Production and Operations Management

UNIT 4– MATERIAL HANDLING

Course Instructor : Dr Kalyani V

Material Handling
Defined
“The movement, storage, protection and control of
materials throughout the manufacturing &
distribution process including their consumption
and disposal”

The proportion varies depending on type of

production and degree of automation
Material Handling
• Handling of materials must be
performed
• Safely
• Efficiently
• At low cost
• In a timely manner
• Accurately (the right materials in
the right quantities to the right
locations)
• And without damage to the
materials
Logistics
Concerned with the acquisition, movement,
storage, and distribution of materials and
products as well as the planning and control of
these operations to satisfy customer demand

• Two categories of logistics:

• External logistics - transportation and
related activities that occur outside of a facility
(between different geographical locations)
• Five traditional modes of transportation: rail
truck, air, ship, and pipeline
• Internal logistics - material handling and
storage within a facility
External Logistics
Internal Logistics
Categories of
Material Handling Equipment

1. Material transport equipment - to move materials

inside a factory, warehouse, or other facility
2. Storage - to store materials and provide access to
those materials when required
3. Unitizing equipment - refers to
(1) containers to hold materials, and
(2) equipment used to load and package the
containers
4. Identification and tracking systems - to identify
and keep track of the materials being moved and
stored
Design Considerations
in Material Handling
• Material characteristics

• Flow rate, routing, and scheduling

• Plant layout

• Unit load principle

Material
Characteristics
• Material characteristics affect type of
transport and storage equipment required
• Solid, liquid or gas
• Size
• Weight
• Shape - long, flat, bulky
• Condition - hot, cold, wet, dirty
• Risk of damage - fragile, brittle, sturdy
• Safety risk - explosive, flammable, toxic,
corrosive
Flow Rate, Routing, and Scheduling

• Flow rate - amount of material moved per

unit time
• Examples: pieces/hr, pallet loads/hr, tons/hr
• Whether the material must be moved in
individual units, as batches, or continuously
(pipe line)
• Routing - pick-up and drop-off locations,
move distances, routing variations,
conditions along the route (surface, traffic,
elevation)
• Scheduling - timing of each delivery
• Prompt delivery when required
• Use of buffer stocks to mitigate against late
Plant Layout
• Material handling equipment considerations must
be included in the plant layout design problem
• Correlation between layout type and material
handling equipment:
Plant layout type Material handling equipment
Fixed-position Cranes, hoists, industrial
fixtures
Process Hand trucks, forklift trucks, AGVs
Product Conveyors for product flow
Trucks to deliver parts to stations
Unit Load Principle
(UNITIZING)

In general, the unit load should be as large

as practical for the material handling system
that will move and store it
• A unit load is the mass that is to be moved or
otherwise handled at one time
• Reasons for using unit loads in material
handling:
• Multiple items handled simultaneously
• Required number of trips is reduced
• Loading/unloading times are reduced
• Product damage is decreased
Unit Load Containers

(a) Wooden pallet (b) pallet box (c) tote box

Material Transport Equipments
Five categories:
1. Industrial trucks
2. Automated guided vehicles
3. Monorails and other rail guided vehicles
4. Conveyors
5. Cranes and hoists
Industrial Trucks
Two basic categories:
1. Non-powered
• Human workers push or pull loads
2. Powered
• Self-propelled, guided or driven by human
• Common example: forklift truck
Non-powered Industrial Trucks
(Hand Trucks)

(a) Two-wheel hand truck, (b) four-wheel dolly, (c)

hand-operated low-lift pallet truck
Powered Trucks:
Walkie Truck

• Wheeled forks insert into pallet openings

• No provision for riding; truck is steered by
worker using control handle at front of vehicle
Powered Trucks:
Forklift Truck
• Widely used in
factories and
warehouses
because pallet
loads are so
common
• Capacities from 450
kg up to 4500 kg
• Power sources
include on-board
batteries and
internal combustion
motors
Powered Trucks:
Towing Tractor

• Designed to pull one or more trailing carts in

factories and warehouses, as well as for airport
baggage handling
• Powered by on-board batteries or IC engines
Automated Guided Vehicles
An Automated Guided Vehicle System
(AGVS) is a material handling system that
uses independently operated, self-propelled
vehicles guided along defined pathways in
the facility floor
• Types of AGV:
• Driverless trains
• Pallet trucks
• Unit load AGVs
Automated Guided Vehicles:
Driverless Automated Guided
Train

• First type of AGVS

to be introduced
around 1954
• Common
application is
moving heavy
payloads over long
distances in
warehouses and
factories without
intermediate stops
along the route
Automated Guided Vehicles:
AGV Pallet Truck
• Used to move
palletized loads
along predetermined
routes
• Vehicle is backed
into loaded pallet by
worker; pallet is then
elevated from floor
• Worker drives pallet
truck to AGV guide
path and programs
destination
Automated Guided Vehicles:
Unit Load Carrier

• Used to move unit loads from station to

station
• Often equipped for automatic
loading/unloading of pallets and tote pans
using roller conveyors, moving belts, or
AGVs Applications

