Lifting Equipment for Sheets of Wood, Glass, Metal, Plastic, Composites, and More

Today we’ll start by discussing different types of sheets that people try to lift. Then, we’ll examine common challenges people face when manually handling sheets. Next, we’ll have a demonstration to explore ways a vacuum lift can handle sheets. I’ll show you how a vacuum lifter works, suction feet that are designed to lift sheets, and other important features. We’ll
Sheets is a broad category, and everyone might have something a little different that comes to mind since sheets can be made from a wide range of materials. For the purpose of this webinar, let’s define some examples. First, we have wood sheets. This is common in the woodworking industry as people need to lift doors or panels to make furniture or cabinets. Another type is metal sheets. These can be seen in machine shops and can include materials like steel or bronze. Next, we have glass & windows, which can be seen in the automotive industry. For plastic laminate sheets and composite, they can be used to make many different items, such as kitchen countertops. And our last example is marble.
When facilities try to lift sheets manually, they run into a variety of challenges that can significantly slow down production. The weight of sheets can vary, but let’s say a facility needs to lift a 150-pound sheet. That would take at least two employees to lift it. Now, if we’re talking about a 350-pound sheet, that would take at least three people, maybe even four, so that means one simple task of handling a sheet requires multiple employees to accomplish it. Also, multiple people lifting a sheet can be a slow process. Sheets can be bulky and awkward to carry. Depending on the thickness of the sheet, it can bend when people are trying to lift it, which makes the task even more difficult. Another consideration is distance. The farther people have to carry a sheet, the more exhausted they will be, and an employee might have to lift sheets over their entire shift. People won’t work as fast after lifting heavy sheets for four hours compared to when they first walked into work.
Also, handling sheets can lead to injury of the back, shoulders, or wrists. Employees might need to bend down to lift a sheet, which can put strain on their back. Or they might have overhead work when lifting a sheet, which puts strain on their shoulders. Also, it is common in the woodworking industry for employees to lift sheets onto a vertical table saw. This requires tilting a large unwieldy sheet to load the saw, and then repeating that process to unload the sheet once it’s been cut, which puts significant strain on the body such as wrists. Injuries can be very expensive, and it’s important to keep in mind that it can be difficult to temporarily fill-in an employee’s position while they are on sick leave. There might only be a few employees who are strong enough to lift heavy sheets, so no one else is available to step-in. It also makes it harder to hire people when you must look for someone with a specific amount of strength to fulfill all the job responsibilities.
While the challenges might seem overwhelming, automated lifting solutions can make a huge difference. First, I’m going to demonstrate TAWI’s multi-functional vacuum lifter, also referenced to as a VM. It comes in 9 different models with its maximum lifting capacity being 600 pounds.