Material handling equipment

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Course code: MEng 4251
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Course title: Material handling equipment
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Contact hrs/sem. Lecture = 32; tutorials = 48
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Course content
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Introduction
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Hoisting Equipment
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Conveyors
Mode of assessment
Quizzes , assignments and project 50%
Final examination 50%
 Introduction
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In simple language, materials handling is loading, moving and
unloading of materials.

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To do it safely and economically, different types of equipment are
used, when the materials handling is referred to as mechanical
handling of materials.

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Any human activity involving materials need materials handling.
However, in the field of engineering and technology, the term
materials handling is used with reference to industrial activity.

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In any industry, be it big or small, involving manufacturing or
construction type work, materials have to be handled as raw
materials, intermediate goods or finished products from the point of
receipt and storage of raw materials, through production processes
and up to finished goods storage and dispatch points.
.
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Materials handling as such is not a production process and hence
does not add to the value of the product.

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It costs money; therefore it should be eliminated or at least
reduced as much as possible

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However, the important point in favor of materials handling is that
it helps production. Depending on the weight, volume and
throughput of materials, mechanical handling of materials may
become unavoidable.

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In many cases, mechanical handling reduces the cost of manual
handling of materials, where such materials handling is highly
desirable.

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All these facts indicate that the type and extent of use of materials
handling should be carefully designed to suit the application and
which becomes cost effective.
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Material handling is defined by the Materials Handling
Institute (MHI), as the movement, storage, control, and
protection of materials and products throughout the
process of their manufacture, distribution, consumption,
and disposal.

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Materials handling uses different equipment and mechanisms
called Materials Handling Equipment.

The five commonly recognized aspects (characteristic) of

material handling are:
1. Motion. Parts, materials, and finished products that must
be moved from one location to another should be moved in
an efficient manner and at minimum cost.
2. Time. Materials must be where they are needed at the
moment they are needed.

3. Place. Materials must be in the proper location and

positioned for use.

4. Quantity. The rate of demand varies between the steps of

processing operations. Materials must be continually
delivered to, or removed from, operations in the correct
weights, volumes, or numbers of items required.

5. Space. Storage space, and its efficient utilization, is a

key factor in the overall cost of an operation or process.
Hence, material handling is the combination of art and
science of:
◦moving
◦storing
◦protecting
◦controlling the material
Material handling means providing the right amount of the
right material
◦in the right condition
◦at the right place
◦in the right position
◦in the right sequence
◦in the right time
◦for the right price
◦by the right method
For example in a typical manufacturing facility:
◦25% of the work-force is used in material handling
◦55% of the factory floor is reserved for it
◦87% of the production time!
◦It may represent 15% to 70% of the total cost generated in
the company
Goals of material handling:
◦Reduce unit costs of production
◦Maintain or improve product quality, reduce damages, and
provide for protection of materials
◦Promote safety and improve working conditions
◦Promote productivity
◦Promote increased use of facilities
◦Control inventory
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Material handling does not add value to the product but
only cost.

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The objective of material handling is the efficient
movement of goods for the on-time delivery of correct
parts in exact quantities to desired locations in order to
minimize associated handling costs.

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It is common to have parts/subassemblies moving around
a plant several kilometers prior to their shipment.

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Manufacturing plants must eliminate all unnecessary
part movements, as well as in-process inventories, for
just-in-time (JIT) production.
The science and engineering of material handling is
classified into two categories, depending on the form of the
material handled.

Bulk solids handling involves the movement and storage of

solids that are flowable, such as free-flowing materials
(e.g., wheat flour or sand), pelletized materials (e.g. soap
flakes), or lumpy materials (e.g., coal or wood bark).

Unit handling refers to the movement and storage of items

that have been formed into unit loads.
A unit load is a single item, a number of items, or bulk
material that is arranged so that the load can be stored,
picked up, and moved between two locations as a single
mass.

The handling of liquids and gases is usually considered to

be in the domain of fluid mechanics, whereas the
movement and storage of containers of liquid or gaseous
material properly comes within the domain of unit material
handling.
Principles of Material Handling
1.PLANNING PRINCIPLE
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All handling activities should be planned.
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This is the most basic principle which is in line with the Materials
Handling.
• Consider the plant layout before equipment / system design.
• Plan correct location for materials supply and disposal.
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Plan for scrap removal.
• Assure adequate storage space at the workplace.
• Avoid placing materials directly on the floor.
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Place product on a pallet, skid etc. at the beginning of the process.
• Use same container throughout the materials movement, as far as
practicable.
• Observe principles of motions economy.
• Plan productive operations and inspections during material
movement, if possible.
2.SYSTEMS PRINCIPLE
Integrate as many handling activities as possible
encompassing full scope of operations like receiving,
storage, production, inspection, packaging, warehousing,
shipping/transportation.

• Consider the entire scope of the handling activities,

beyond the scope of immediate concern.
• Integrate operations into handling systems like processing,
inspection, packaging etc.
• Avoid/ minimize intermediate storage.
• While designing a materials handling system, the
practices/requirements of the suppliers, clients and
transporters are to be considered.
3.MATERIAL FLOW PRINCIPLE
Plan operations sequence and equipment arrangement to
optimize material flow.

