MATERIAL HANDLING

SYSTEMS
Ship Loader / Unloader Stacker / Reclaimer ConveyorSystem
1. Ship Loader 2. Unloader for Coal 3. Ship unloader for
Gypsum/Slag 4. Coal Stacker/Reclaimer 5. Conveyor
Material handling is the function of moving the right material
to the right place in the right time, in the right amount, in
sequence, and in the right condition to minimize production
cost.
Material handling ...
involves handling, storing, and controlling material
adds value through time and place utility
impacts space requirement, profits, quality, safety,
and productivity
The cost of MH estimates 20-25 of total manufacturing labor
cost in the United States [The Material Handling Industry of
America (MHIA)]
The primary goal is to reduce unit costs of production
Maintain or improve product quality, reduce damage
of materials
Promote safety and improve working conditions
Promote increased use of facilities
Reduce tare weight (dead weight)
Control inventory
Promote productivity
material should flow in a straight line
use gravity! It is free power
move more material at one time
mechanize material handling
automate material handling


Material handling equipment includes:
Transport Equipment: industrial trucks,
Automated Guided vehicles (AGVs),
monorails, conveyors, cranes and hoists.
Storage Systems: bulk storage, rack
systems, shelving and bins, drawer storage,
automated storage systems.
Unitizing Equipment: palletizers
Identification and Tracking systems

MATERIAL HANDLING
Objectives
A. Reduce Unit Material Handling Cost
Eliminate Unnecessary Handling
Handle Material in Batch Lots
Minimize Required Handling Time
Replace Handling Equipment as
Appropriate

B. Reduce Production Time
Minimize Delays of Machine
Operations
Maintain Uniform, Appropriate
Movement of Material
Use Automatic Processing When
Appropriate

C. Reduce Overhead
Minimize Non-Productive Labor
Prevent Damage to Materials
Coordinate All Material Handling
Systems
D. Conserve Floor Space
Avoid Excessive Stock Storage
Move Materials in a Position to Save
Space
Use Equipment Requiring No Floor
Space

E. Prevent Accidents
Reduce Physical Load Required
Insure Handling Equipment is Safe

F. Improve Employee Morale
Provide Proper Relationship Between
Employee & Work

Principles Provide rules-of-thumb
Planning
Standardization
Work
Ergonomic
Unit Load
Space Utilization
System
Automation
Environmental

1. Life Cycle Cost The Planning Principle
Large-scale material handling projects usually
require a team approach.
Material handling planning considers every
move, every storage need, and any delay in order
to minimize production costs.
The plan should reflect the strategic objectives
of the organization as well as the more
immediate needs.

2. The systems principle: MH and storage activities
should be fully integrated to form a coordinated,
operational system that spans receiving, inspection,
storage, production, assembly, , shipping, and the
handling of returns.
Information flow and physical material flow should
be integrated and treated as concurrent activities.
Methods should be provided for easily identifying
materials and products, for determining their
location and status within facilities and within the
supply chain.
3. Simplification principle
simplify handling by reducing, eliminating, or
combining unnecessary movement and/or
equipment.
Four questions to ask to simplify any job:
Can this job be eliminated?
If we cant eliminate, can we combine
movements to reduce cost? (unit load
concept)
If we cant eliminate or combine, can we
rearrange the operations to reduce the travel
distance?
If we cant do any of the above, can we
simplify?


4. Gravity principle
Utilize gravity to move material whenever practical.
5. Space utilization principle
The better we use our building cube, the less space
we need to buy or rent.
Racks, mezzanines, and overhead conveyors are a
few examples that promote this goal.
6. Unit load principle
Unit loads should be appropriately sized and
configured at each stage of the supply chain.
The most common unit load is the pallet
cardboard pallets
plastic pallets
wooden pallets
steel skids


7. Automation principle
MH operations should be mechanized
and/or automated where feasible to improve
operational efficiency, increase
responsiveness, improve consistency and
predictability, decrease operating costs.
ASRS is a perfect example.
8.Equipment selection principle
Why? What? Where? When? How? Who?
If we answer these questions about each
move, the solution will become evident.



9.The standardization principle
standardize handling methods as well as
types and sizes of handling equipment
too many sizes and brands of equipment
results in higher operational cost.
A fewer sizes of carton will simplify the
storage.
10. The dead weight principle
Try to reduce the ratio of equipment weight
to product weight. Dont buy equipment
that is bigger than necessary.
Reduce tare weight and save money.

11. The maintenance principle
Plan for preventive maintenance and
scheduled repairs of all handling
equipment.
Pallets and storage facilities need repair
too.
12. The capacity principle
use handling equipment to help achieve
desired production capacity
i.e. material handling equipment can help
to maximize production equipment
utilization.

1. Containers and Unitizing Equipment
Containers
Unitizers
2. Material Transport Equipment
Conveyors
Industrial Vehicles
Monorails, Hoists, and Cranes
3. Storage and Retrieval Equipment
Unit Load Storage and Retrieval
Unit Load Storage Equipment
Unit Load Retrieval Equipment
Small Load Storage and Retrieval
4. Automatic Data Collection and Communication Equipment
Automatic Identification and Recognition
Automatic Paperless Communication

Conveyors
Conveyors are another form of
material handling. Conveyors can be
used in a multitude of ways from
warehouses to airport baggage
handling systems. Some types of
conveyors are unibilt, power and
free, chain, towline and roller
conveyors.
Large Conveyors (2 axis)
Lifts
Chutes
Cranes
Tracks - Monorail
Lift truck
Computer Controlled Truck
A derrick is a lifting
device composed of one tower,
or guyed mast such as a pole
which is hinged freely at the
bottom. It is controlled by lines
(usually four of them) powered
by some means such as man-
hauling or motors, so that the
pole can move in all four
directions. A line runs down and
over its bottom with a hook on
the end, like with a crane. It is
commonly used in docks and on
board ships. Some large derricks
are mounted on
dedicated vessels, and are often
known as "floating derricks".

