Material Handler Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a material handler job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a material handler. Feel free to use our material handler job description template to produce your own material handler job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a material handler.
Who is a Material Handler?
A Material Handler manages, transports, and stores numerous hazardous and non-hazardous materials within a warehouse. Material handlers’ primary responsibilities include loading and unloading various transport items, keeping track of inventory conditions, and ensuring that deliveries accurately correspond to purchase orders. They keep track of the stock inside the warehouse, track of orders, and the company’s goods in storage. They spend a lot of time on their feet loading and unloading merchandise, supplies, and other packages from numerous locations, including storage and manufacturing sites, delivery vehicles, and loading docks.
Material handlers play a crucial role in the supply chain and collaborate with people from various professions, including aerospace engineers, top managers from major vehicle manufacturers, and representatives from well-known food and beverage companies. They often report to a warehouse manager who works under an operations manager, even though employers expect them to operate independently for most of their shift. Most of their co-workers are forklift drivers, warehouse workers, and machine operators.
Material Handlers have to deal with almost everything on the warehouse floor, from processing shipments to loading freight onto shelves utilizing power equipment. When someone puts an order, they take it down, prepare it for transportation, and load it into the truck. They handle the return and restock it when their warehouse accepts a return. Most handlers have the necessary licenses to operate power tools such as pallet trucks, forklifts, and other machinery. They ensure co-workers follow safety regulations, use the equipment correctly, and check to see if they are still functional.
The Material Handlers verify their files and records to ensure that all inbound deliveries adhere to the instructions in their purchase orders before loading up trucks for distribution. Additionally, they are responsible for employing tools like pallets and cargo boards to store the cargo in the designated locations. They record the total number of units they have moved for the day in their production sheet after moving units. They control and supervise all the supplies sent to the manufacturing areas and loading docks. They help load and unload inventories and materials as well. They must be able to accurately classify and stock inventories as part of their job duties. Additionally, while working, they follow all safety and health requirements.
Material handlers should be fully knowledgeable about inventory control and logistical procedures. They should also be comfortable with large equipment like cranes and forklifts. They should have exceptional physical agility and the capacity to work continuously for extended periods.
There are different categories of material handlers. One category is known as a warehouse employee. A warehouse employee is in charge of unloading cargo from trucks, moving pallets using power tools, packaging cargo so it can be transported, returning defective goods to the manufacturer, and keeping track of the inventory in the warehouse. Another category is a Hand packer. A hand packer prepares orders and checks them out for transportation. They deliver the goods to a loading dock or another location for collection. The trash collector comes next; they use garbage trucks to transport the rubbish to a landfill or processing facility after driving through the streets and emptying trash cans into them. There is another category that gathers and processes paper and plastic recyclables. Others move dangerous substances like gas, oil, and caustic chemicals.
As time evolves, different careers implore means to make their work easier and faster; material handlers are no exception. Automation is used more frequently at work as companies explore methods to save costs and boost productivity. More and more businesses are using automated systems to move items. Material handlers can stay one step ahead of the competition by understanding how to use and maintain these technologies. They concentrate on acquiring skills that will increase their value to employers, including sales or customer service. They often work in factories, warehouses, and other industrial and commercial contexts. They could have to use machines, lift big objects, and work in challenging or hazardous positions. In any weather, some may work outside. The labor may entail long hours, overtime, and shift work, and it may also be physically tasking. Material handlers frequently put in full-time hours and may have to work on the weekends and holidays.
Material Handler Job Description
What is a material handler job description? A material handler job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a material handler in an organization. Below are the material handler job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a material handler job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
Here are daily tasks material handlers engage in:
- Communicate the need for purchases and possess information on the availability of scarce goods
- Determine the location of the completed products, then pull, pack, and load them for shipping.
- Discover and identify the appropriate products for delivery.
- Ensure routine maintenance of all material handling machinery.
- Examine the precision of arriving deliveries’ number and quality.
- Follow all safety regulations and requirements for the warehouse.
- Handle returns through the completion of technical documentation and other necessary communication.
- Monitor materials, maintain inventory, identify and label them, and note where they are in the warehouse.
- Load and unload products and supplies into and out of the vehicle.
- Position each item according to its label.
- Transport supplies to and from loading ports, delivery trucks, storage facilities, and production facilities.
- Use vehicles, forklifts, cranes, and other machinery to transfer cargo.
- Work with internal divisions to track down missing parcels, repair delivery errors, and replace damaged goods.
Qualifications
- High school certificate or GED
- Bachelor’s degree (not compulsory in some organizations)
- Forklift certification (optional)
- Experience using warehousing equipment
- Understanding of maths, computer, and data entry
- Physically capable of lifting heavy things
Essential Skills
- Customer service: The act of supporting all present and potential clients include answering inquiries, resolving issues, and delivering top-notch service. Building trusting relationships with consumers is the fundamental objective of customer service in order to keep them coming back for additional purchases. Material handlers ensure they give customers the best experience, especially those who interact with customers. In every business, customers are relevant, so if they are not treated well by workers, it gives the worker and company a negative rating, which can pursue other customers and prevent potential ones from patronizing them. Material handlers can exhibit customer service skills by organizing, compiling, and maintaining accurate statistical data of client complaints. They can give storekeepers outstanding customer service by including product descriptions to make finding the products easy. They can also build ties with vendors and suppliers both directly and indirectly.
