Material Handling Systems

1.0 Material Handling -Definition

Material Handling embraces all of the basic operations involved in the movement of bulk,
packed and individual products in a semisolid or a solid state by means of machinery and
within the limits of a place of business.

1.2 Functions of Material handling systems

1. Movement of material in a horizontal (transfer) and vertical (lifting) direction as
well as loading and unloading.
2. Movement of material within place of business (movement from station to station
of raw material, semi-finished goods, and finished goods)
3. Selection of handling equipment
4. Movement of large, unpacked volumes such as cement, sugar, coal

1.3 Objectives of Material handling

• To increase the efficiency of material flow by ensuring the availability of material
when and where it is needed
• To reduce material-handling cost
• To improve facilities utilization
• To improve safety and working conditions
• To facilitate the manufacturing process
• To increase productivity

2.0 Material Handling Equipment Types

A wide variety of equipment is available each having distinct characteristics and cost that
distinguish it from the other.

These are:
• Conveyors
• Monorail, Hoists and Cranes
• Trucks

2.1 Conveyors
Used for moving material continuously over a fixed path. Examples are:
1. Chute Conveyor
2. Belt Conveyor
a. Flat Belt Conveyor
b. Telescoping Belt Conveyor
c. Troughed Belt Conveyor
d. Magnetic Belt Conveyor
3. Roller Conveyor
4. Wheel Conveyor
5. Slat Conveyor
6. Chain Conveyor
7. Tow Line Conveyor
8. Trolley Conveyor
9. Power and Free Conveyor
10. Cart-on-Track Conveyor
11. Sorting Conveyor

2.1.1 Advantages of conveyors

• Their high capacity permits moving a large number of items
• Their speed is adjustable
• Handling combined with other activities such as processing and inspection is
possible
• They are versatile and can be on the floor or overhead
• Temporary storage between work stations is possible
• Load transfer is automatic and does not require assistance of many operators
• Straight line path or aisles are not required
• Utilization of the cube is feasible through the use of overhead conveyors

2.1.2 Disadvantages of conveyors

• They follow a fixed path, serving only limited areas
• Bottlenecks can develop in the systems
• A breakdown in any part of the conveyor stops the entire line
• Since conveyors are fixed in position they hinder the movement of mobile
equipment on the floor

2.2 Cranes and hoists

These are items of overhead equipment for moving loads intermittently within a limited
area
1. Monorail
2. Hoist
3. Cranes
a. Jib Crane
b. Bridge Crane
c. Gantry Crane
d. Tower Crane
e. Stacker Crane

2.2.1 Advantages of Cranes and hoists

• Lifting as well as transferring of materials is possible
• Interference with the work on the floor is minimized
• Valuable floor space is saved for work rather then being utilized for installation of
handling equipment
• Capable of handling heavy loads
 • Capable of loading and unloading material

2.2.2 Disadvantages of Cranes and hoists

• They require heavy investment (especially bridge cranes)
• They serve a limited area
• Some move only in a straight line and thus cannot make turns
• Utilization may not be high as desirable since cranes are used only for a short
time during daily work
• An operator has to be available for operating some types

2.3 Trucks
Hand and powered trucks move loads over varying paths.
Examples of such are:
• Lift trucks
• Hand trucks
• Fork trucks, trailer trains
• Automated guided vehicles

2.3.1 Advantages of trucks

• They are not required to follow a fixed path of movement and therefore can be
used anywhere on the floor where space permits
• They are capable of loading, unloading and lifting in addition to transferring
material
• Can serve different areas thus achieve high utilization

2.3.2 Disadvantages of Trucks

• They cannot handle heavy loads
• They have limited capacity per trip
• Aisles are required else trucks will interfere with work on the floor
• Most trucks have to be driven by an operator
• Trucks do not allow handling to be combined with processing and inspection

3.0 Accessories
• Pallet
– A a platform on which material can be stacked in unit loads and handled
by lifting equipment such as forklift truck
– Made of wood, plastic, metal or a combination of the three
– Size depends on size and weight of load, equipment moving the pallet,
size of aisles, doors and cost of pallet
• Box
– Portable container in which parts or material can be stored in unit loads
• Tote Pan
– Portable container smaller than box to carry small parts from one work
station to the other
3.1 The Unit Load Concept
• It is more economical to move items and material in groups than individually.
• Unit load is defined as a number of items arranged such that they can be handled
as a single object through palletization, unitization and containerization
– Palletization is assembling and securing of individual items on a platform
that can be moved by a truck or a crane
– Unitization is assembling of goods as one compact load by packaging and
wrapping the items
– Containerization is the assembling of items in a box or a bin (suitable for
use in conveying of small items)

3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Unit Load Concept

• Advantages:
– Allows for moving large quantities of material thus reducing frequency of
movement
– Allows ease of stacking thus higher space and cube utilization and
promote good house keeping
– Greater speed in loading and unloading thus reduction in handling time
– Protection against material damage is provided
• Disadvantages:
– Cost could be high if large number is required of not reusable containers
– Problem of returning the empty pallets and containers if they are reuseable
( eg Cernol-drums & containers, NRZ-wagons, Megapak-pallet)

