Before I slowed into semi-retirement, I kept a small forklift around for unloading and loading trucks, mostly material in bar form, or if it was a larger bar, I'd have the supplier do the saw work. Then it might come in on a pallet. Finished parts might be palletized, or once in a while, a single part would need to be crated. Forklift for all of that.
Now, the work I chose to do is small enough so that even when I buy a bar, it's either man-handle it, or possibly the supplier cuts in in half for me. And my volume is low, so I don't need to do anything on a pallet now.
When I bring in or remove a piece if equipment, I either do it the Egyptian way, if I have time and feel energetic, or bite the bullet and rent a lift. On the Mighty-Turn I brought in - the last machine- I loaded it at the source with a forklift, but when it was there, I put 4 x 6 runners under it, and winched it off the trailer, an auto-hauler, into the shop, and being creative out of necessity and stubbornness I used come-alongs and pipes to position it and jacks to get it back on the leveling feet.
Also in the shop, I have a shop built rolling gantry. It is a combined welded and bolted design, so it can be broken down if needed. I do have a problem with it though. When I had the shop built, I went with 8 foot walls. The gantry is about 8'2", and I have 96" fluorescent fixtures mounted to the bottom of the joist piece if the trusses. So....it will not even get close to clearing the truss bottom. Fortunately, the trusses are 10 feet apart, so I chose a "bay" and have the gantry within it. Of course, I can't get above all of the machines, but I can cover the Acer 17 x 60 lathe (primary lathe), the BP clone, and the Zayer No. 3 universal mill. It's also situated and clear to bring in a car or truck in for engine pulling. I can also back a trailer in to unload "stuff" if it is within the capacity of the gantry. I have lifted a bit over a ton with it many times. I can pick up my clone no problem. I brought in a 6 x 12 surface grinder....unloaded it easily. Although I can roll it over the Zayer, I believe it's weight is in the area of 4500 lbs, so can't pick it. I can load and unload heavier parts, or rotary table, dividing head, vise, etc on it though.
I have a light duty gib crane where I did have a bandsaw, and a 500 lb electric hoist in it. It's more or less over the Mighty-Turn, but I really don't like it. It's not what I call secure, and I never plan on using it. It will be removed in favor of something heavier. The M-T is capable of heavier work, so I want to be able to put a 750 lb piece of material in it if I want to.