Types of Production to be Handled: The type of production being handled greatly affects material handling decisions. Powders liquids and gases are well suited for transport by pipelines. Automatic transfer machine should be used in automatic processes where a sufficiently high volume of production is available to offset the high cost of the equipment. Cranes and hoists are best suited for very heavy lifting jobs where the material to be used cannot be easily lifted from below. Conveyors should be used where flexible destinations are required and where the volume of materials to be moved may be low. The characteristics of the products including weight size shape perish ability and whether it is a solid liquid or gas have significant bearing on the selection of the type of device which should be chosen to move them.