Industrial Containers and Material Handling for Bulk Processing Applications

It's easy to overlook industrial containers. We focus so often on material handling equipment itself that we forget the importance of standardization for the things that hold bulk product. In order to maintain the pace of material handling necessary in so many industries, though, the equipment must be compatible with the containers — and that means standard bin sizes.

Ultimately, the deceptively simple technology of what is essentially just a box turns out to be the very backbone of a range of industries, from waste management to food manufacturing to agriculture. Any business that uses large quantities of raw materials or ingredients needs to choose a standard method of storing and moving those essential elements. The market has responded with several leading options, all of which integrate into workflow with matching material handling equipment.

The rise of industrial containers began with the development of the pallet. This simple invention actually touched off a revolution in material handling and logistics around the world. Pallets allow virtually anything to be parceled into a single standardized unit. This vastly simplifies the entire supply chain, with distributors and recipients able to easily transport pallet loads with the same material handling equipment.

Of course, technology continues to develop, and there are many more options for bulk material handling today than there were during the rise of the pallet. In order to plan safe and productive supply chains, it is essential that managers understand the relative benefits of both industrial containers and the material handling equipment that empty them.

Types of Bins Used in Bulk Processing

Forklifts are the go-to material handling device in modern industry. As such, the bulk containers at use in the field these days must all be compatible with lift trucks. Many of these items can trace their design back to the simple wooden pallet and its offshoots.

However, large-scale collection containers, such as dumpsters, are also necessary for some bulk material handling applications — the obvious one being waste disposal.

• Pallet Bins - Produce companies need a simple way to carry bulk quantities of apples, bananas, peaches, or anything else they offer their clients. Palletizing boxes of these goods would add to shipping times, ultimately raising costs.
  
  Pallet bins offer a solution. These plastic containers fit into a pallet's footprint, with two- or four-way fork pockets in the base. They're typically vented to reduce spoilage, and they come in a variety of heights. These features make pallet bins the workhorses of grocery suppliers.

• Dumpsters - In the UK, they call these things skips. In Australia, they're cubic bins. No matter what you call them, though, dumpsters are often the key accumulation point in the waste disposal stream. With their angled lip, dumpsters are designed to be picked up by trucks, driven to a landfill or recycling center, and emptied directly into their final resting places.

• Boxes and Crates - The main advantage of smaller cardboard boxes and milk crates is that they can be stacked on pallets to create a whole, easily handled pallet load. You'll find these containers all over the grocery retail industry, especially at distribution centers and shipping/receiving rooms.

• Wheelie Bins - The typical backyard trash can is technically called a "wheelie bin." They're typically made of light plastic and are easily maneuverable thanks to two rear casters. These are most-often lifted and emptied into garbage or recycling trucks.

Material Handling Equipment for Emptying Bins

In the typical workplace, each of these high-capacity containers requires its own piece of material handling equipment to get around the facility. Forklifts handle pallet bins, garbage trucks pick up dumpsters, and workers themselves usually have to carry boxes and crates.

However, while these tools may lift and transport loaded bins, they rarely empty them efficiently. In the worst-case scenario, staff have to lift and empty heavy bins manually. This task involves several of the ergonomic risk factors OSHA cautions against, including "exerting excessive force," "reaching above shoulder height," and "twisting the torso while lifting."

Even if manual emptying were perfectly safe, productivity benefits come with the right material handling equipment. To empty industrial-sized bins, that’s where the MegaDumper Bin Dumper from Solus Group does the trick. The MegaDumper is the most powerful of the already-heavy-duty family of Bin Dumpers, designed for loads of up to 1,300 pounds — or more on custom builds.

The MegaDumper lifts all sorts of bins with a lift-and-tip motion that keeps weight within the unit's footprint. This ensures total stability and safe, targeted emptying of whatever's in the cradle. Speaking of the cradle, the standard unit features stays that hold two-wheeled bins in place without further action, as well as swing-arm catches to hold other types of containers in place. Custom cradles suit containers of any type.

MegaDumper Bin Dumpers are ideal for indoor or outdoor use. The main frame and cradle are made entirely of galvanized steel, so users can even store them outside. A swing-up loading door prevents operation of the unit while it's open, preventing injuries even when workers make a mistake. Every industry that works with bulk materials can benefit from the quick, safe operation of a MegaDumper.

High-Capacity Bins and the Industries that Use Them

Material handling is similar across industries, even when the materials being handled differ considerably. However, due to differences from one application to the next, you might find different types of bins depending on whether you're in a food production factory or a recycling center. Here are a few of the industries that handle large-scale bins on a regular basis, and some tips for the most efficient containers for each:

• Agriculture
  
  Farmers and ranchers that raise pigs, cows, chickens, or any other agricultural animal have to work with two types of bulk materials on a daily basis: feed and manure. The latter can be accumulated and converted into fertilizer, although this practice has diminished over the past 50 years, due in part to the "cost of transporting manure, which is a bulky, relatively low analysis nutrient source," according to the University of Minnesota Extension.
  
  However, farmers can reduce costs and improve sustainability by composting manure into fertilizer. With two-wheeled bins and a MegaDumper, this process becomes much quicker and more affordable.
  
  A study on musculoskeletal disorders among dairy farmers listed the handling of feed as a major source of these injuries. Bin Dumpers remove this hazard, improving staff health and productivity at the same time.

• Food Manufacturing
  
  A report from the UK Health and Safety Executive lists common hazards of raw material handling tasks in food production facilities. Emptying sacks into sieves, pouring ingredients into hoppers, and emptying tubs of dry ingredients all made the list. In each case, the solution was to provide material handling assistance to remove the risk.
  
  MegaDumpers would have improved safety and productivity in each of these cases. Food production involves a lot of emptying containers into larger machines, which is the purpose of a Bin Dumper.

• Waste Management
  
  Wheelie bins, dumpsters, and Bin Dumpers are essential to municipal waste services. Whether solid waste is headed to the landfill, the recycling center, or a community compost heap, staff remain much safer when they have ergonomic equipment that can empty bins, rather than relying on manual power.

• Medical Waste Disposal
  
  Medical waste poses particular safety challenges to staff who must handle these materials. "Sharps" such as needles and lancets can easily poke through containers, and medical waste can be considered a biohazard.
  
  When emptying medical waste into incinerators or thermal treatment machines, employers must ensure that staff are protected from contact with materials. They must shield employees from potential splashback.
  
  MegaDumpers provide a solution with the optional PET-G Operator Guard. This shatter-proof plastic shield affixes to the frame of the unit, preventing drips and splashes of hazardous materials from getting anywhere near the operator.

Material Handling for Industrial Containers

Virtually every industry relies on specialized containers and material handling equipment that matches. MegaDumper Bin Dumpers from Solus Group fit a wide variety of applications, with custom options to integrate smoothly into existing workflow.

When you have bulk goods to handle, improve productivity and workplace safety with Bin Dumpers from Solus Group.

References:

"Ergonomics." OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, United States Department of Labor, n.d. Web. 27 June 2017.

"Medical Waste." EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 27 June 2017.

"Moving food and drink." HSE. Health and Safety Executive, 2014. Web. 27 June 2017.

Rosen, Carl and Peter Bierman. "Using manure and compost as nutrient sources for fruit and vegetable crops." Extension.UMN. University of Minnesota Extension, n.d. Web. 27 June 2017.

Taghavi, Sayed et. al. "Risk Factors for Developing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders during Dairy Farming." theIJOEM. The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 1 Jan. 2017. Web. 27 June 2017.