Cantilevered crane loading
platforms are temporary
platforms attached to the face
of multi-storey buildings or
structures to allow materials
and equipment to be directly
loaded on or shifted off floor
levels by cranes during
construction or demolition.
They may be fixed or rolling
and a variety of designs are
used including fully
fabricated and demountable
types. The platforms are
supported on needles
(cantilevered beams)
anchored to the supporting
structure.

A pallet (pron.: /plt/),
sometimes inaccurately called
a skid (a skid has no bottom deck
boards), is a flat transport
structure that supports goods in a
stable fashion while being lifted
by a forklift, pallet jack, front
loader or other jacking device. A
pallet is the structural foundation
of a unit load which allows
handling and storage efficiencies.
Goods or shipping containers are
often placed on a pallet secured
with strapping, stretch
wrap or shrink wrapand shipped.
While most pallets are wooden,
pallets also are made
of plastic, metal, and paper. Each
material has advantages and
disadvantages relative to the
others.


Automated material handling
(AMH) systems improve
efficiency of transportation,
storage and retrieval of materials.
Examples are computerized
conveyors, and automated
storage and retrieval systems
(AS/RS) in which computers
direct automatic loaders to pick
and place items. Automated
guided vehicle (AGV) systems
use embedded floor wires to
direct driverless vehicles to
various locations in the plant.
Benefits of AMH systems include
quicker material movement,
lower inventories and storage
space, reduced product damage
and higher labour productivity.

Automated guided vehicle systems
An automated guided vehicle system is a battery-powered driver-
less vehicle with programming capabilities for destination, path
selection, and positioning.
The AGVS belongs to a class of highly flexible, intelligent, and
versatile material handling systems used to transport materials from
various loading locations to various unloading locations throughout
the facility.
The components of an AGVS
1. The vehicle. It is used to move the material within the system
without a human operator.
2. The guide path. It guides the vehicle to move along the path.
3. The control unit. It monitors and directs system operations
including feedback on moves, inventory, and vehicle status.
4. The computer interface. It interfaces with other computers and
systems such as the mainframe host computer, the automated storage
and retrieval system, and the flexible manufacturing system.
1. AGVS towing vehicles: usually, towing applications involve the bulk
movement of product into and out of warehouse areas. Towing vehicles are
better used for large volumes with long moving distances of 1000 ft or
more.
2. AGVS unit load transporters: are equipped with decks that permit
transportation of an individual unit load on board the vehicle. The deck can
be powered or non-powered roller, chain or belt deck, lift-and-lower type, or
custom deck with multiple compartments. Unitload transporters are often
equipped with automatic load transfer and normally used in warehousing
and distribution systems where the guide path lengths are relatively short
but the volumes are high.
3. AGVS pallet trucks: are designed to lift, maneuver, and transport palletized
loads. The vehicle is used for picking up and dropping off loads from and to
floor level, thus eliminating the need for fixed load stands. It can be loaded
and unloaded in automatically or manually. For load transportation, the
vehicle normally proceeds along the path to a specific storage area
destination, pulls off onto a spur, lowers the pallet forks to the floor, pulls
from the pallet, and then automatically returns empty to the loading area.

4. AGVS forklift trucks: has the ability to pick up and drop off palletized loads
both at floor level and on stands, and pickup height can be different from the
drop-off height. The vehicles can position its forks at any height so that
conveyors or load stands with different height in the material handling system
can all be served. It is one of the most expensive AGVS types, so they are
applied only in systems where full automation is required. A system with these
vehicles requires a more intricate path layout and a method for accurately
positioning the loads on the floor or on stands. It also requires greater discipline
than other systems.
5. AGVS light-load transporters: They are used to handle small, light parts over a
moderate distance and to distribute the parts between storage and number of
workstations. They are designed to operate in areas with limited space.
6. AGVS assembly-line vehicles: are adaptation of the light-load transporter for
applications involving serial assembly processes. The guided vehicle carries
major subassemblies such motors, transmissions, or even automobiles. As the
vehicle moves from one station to the next, succeeding assembly operations are
performed. The major advantage of the AGVS assembly line is lower expense
and ease of installation compared with hard assembly lines. The line can easily
be changed by adjusting the guide path if necessary and by reprogramming.

1. Material Characteristics

Category Measures
Physical state
Size
Weight
Shape
Condition
Safety risk and risk of
damage
Solid, liquid, or gas
Volume; length, width, height
Weight per piece, weight per unit volume
Long and flat, round, square, etc.
Hot, cold, wet, etc.
Explosive, flammable, toxic; fragile, etc.
2. Flow rate
Manual handling
Hand trucks
Powered trucks
Unit load AGV
Conveyors Conveyors
AGV train
High
Low
Long Short Move Distance
Quantity of
material
moved
3. Plant Layout
Layout Type Characteristics Typical MH Equipment
Fixed position


Process



Product

Large product size, low
production rate

Variation in product and
processing, low and medium
production rates


Limited product variety, high
production rate

Cranes, hoists, industrial trucks


Hand trucks, forklift trucks,
AGVs



Conveyors for product flow,
trucks to deliver components to
stations.
Advantages Disadvantages
1. More economical if large
volume of material moved to
same place
2. One power supply to drive
entire belt more economical
3. Reduction in need for lot
identification tags
4. Can be used to pace the workers
1. Less economical if material
follows diverse paths
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Can cover a wider area
1. Still limited to area
covered
Advantage Disadvantage
1. Flexible
1. Must have portable power
supply with each piece of
equipment