Material Handling Systems

For exploiting productivity potential in logistics

Material Handling

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.

The cost of MH estimates 20-25 of total manufacturing labor cost in the United States [The Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA)]

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 mechanize material handling automate material handling

Material Handling
Lifting/Lowering Pushing/Pulling Carrying Weights and Forces Frequency of Activities Load Center of Gravity

Job Risk Factors

Weight of the Object Location (position of load w.r.t. worker) Frequency of Lifts Stability of the Load Hand Coupling Workplace Geometry Twisting/Stooping Environmental Factors

Personal Risk Factors

Gender Age Lift technique Attitude Strength Training

Calculator for Analyzing Lifting Operations

Considerations in Material Handling System Design

1. Material Characteristics
Category
Physical state

Measures
Solid, liquid, or gas

Size
Weight Shape

Volume; length, width, height

Weight per piece, weight per unit volume

Condition

Long and flat, round, square, etc.

Safety risk and risk of Hot, cold, wet, etc. damage Explosive, flammable, toxic; fragile, etc.

Considerations cont.
2. Flow rate
Quantity of material moved

High Low

Conveyors

Conveyors AGV train Powered trucks Unit load AGV

Manual handling Hand trucks

Short

Long

Move Distance

Considerations cont.
3. Plant Layout
Layout Type
Fixed position Process

Characteristics
Large product size, low production rate Variation in product and processing, low and medium production rates Limited product variety, high production rate

Typical MH Equipment
Cranes, hoists, industrial trucks Hand trucks, forklift trucks, AGVs Conveyors for product flow, trucks to deliver components to stations.

Product

Material Handling Stages

Unloading the incoming material fro transport vehicle Moving the unloaded material to assigned storage place in warehouse Lifting the material from storage place during order picking Moving material for inspection and packing Loading the boxes / cartons on to transport vehicle

Material Handling Systems

Manual Mechanical Semi-automatic Automatic Information guides

Selection Criteria: Material Handling Systems

Volumes to be handled Speed in handling Productivity Product characteristics

(weight, size, shape)

Nature of the product

(hazardous, perishable, crushable)

Material Handling

Manual Trolley
Versatile For smaller loads For short distance

Material Handling

Forklift
Manual or mechanized Portable Large distance travel Medium & large loads handling Vertical movement Intermittent duty

Material Handling
Overhead Crane
Carry heavy loads Continuous duty Size shape no bar

Material Handling

Material handling at sea ports

Advanced Material Handling Systems

Pneumatic tube system
For handling material in powered form

Semi-automatic system
Sorting devices Robotics

Automatic guided vehicle system

Material handling on a fixed path computer operated guided vehicle Speed of operation 150-250 feet per minute

Automatic system
Human factor eliminated Operator required for to programming and controls Productivity

Material Handling Guidelines

Standard equipment should be preferred to keep low capital investments Equipment designed for maximum continuous flow should be preferred Portable or movable equipment to be preferred

Ratio of dead weight handling equipment

to pay load should be minimum for

Gravity flow should be incorporated in the system design

Top 10 Principles of Material Handling

Principle 1. Planning Principle
All material handling should be the result of a deliberate plan where the needs, performance objectives and functional specification of the proposed methods are completely defined at the outset. The plan should be developed in consultation between the planner(s) and all who will use and benefit from the equipment to be employed. Principle 2. Standardization Principle Material handling methods, equipment, controls and software should be standardized within the limits of achieving overall performance objectives and without sacrificing needed flexibility, modularity, and throughput. Standardization means less variety and customization in the methods and equipment employed. Principle 3. Work Principle Material handling work should be minimized without sacrificing productivity or the level of service required of the operation.

Top 10 Principles of Material Handling (cont.)

Principle 4. Ergonomic Principle Human capabilities and limitations must be recognized and respected in the design of material handling tasks and equipment to ensure safe and effective operations. Ergonomics is the science that seeks to adapt work or working conditions to suit the abilities of the worker. Principle 5. Unit Load Principle

Unit loads shall be appropriately sized and configured in a way which achieves the material flow and inventory objectives at each stage in the supply chain. A unit load is one that can be stored or moved as a single entity at one time, such as pallet, container or tote, regardless of the number of individual items that make up the load. Principle 6. Space Utilization Principle
Effective and efficient use must be made of all available space. Space in material handling is three dimensional and therefore is counted as cubic space.

Top 10 Principles of Material Handling (cont.)

Principle 7. System Principle Material movement and storage activities should be fully integrated to form a coordinated, operational system that spans receiving, inspection, storage, production, assembly, packaging, unitizing, order selection, shipping, transportation and the handling of returns. Principle 8. Automation Principle Material handling operations should be mechanized and/or automated where feasible to improve operational efficiency, increase responsiveness, improve consistency and predictability, decrease operating costs, and eliminate repetitive or potentially unsafe manual labor. Principle 9. Environmental Principle Environmental impact and energy consumption should be considered as criteria when designing or selecting alternative equipment and material handling systems.

Top 10 Principles of Material Handling (cont.)

Principle 10. Life Cycle Cost Principle A thorough economic analysis should account for the entire life cycle of all material handling equipment and resulting system. Life cycle costs include all cash flows that occur between the time the first dollar is spent to plan or procure a new piece of equipment, or to put in place a new method, until that method and/or equipment is totally replaced. Life cycle costs include capital investment, installation, setup and equipment programming, training, system testing and acceptance, operating (labor, utilities, etc.), maintenance and repair, reuse value, and ultimate disposal.

Material Handling Checklist

Is the material handling equipment more than 10 years old? Do you use a wide variety of makes and models which require a high spare parts inventory? Are equipment breakdowns the result of poor preventive maintenance? Do the lift trucks go too far for servicing?

Are there excessive employee accidents due to manual handling of materials?

Are materials weighing more than 50 pounds handled manually? Are there many handling tasks that require 2 or more employees? Are skilled employees wasting time handling materials?

Does material become congested at any point?

Is production work delayed due to poorly scheduled delivery and removal of materials? Is high storage space being wasted? Are high demurrage charges experienced?

Material Handling Checklist (cont.)

Is material being damaged during handling? Do shop trucks operate empty more than 20% of the time? Does the plant have an excessive number of re-handling points? Is power equipment used on jobs that could be handled by gravity? Are too many pieces of equipment being used because their scope of activity is continued? Are many handling operations unnecessary? Are single pieces being handled where unit loads could be used? Are floors and ramps dirty and in need of repair?

Is handling equipment being overloaded?

Is there unnecessary transfer of material from one container to another? Are inadequate storage areas hampering efficient scheduling of movement? Is it difficult to analyze the system because there is no detailed flow chart?

Are indirect labor costs too high?