Facilitator's Question

What are the constraints and limitations of crane for material handling? Explain.

There are different constraints and limitations when using cranes for material handling, depending on the models of crane used.

Here are some constraints and limitations of most cranes:

- Cost
The costs of setting up cranes in warehouses are very expensive. Therefore, the company has to make a solid decision whether cranes are needed for their operations. Any wrong decision made might have a great impact on the company.

- Not able to move a heavy flow of volume like conveyor does.
Cranes are only able to move goods one at a time, discontinuously. As compared to conveyors which move goods continuously. This could slow down operation time and affect the total production of the company.

- Space utility.
With the usage of cranes in warehouses, the space utilized will not be exactly 100%. This is because certain cranes need some space to move, like the radius from the pivot to the material. This will definitely decrease the storage space in the warehouse. Therefore, the warehouse might be better off not using cranes, increasing space utiization for the goods.

- Stability of crane.
For the crane to be stable, the maximum lifting capacity of the crane has to be taken into serious consideration. Failure to comply may result in the crane tipping over, due to over-lifting. Serious accidents may occur if the crane tips over.

- Need for certification.
As cranes accidents can be very fatal and dangerous, and not everyone is able to operate cranes well, finding a skilled and experienced crane operator may be a concern. In some regions, the crane operators licence may be needed, hence companies have toeither hires certified operators or send their employees to be trained and certified.

- Regular checks required.
Regular checks need to be conducted on the cranes to ensure that the equipments are in good working condition, which would mean machine downtime, affecting operations unless company has another machine to stand-by for such cases. Any malfunctioning parts will need to be replaced immediately, without further delay. Failure to do so, might have undesirable consequences in future.