1. Driverless train operations - movement of large

quantities of material over long distances
2. Storage and distribution - movement of pallet loads
between shipping/receiving docks and storage racks
3. Assembly line operations - movement of car bodies
and major subassemblies (motors) through the
assembly stations
4. Flexible manufacturing systems - movement of work
parts between machine tools
5. Miscellaneous - mail delivery and hospital supplies
Vehicle Guidance Technology
• Method by which AGVS pathways are defined and
vehicles are controlled to follow the pathways
• Three main technologies:
• Imbedded guide wires - guide wires in the
floor emit electromagnetic signal that the
vehicles follow
• Paint strips - optical sensors on-board vehicles
track the white paint strips
• Self-guided vehicles - vehicles use a
combination of
• Dead reckoning - vehicle counts wheel turns
in given direction to move without guidance
• Beacons located throughout facility - vehicle
uses triangulation to compute locations
Vehicle Guidance Using Guide
Wire
Vehicle Management
Two aspects of vehicle management:
• Traffic control - to minimize interference
between vehicles and prevent collisions
1. Forward (on-board vehicle) sensing
2. Zone control
• Vehicle dispatching
1. On-board control panel
2. Remote call stations
3. Central computer control
Zone Control

Zone control to implement blocking system. Zones

A, B, and D are blocked. Zone C is free. Vehicle 2 is
blocked from entering Zone A by vehicle 1. Vehicle
3 is free to enter Zone C.
Vehicle Safety
• Travel velocity of AGV is slower than typical
walking speed of human worker
• Automatic stopping of vehicle if it strays from
guide path
• Acquisition distance
• Obstacle detection system in forward direction
• Use of ultrasonic sensors common
• Emergency bumper - brakes vehicle when contact
is made with forward object
• Warning lights (blinking or rotating red lights)
• Warning sounds of approaching vehicles
Rail-Guided Vehicles
• Self-propelled vehicles that ride on a fixed-rail
system
• Vehicles operate independently and are driven
by electric motors that pick up power from an
electrified rail
• Fixed rail system
• Overhead monorail - suspended overhead from the
ceiling
• On-floor - parallel fixed rails, tracks generally
protrude up from the floor
• Routing variations are possible: switches,
turntables, and other special track sections
Overhead Monorail
Conveyor Systems
Large family of material transport
equipment designed to move materials
over fixed paths, usually in large
quantities or volumes
1. Non‑powered
• Materials moved by human workers or by
gravity
2. Powered
• Power mechanism for transporting
materials is contained in the fixed path,
using chains, belts, rollers or other
mechanical devices
Conveyor Types
• Roller
• Skate‑wheel
• Belt
• In‑floor towline
• Overhead trolley conveyor
• Cart-on-track conveyor
Roller Conveyor
• Pathway consists of a series
of rollers that are
perpendicular to direction
of travel
• Loads must possess a flat
bottom to span several
rollers
• Powered rollers rotate to
drive the loads forward
• Un-powered roller
conveyors also available
Skate-Wheel Conveyor
• Similar in operation to
roller conveyor but use
skate wheels instead of
rollers
• Lighter weight and
unpowered
• Sometimes built as
portable units that can
be used for loading and
unloading truck trailers
in shipping and receiving
Belt Conveyor
• Continuous loop with
forward path to move
loads
• Belt is made of
reinforced elastomer
• Support slider or
rollers used to support
forward loop
(Support frame not shown)
• Two common forms:
• Flat belt (shown)
• V-shaped for bulk
materials
In-Floor Tow-Line Conveyor
• Four-wheel carts
powered by moving
chains or cables in
trenches in the floor
• Carts use steel pins
(or grippers) to
project below floor
level and engage the
chain (or pulley) for
towing
• This allows the carts
to be disengaged
Overhead Trolley Conveyor
• A trolley is a wheeled
carriage running on
an overhead track
from which loads can
be suspended
• Trolleys are connected
and moved by a chain
or cable that forms a
complete loop
• Often used to move
parts and assemblies
between major
Cart-On-Track Conveyor
• Carts ride on a
track above floor
level
• Carts are driven by
a spinning tube
• Forward motion of
cart is controlled
by a drive wheel
whose angle can
be changed from
zero (idle) to 45
degrees (forward)
Powered Conveyor
Operations and Features
• Types of motions
1. Continuous - conveyor moves at constant
velocity
2. Asynchronous - conveyor moves with stop-and-
go motion
• They stop at stations, move between stations
• Another classification of conveyors:
1. Single direction
2. Continuous loop
3. Re-circulating
 Single-Direction Conveyor and
Continuous Loop Conveyor

(a) Single direction

conveyor

(b) Continuous
loop conveyor
Cranes and Hoists
Handling devices for lifting, lowering and
transporting materials, often as heavy loads
• Cranes
• Used for horizontal movement of materials
• Hoists
• Used for vertical lifting of materials
• Cranes usually include hoists so that the
crane-and-hoist combination provides
• Horizontal transport
• Vertical lifting and lowering
Hoist

(a) (b)
Bridge Crane
Gantry Crane
Jib Crane