to lift, move and place materials on pallets. It is the standard equipment used in most facilities to load, unload and move pallets between the container/lorry and the staging or storage area. Besides moving production materials, semi-finished and finished goods, a forklift can also move, lift and position molds and jigs onto machineries in the production shop floor. Depending on the product, special forklift attachment can be fitted to handle products like barrels, sheet metal or paper rolls and wire coils, just to name a few.
In Singapore, many SMEs are switching from diesel forklifts to battery powered electric forklifts since electric forklifts are more environmentally friendly. Unlike the diesel forklifts which can be highly hazardous to health when operating in a confined and enclosed space because of their harmful emission, electric forklifts are generally quiet and do not have any exhaust. Diesel engines also require frequent maintenance as well as careful storage of their flammable fuel on the premises. For hygiene reasons, diesel engine forklifts are especially not allowed to operate in the food production and storage environment.
Forklifts of load capacities between 1,500 kg and 3,000 kg and lifting heights between 3 meters and 4.5 meters are the most common to meet most workflow applications. There is also a healthy used market as well as an active rental sector for these trucks.
Reach Trucks and Stackers
Both the reach trucks and stackers are for lifting goods and materials on pallets to be placed and retrieved from the pallet racks. Unlike the electric forklift which requires a wide aisle to manoeuvre, reach trucks and stackers are more compact to operate in an approximately 3 meters wide aisle.
For a small store or warehouse with ceiling height below 5 meters or so, an economical electric stacker can adequately lift a 1,000 kg to 1,500 kg load up to 3.3 meters. In addition, electric stackers are powered by a small capacity battery usually for occasional use. Other variations of electric stackers are counter balance stackers, mast-reach stackers, and single pantograph (scissor) fork-reach stackers.
For warehouse with roof higher than 5 meter, an electric reach truck is required. Available with load capacities between 1,500 kg and 2,500kg with lifting heights from 5 meters to 12 meters, reach trucks can also operate longer hours than a stacker with a much larger batttery capacity. A fully charged reach truck can typically operate a full 8-hour shift. To assist the operator to place and retrieve a pallet from the rack at height, a camera with a monitor are usually installed as a standard.
Other variations of reach trucks are single pantograph (scissor), double pantograph fork-reach trucks (for use with space-optimized double-deep pallet racking) and reach trucks especially manufactured to operate in freezer/chiller warehouses or in an explosive environment.
Electric reach trucks and electric stackers play a basic and yet the key role in transporting pallets from one point to another, put pallets away onto the pallet racks and picking pallets according to orders. Available to select between a stand-on or seated configuration, their respective ergonomic design offers operator different levels of comfort, reducing fatigue and enhancing productivity.
Pallet Jacks (aka Pallet Trucks)
Essentially a must-have material handling equipment for the manufacturing and warehousing industries, pallet jacks are used to move pallets of goods and materials from point to point within the facilities. Pallet jacks are also widely used by logistic companies for outdoor delivery services.
Depending on the industries and applications, there are many variations of pallet jacks to suit:
High lift pallet jack for ease of transferring goods on and off a pallet, reducing the risk of injury commonly caused by bending and lifting
4-Way pallet jack not only moves forward and backward but also moves sideways; for moving long goods through narrow aisles sideways
Heavy load capacity pallet jack able to lift and move up to 5,000 kg of load, typically used to move heavy equipment
Less easy to rust and hence more hygienic, stainless steel pallet jacks are widely used to move pallets between cold and ambient temperatures in the food industry.
Tysen Technologies: Stockist of Material Handling Equipment in Singapore
We are one of few stockists of material handling equipment in Singapore, ready to deliver from our stock to meet most SMEs’ material handling needs. We also carry out equipment maintenance and repair and keep stock of high mortality spare parts. Depending on applications, customized material handling equipment can be made-to-order, helping businesses to streamline their workflow to meet their specific operational objectives.
