Unlike humans, machines can work for hours on end without requiring a break. This characteristic of machines saves time, reducing project completion times significantly. Prior to the invention of material handling equipment, transportation of materials from one part of a work site to another was cumbersome and time-consuming. With a crane or conveyor belt, all you must do is place whatever commodity you need to move from point to point, and within a matter of minutes the task is complete.
The use of machines to handle materials in industries such as construction and storage cuts the industries' costs in terms of wages and allowances. Transporting a container requires only one person to handle the crane, unlike before when it may have required up to 10 people to carry a single container. The industry can redirect the money that was to serve as wages for the nine extra employees to other areas, such as improving infrastructure. Though the machines need regular servicing, the use of material handling equipment significantly reduces the costs of production, in turn increasing profit margins for the company.
Human beings are subject to limitations from health and age that affect their ability to endure difficult working conditions. This affects the efficiency with which they carry out their tasks. Machines are not limited by these restrictions, and therefore material handling equipment is more efficient than humans. Take, for example, a highway construction project. While watering the mortar foundation or earth foundation, a water dispensing truck will carry out the task more efficiently than a human using a hose. All you need to do for the water truck is to regulate the size of the valve in use to control the amount of water being released.
The use of material handling equipment reduces the risk of damaging goods. The operator is less likely to drop a container full of fragile goods such as glasses when using a lift-up track or a forklift than when people do the same task. The risk of injuries and accidents is also considerably reduced by the use of material handling equipment. This is mainly due to the fact that there are fewer people on site.