-PIYUSH H. BHATIA

MATERIAL HANDLING

CONTENTS• Introduction• Goals of Material Handling• Overview of Material Handling Equipment• Considerations in Material Handling System Design• Principles of Material Handling

INTRODUCTION• 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.

Goals of Material Handling• 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 productivity

• material should flow in a straight line• use gravity! It is free power• move more material at one time• automate material handling

Goals of Material Handling• Promote increased use of facilities• Reduce tare weight (dead weight)• Control inventory

Overview of Material Handling Equipment

• Material handling equipment includes:• Transport Equipment: industrial trucks, Automated Guided

vehicles (AGVs), monorails, conveyors, cranes and hoists.

Overview of Material Handling Equipment

• Storage Systems: bulk storage, rack systems, shelving and bins, drawer storage, automated storage systems.

• Unitizing Equipment: palletizers

• Identification and Tracking systems : RFID, Barcodes.

Considerations in Material Handling System Design

1. Material Characteristics

Category MeasuresPhysical stateSizeWeightShapeConditionSafety risk and risk of damage

Solid, liquid, or gasVolume; length, width, heightWeight per piece, weight per unit volumeLong and flat, round, square, etc.Hot, cold, wet, etc.Explosive, flammable, toxic; fragile, etc.

. 2. Flow rate

Manual handlingHand trucks

Powered trucksUnit load AGV

Conveyors ConveyorsAGV trainHigh

Low

LongShort 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.

Principles of Material Handling

1. 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 includes receiving, inspection, storage, production, assembly, shipping, and the handling of returns.

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 can’t eliminate, can we combine movements

to reduce cost?• If we can’t eliminate or combine, can we rearrange

the operations to reduce the travel distance? • If we can’t 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.• Racks 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 an example.

8. 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.

9. The dead weight principle• Try to reduce the ratio of equipment weight to

product weight. Don’t buy equipment that is bigger than necessary.

• Reduce tare weight.

10. The maintenance principle• Plan for preventive maintenance and scheduled

repairs of all handling equipment.• Pallets and storage facilities need repair too.

11. The capacity principle• Use handling equipment to help achieve desired

production capacity• Material handling equipment can help to

maximize production equipment utilization.

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