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
 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.
– Storage Systems: bulk storage, rack systems,
shelving and bins, drawer storage, automated
storage systems.
– Unitizing Equipment: palletizers
– Identification and Tracking systems
 Considerations in Material Handling
System Design

1. Material Characteristics

Category Measures
Physical state Solid, liquid, or gas
Size Volume; length, width, height
Weight Weight per piece, weight per unit volume
Shape Long and flat, round, square, etc.
Condition Hot, cold, wet, etc.
Safety risk and risk of Explosive, flammable, toxic; fragile, etc.
damage
 Considerations …cont.

2. Flow rate
Quantity of
material
moved

Conveyors Conveyors
High AGV train

Manual handling Powered trucks

Low
Hand trucks Unit load AGV

Short Long Move Distance

 Considerations …cont.

3. Plant Layout
Layout Type Characteristics Typical MH Equipment

Fixed – position Large product size, low Cranes, hoists, industrial trucks
production rate

Process Variation in product and Hand trucks, forklift trucks,

processing, low and medium AGVs
production rates

Product
Limited product variety, high Conveyors for product flow,
production rate trucks to deliver components to
stations.
 Material Handling Equipment
1. Between fixed points over a fixed path
1. Belt conveyor
2. Roller conveyor
3. Chute conveyor
4. Slat conveyor
5. Screw conveyor
6. Chain conveyor
7. Overhead monorail conveyor
8. Trolley conveyor
9. Wheel conveyor
10.Tow conveyor
11.Bucket conveyor
12.Cart-on-track conveyor
13.Pneumatic tube conveyor
 Material Handling Equipment
2. Over limited areas
 Hoists
 Overhead cranes
 Hydraulic scissors lift
3. Over large areas
 Handcart/truck
 Tier platform truck
 Hand lift truck / pallet jack
 Power-driven hand truck
 Power-driven platform truck
 Forklift truck
 Narrow aisle truck
 Tractor-trailer truck
 Material lift
 Drum truck
 Drum lifter
 Dolly
 Automated guided vehicle system
Belt conveyor
Belt conveyor
Roller conveyor
Chute conveyor
Chute conveyor
Slat conveyor
Screw conveyor
Screw conveyor
Chain conveyor
Chain conveyor
Overhead monorail conveyor
Overhead monorail conveyor
Trolley conveyor
Wheel conveyor
Wheel conveyor
Tow conveyor
Tow conveyor
Bucket conveyor
Bucket conveyor
Cart-on-track conveyor
Pneumatic tube conveyor
Pneumatic tube conveyor
Hoists
Overhead cranes
Hydraulic scissors lift
Handcart/truck
Tier platform truck
Hand lift truck / pallet jack
Power-driven hand truck
Power-driven platform truck
Forklift truck
Narrow aisle truck
Tractor-trailer truck
Material lift
Drum truck
Drum lifter
Drum lifter
Dolly
Pallet
Box
Tote Pan
Skid
 20 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 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 can’t eliminate, can we combine movements
to reduce cost? (unit load concept)
• 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 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
– pp 164 - 169
8.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.
10. Equipment selection principle
– Why? What? Where? When? How? Who?
– If we answer these questions about each
move, the solution will become evident.
– Look at pp 160-161.
11. 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.
13.
12. 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 and save money.
13. The maintenance principle
– Plan for preventive maintenance and scheduled repairs of all
handling equipment.
– Pallets and storage facilities need repair too.
14. The capacity principle
– use handling equipment to help achieve desired production
capacity
– i.e. material handling equipment can help to maximize
production equipment utilization.
 Example
• A punch press can cycle every 0.03 minute, but our time
standard for manually loading and unloading this press is
only 300 pieces per hour.
Press capacity = 60 min / 0.03 = 2000 pieces/hr
Utilization = 300 / 2000 = 15%

• Should we buy a new press?

• If we can purchase a coil-feeding material handling
system, we could approach 100% press utilization.
Material Handling Equipment
Material Handling Equipment