- Physical fit: Material handlers require strength and stamina to complete demanding activities all day long, such as lifting heavy things and transporting or cleaning goods. Not all material handlers handle heavy items. They should have physical stamina; it is crucial in this job so they can perform longer shifts and finish more tasks.
- Inventory management: Managing inventory and ensuring that the appropriate materials are present at the right time fall within the purview of material handlers. Additionally, they can be in charge of placing new material orders as stock levels drop. Managing materials and placing them on the appropriate shelves are also part of inventory control.
- Communication: Material handlers must interact successfully with other employees because they frequently operate in teams. They might need to advise their colleagues of the location of a specific product or the time required to do a task. They should communicate to get information from their team members and ask questions. They need to be great at communicating with office staff, delivery drivers, and other warehouse workers.
- Detail-oriented: When keeping track of inventories and sorting goods, material handlers must be able to pay great attention to every little detail. It is necessary to be detail-oriented because it prevents you from mixing up products and orders but ensures that the right products are in the appropriate bins. It is crucial to ensure the organization does not acquire or send out incorrect goods and that they are in the proper location.
- Computer skill: Material handlers utilize computers to enter data, keep track of inventory, and do other activities. They can learn new software and technologies to use at work. Material handlers must possess strong data entry skills to enter account inventory accounts. This skill is necessary since it ensures that their business will make a healthy profit margin. They can also possess knowledge of mathematics to use in data entry.
- Handyman: Material handlers learn to use different hand tools in an assembly line setting. For example, those working in phone manufacturing companies might need to open and close electrical cell phone parts. Depending on where they work, some use hand tools to choose and install machine parts, including cutting blades and rollers in accordance with specifications. Others use sanders, pliers, wrenches, saws, hatchets, and screwdrivers to fix and disengage things.
- Organizing skill: As material handlers, it is crucial to arrange their supplies the way their company specifies, whether in the delivery truck or on shelves. If done correctly, this will save them time from having to refill and reorganize numerous things. They will be more effective at work the more organized they are. When things are not in order, the chances of knowing where they are is less. When workers do not know where an item is, it slows down work and delivery and may lead to a loss of money.
- Time management: It is relevant to have time management abilities to reach a quota. Their time management abilities increase as they become more familiar with the different materials and their locations within their production plant. It is crucial to know whether a product is nearby or on the other side of the warehouse if they have to transport it to a delivery vehicle at a particular time, for instance. They can make appropriate plans if they know in advance.
- Safety management abilities: Material handlers handle all products and equipment with care and in a safe manner because they work with items of different sizes and weights. It requires using safe lifting practices. Mishandling products and equipment may damage them and cause losses for the company. Another reason to handle things safely is that the safety of their co-workers depends on their ability to manage safety issues.
- Active listening skills: Material handlers should have good listening skills to perform their job effectively. They should be able to listen to directions well to pull the right products and place materials in their proper places. They can practice active listening by focusing on what the person talking to them has to say, asking questions, and providing non-verbal feedback such as smiling and eye contact.
How to Become a Material Handler
Education: Most material handlers must possess a high school diploma or equivalent. Some organizations may prefer potential material handlers who have completed a college or university degree in logistics, warehousing, or material handling. However, some employers might also search for candidates who have finished online learning courses or technical or vocational programs to achieve an associate degree or certification in warehouse management. An individual with an advanced degree will not only be capable of carrying out the routine duties of a Material Handler, but be managerially skilled and knowledgeable in areas such as accounting, purchasing, and expense analysis. For an entry-level career, tertiary education might not be compulsory, but employers are more interested in their physical strength and endurance when working on their feet for extended periods. Although they will need to learn about technology, tools, and safety procedures, they will not have to deal with challenging activities above a person’s strengths. Some people begin working as material handlers while still in high school to build their resumes.
Experience and Training: Material handlers frequently undergo on-the-job training; this training may last a few weeks or months, depending on the business and the experience. The material handler will learn about the organization’s policies and procedures, safety procedures, how to utilize the equipment, and how to carry out everyday responsibilities during this training.
Licenses and certificates: Candidates might raise their bar by obtaining a forklift operation license or other specialized driver’s licenses.
Where to Work as a Material Handler
- Clothing stores
- Electronic manufacturing firms
- Food and beverage companies
- Factories
- Recycling companies
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Warehouses
- Wholesale and retail stores
Material Handler Salary Scale
Different factors determine the salary in any career. Some are location, skills, level, educational qualification, industry, etc. In the United States, a material handler may earn an annual average salary of $38,305. Their salary range is between $27,630-$55,740. Material handlers at the managerial level make more.
In the United Kingdom, a material handler may earn an average annual salary of £22,610. Their salary range is between £19,102-£29,430. Some make a bit more or less.