4.0 Principles of Material Handling

Principle Description
1 Planning Plan all material-handling and storage activities to obtain
maximum overall operating efficiency
2 Systems Flow Integrate as many material handling activities as practical into a
coordinated system of operations covering vendor, receiving,
storage, production, inspection, packaging, warehouse, shipping,
transportation and customer
3 Material Flow Provide an operation sequence and equipment layout optimizing
material flow
4 Simplification Simplify handling by reducing, eliminating or combining
unnecessary movements and or equipment
5 Gravity Use gravity to move material whenever possible
6 SpaceMake optimum utilization of the building cube
utilization
7 Unit size Increase the quantity, size, or weight of unit load or flow rate
8 Mechanization Mechanize handling operations
9 Automation Provided automation to include production, handling and storage
functions
10 EquipmentIn the process consider all aspects of material handling , movement
Selection and methods to be used
11 Standardize handling methods as well as types and size of handling
Standardization equipment
12 Adaptability Use method and equipment that that can best perform a variety of
tasks and application when specialized equipment is not justified
13 Dead weight Reduce the ratio of the dead weight of the mobile handling
equipment to load carried
14 Utilization Plan for optimum utilization of handling equipment and labour
15 Maintenance Plan for preventive maintenance and scheduled repairs
16 Obsolescence Replace obsolete handling methods and equipment
17 Control Use material-handling activities to improve control of production,
inventory and order handling
18 Capacity Use handling equipment to help achieve the desired production
capacity
19 Performance Determine the effectiveness of handling performance in terms of
expense per unit handled
20 Safety PROVIDE SUITABLE METHODS AND EQUIPMENT FOR
SAFE HANDLING

4.1 Examples of application of principles

• To lower the handling cost one should reduce unnecessary handling by properly
planning material movement; by delivering units to the required place the first
time without stopovers; by using proper material handling equipment; by
replacing obsolete equipment with new and more efficient systems when savings
justify it
• One can increase productivity by minimizing machine operator’s waiting time by
delivering raw material when needed and by maintaining a steady movement of
work at rate that will match the machine operator’s rate
• One can reduce floor space use by using material –handling equipment and
production schedules that will require a minimum amount of stock on the floor

5.0 Material Handling Cost

• Equipment cost (purchasing of equipment and auxiliary components and
installation
• Operating cost (maintenance, fuel and labour cost (wage and injury
compensation)
• Unit purchase cost (purchasing of pallets and containers)
• Cost due to packaging and damaged material

5.1 Ways of reducing Costs

• Minimize the idle time of the equipment, leading to high utilization thus eliminate
the need to acquire more units
 • Minimize rehandling of material and back tracking through facility planning
techniques
• Minimize variations in equipment types thus eliminate the need for an inventory
of variety of spare parts and their associated costs

6.0 Relationship between Material Handling and Plant Layout

• Involves the data required for designing each activity, their common objectives,
the effect on space, and the flow pattern
• plant-layout problems require knowledge of the equipment operating cost in
order to locate the departments in a manner that will minimize the total material-
handling cost.
• At the same time, in designing a material-handling system the layout should be
known in order to have the move length, move time, and source and destination of
the move.
– Because of this dependency, many designers stress the need to solve the
two problems jointly. However, the only feasible way is to start with one
problem, use its solution for solving the other, then go back and modify
the first problem on the basis of the new information obtained from the
second, and so on until a satisfactory design is obtained.
• Plant layout and material handling have the common objective of cost
minimization. The material-handling cost can be minimized by arranging closely
related departments such that the material moves only short distances.
Determining the flow pattern is a common concern in both problems
• material handling and plant layout influence one another in terms of space
requirements and utilization. Trucks that are compact in size and have the
capability of side loading do not require wide aisles. Overhead equipment does
not occupy any space on the floor of the layout. Stacking items as high as possible
by using the appropriate unit load will help to reduce the space taken by these
activities and best utilize the cube. Trucks that have the ability to lift to a high
level will assist in achieving cube utilization. It can also be achieved by using
mezzanines, carousels, and high-rise storage for storing material.
• the physical characteristics of the building, such as aisle width, ceiling height, and
columns, will affect equipment selection and its routing.

7.0 Material Handling Design Steps

1. State the intended function of the handling system — whether it is for a
warehouse whose function is storing, packaging, inspection, and shipping to
customers or for a manufacturing system where the function is to move items or
partial assemblies from station to station. Knowing the type of manufacturing
system (product, process, group technology, or any other type) is very helpful
here.
2. Collect the necessary data about the material, such as its characteristics and the
quantities involved. Data regarding quantity may be summarized in the form of a
chart.
3. Identify the moves, their origin and destination, their path, and their length.
 4. Determine the basic handling system to be used and the degree of mechanization
desired. Here, an idea is to establish whether a conveyor, a truck, or a crane will
be best suited for the situation.
5. Perform an initial screening of suitable equipment and select a set of candidate
equipment among them. Evaluate the candidate equipment on the basis of such
measures as cost and utilization. Always match the equipment with the material
characteristics.
6. Select a set of suitable unit loads and match them with material and equipment
characteristics

7.1 Important factors to be considered in following the steps

• Costs of equipment and unit loads and availability of funds. This factor will affect
the degree of mechanization achieved in the design.
• Physical characteristics of the building and the available space. Aisle width and
number will be affected by the available space, which in turn will influence
decisions regarding mobile equipment. Overhead equipment may or may not be
considered, depending on the height of the ceiling.
• Management attitude toward safety and employee welfare, which will affect the
degree of involvement of material-handling personnel in manual handling.
• Degree of involvement between handling and processing

7.2 A good material-handling design

A good material-handling design should possess most or all of the following
characteristics:
• Well planned
• Handling combined with processing whenever possible
• Mechanical whenever possible
• Minimum manual handling
• Minimum handling by production personnel
• Safe
• Protection of material provided
• Minimum variation in equipment types
• Maximum utilization of equipment
• Minimum backtracking, handling, or transferring
• Minimum congestion or delay
• Economical