January 27, 2016

Material handling System

design and decision

Unit 3
Management

January 27, 201

Supply
Chain
6

Material handling System design and

decision

Materials handling is the art and science

of moving, packing and storing of

substances in any form.

Most manufacturers today have moved to automated materialshandling systems to minimize the amount of handling.
01/27/16

Importance of Material Handling

3

Function of production
control.
Concerned with scheduling of
production control.
Material Handling adds value
to product cost.
Material Handling increases
effectiveness of in plant
layout by reducing the cost.

Objectives of Materials Handling

To Lowers unit materials handling cost.

To reduce manufacturing cycle time.
To provide better control of the flow of materials.
To provide better working conditions.
To provide Contribution for better quality by
avoiding damages to products.
To Increase storage capacity and to provide
higher productivity at lower manufacturing costs.

Materials Handling

Advancements

in

materials

handling

technology

and

equipment offer the potential to substantially improve logistics

productivity.
Materials
handling
process
and
technologies
impact
productivity by influencing personnel, space, and capital
equipment requirements.
Material handling is a key logistics activity that cant be
overlooked.

Principles of Material Handling

Equipment for handling and storage should be as standardized as possible.
When in motion, the system should be designed to provide maximum
continuous product flow.
Investment should be in handling rather than stationary equipment.
Handling equipment should be utilized to the maximum extent possible.
In handling equipment selection the ratio of dead weight to payload should
be minimized.
Whenever practical, gravity flow should be incorporated in system design

Types of Handling Systems

6

1. MECHANIZED SYSTEMS
7

Mechanized Systems employ a wide range of handling equipment.

The types of equipment most commonly used in mechanized
systems are:
Lift Trucks
Rider Trucks
Towlines
Tractor Trailers
Conveyors
carousels

1. Lift Trucks
8

Lift trucks also called forklifts.

Lift trucks can move loads of
master cartons both horizontally
and vertically but are limited to
handling unit loads.
Types of lift trucks are:
High-Stacking trucks.
Pallet-less or Clamp trucks

2. Rider Trucks
Rider

trucks

effective

provide

method

low-cost,

of

general

materials handling utility.

Rider trucks are widely used in
consumer

package

goods

warehouses.
Rider

truck

applications
unloading
equipment,

is

operating

include
of
order

typical

loading

and

transportation
selection

and

accumulation, and shuttling loads.

3. Towlines
Towlines are utilized to provide

4. Tractor Trailers
Tractor trailers consist of a driver-

continuous power to four-wheel

guided power unit towing a number

trailers.

of individual four-wheel trailers.

The main advantage of a towline

is continuous movement.
The most common application of
towlines is for case goods order
selection.

The tractor in combination with

trailer, like a towline, is used during
order selection.
The main advantage of a tow tractor
with trailers is flexibility.

5. Conveyors

6. Carousels

10 It is used widely in shipping and

receiving operations and serve as
the basic handling device for a
number of order systems.
Conveyors are classified according
to power, gravity and roller or belt
movement.
In

power

configuration,

the

conveyors is driven by a chain.

In

gravity

and

roller

driven

applications permit rearrangement

Unit 3 Supply Chain Management

with minimum difficulty.

Carousel operates on a different concept

than most other mechanized handling
equipment.
The typical carousel application is for the
selection of packages in such items as
pack, repack and service parts.
Carousel systems also utilized computergenerated
directed

pick

carousal

lists

and

rotation

computerto

further

increase order selector productivity.

2. SEMI AUTOMATED SYSTEMS

11

Mechanized handling is often supplemented by semiautomatic

equipment.
Typical equipment utilized in semiautomated handling includes:
Automated Guided Vehicles [AGV].
Computerized Sortation.
Robotics.
Live Racks.

1. Automated Guided Vehicles [AGV]

12

The AGVS is a mechanized material handling

equipment without an operator.
The system consists of four components.
Vehicle for movement.
Pickup and drop off locations.
Guidance system.
Computer control system.

13

2. Computerized Sortation
The sorting device will sort the material based on the sorting
code.
The optical sensing reads the bar code on the items.
The automatic sorting device increases system productivity
through,
Speed
Accuracy
Elimination of manual labor.

3. Robotics
14

These are human like machines with microprocessor to perform the

programmed activity or series of activities.
Robotics can be used for break bulk or consolidation operations.
Robotics can be used in extreme temperature environments like cold
storage or deep freezers.

4. Live Racks

Live racks are commonly used to reduce manual labor in warehouses is storage

rack design in which product automatically flows to the desired selection

position.

The use of the live rack reduces the need to use lift trucks to transfer unit loads.

The advantage of live rack storage is the potential for automatic rotation of
product as a result of rear loading.

15

3.Automated Systems
The concept of automated handling has offered great potential
and limited accomplishment.
Potential to automate
Order selection
Automated storage/retrieval

1. Potential to automate
16
An Automated system has the potential to operate faster and more accurately than its

mechanized counterpart.

Automated system have been designed and constructed for specific applications.

Information technology plays an important part in all handling systems.

A major disadvantage of automation is its dependency on proprietary information

technology networks.

2.

Order

selection

The basic objective was to integrate mechanized, semiautomated, and automated

handling into a system that offers the advantages of high productivity and accuracy while
using minimal labor.

Unit 3 Supply Chain Management

The general
process begins with an automated order selection device preloaded with

17

3. Automated storage/retrieval
Automated storage system that use high-rise storage is a popular form of
automation.
The initial function of the storage equipment is to reach the desired
storage location rapidly.
The storage machine is positioned to service different aisles by transfer
cars.

4. Information-Directed Systems

18
The concept of information-directed handling is relatively new and the subject
of a great deal of research and development.
Information

directed

systems

use

mechanized

handling

controlled

by

information technology.
There are two common examples of information-directed material handling
systems.
RF Wireless (Wi-Fi)
Pick-to-Light

1.RF Wireless (Wi-Fi)

19

The basic use of Wi-Fi to instruct movement of lift trucks is expanded in an informationdirected application to become a highly integrated materials handling system.

The main advantage of RF is to improve speed and flexibility of lift truck operations.

RF technology provides real-time communication to central data processing systems.

2. Pick-to-Light

Pick-to-light is a carousel system variation that is becoming increasingly common.

In these systems order selectors pick designated items directly into cartons or onto
conveyors from lighted carousel locations or storage bins.