• Eliminate obstacles from material flow.

•Plan material movement in a direct path (avoid
backtracking, zig-zag movements etc.)
• Use product layout whenever possible.
• Keep related work areas close together.
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Combine operations to reduce material movement.
• Minimize movement between floors.
• Move bulky / weighty materials the least distance.
• Process heavy / bulky materials close to receiving
4.SIMPLIFICATION PRINCIPLE
Reduce, combine or eliminate unnecessary movement and/or
equipment. It increases efficiency of materials handling.

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Avoid unnecessary handling.
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Eliminate re-handling as much as possible.
• Plan direct moves. Reduce or eliminate long, awkward or
complicated moves.
• Deliver materials at correct location first time.
• Avoid use of variety of equipment types, sizes and makes.
• Plan adequate material handling equipment capacity.
• Do not mechanize unnecessarily.
5.GRAVITY PRINCIPLE

Utilize gravity to move material whenever practicable.

• Use roller conveyors, slides, chutes between

equipment/processes.
• Use ramps(incline) between varying work or floor levels.
• Use sloping floor when materials movement by hand truck
is mainly in one direction.
• Use spiral chutes to feed machines at different floors.
6.SPACE UTILIZATION PRINCIPLE
Make optimum use of building volume.

• Space equipment/processes close together.

• Eliminate or reduce temporary storage of materials.
• Stack materials to use building height.
• Use racks to permit higher stacking.
• Use stacking containers to permit stacking.
• Exercise economic order quantities to reduce inventory.
• Clean storage areas and dispose scrap regularly.
• Use narrow aisle handling equipment to reduce aisle
width.
7.UNIT SIZE PRINCIPLE
Increase quantity, size, weight of loads handled.

• Examine possibility of unitization of loads.

• Use containers for unitization of loads.
• Procure materials in larger units.
• Design load size to make optimum use of handling
equipment capacity.
8.SAFETY PRINCIPLE
Handling methods and handling equipment use must be safe.

• Provide adequate guards & safety devices on materials handling

equipment.
• Do not overload materials handling equipment.
• Maintain floor in good condition.
• Provide adequate shop lighting.
• Provide good housekeeping.
• Materials handling equipment operators should be properly
trained.
• Stack / unstuck materials safely.
• Keep materials handling equipment in proper condition and do not
use defective equipment.
• Use mechanical handling equipment for difficult handling
activities and to handle dangerous/ hazardous materials.
• Use proper personal protective gears during handling materials.
9.MECHANIZATION/AUTOMATION PRINCIPLE
When appropriate, use mechanized or automatic materials
handling equipment.

• Consider mechanized system in the following cases:

(a) Large quantities or volumes of materials, (b) Repetitive
movement, (c) Long moves, (d) Hazardous move/materials, (e)
Two man lifting, moving tasks, (f) Excess manual handling,
(g) Replacing large number of persons involved in handling, (h)
Heavy materials, (i) Scrap removal, (j) Feeding/unloading of
high speed automated production machines.
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10.EQUIPMENT SELECTION PRINCIPLE

Before selecting materials handling equipment, consider all

aspects of materials handling, e.g., materials to be handled,
moves to be made, methods to be utilized.

• Select versatile equipment.

• Select standardized equipment.
• Consider unitization of load for handling.
• Compare alternatives based on cost of handling.
11.STANDARDIZATION PRINCIPLE
Materials handling methods and equipment should be standardized to
the extent possible.

• Use standardized containers.

• Purchase standard types and sizes of equipment.
• Use standard sizes of pallets to fit products, bay sizes, equipment and
transport trucks.
12 FLEXIBILITY PRINCIPLE
Use methods and equipment, which can perform different tasks and
applications.

• Buy flexible equipment like Fork Lift Truck, Conveyor etc.

• Use variable speed drives.
• Make use of attachment & accessories.
• Use four ways pallets, skids and containers.
• Utilize mobile in favour of fixed equipment (e.g. trucks in favour of
fixed conveyor
13 MOTION PRINCIPLE
Stoppage of mobile equipment should be minimum.

• Reduce loading/unloading time.

• Load/unload while materials handling equipment is in
motion, if possible.
• Use mechanized loading/unloading equipment.
• Use self-loading/unloading equipment like lift truck.
• Plan materials movement on both ways movement of
materials handling equipment.
• Use equipment where carrying device is attached to motive
unit like platform-type trucks, trailers etc.
• Use pallets, skids etc. to hasten loading/unloading.
• Use devices like tipplers, bottom discharge containers etc.
14. IDLE TIME PRINCIPLE
Reduce idle or unproductive time of both materials
handling equipment and manpower.
This principle is similar to motion principle, so far as
materials handling equipment are concerned, hence same
suggestions are applicable. Additional suggestions for
‘‘manpower’’ are:
• Deliver materials at proper rate so that operators are not
idle for materials.
• Use indirect labour for materials handling.
• Install handling equipment to reduce labour.
• Combine jobs i.e. one man handles two or more machines
or jobs.
15. MAINTENANCE PRINCIPLE
Do schedule maintenance and repair work of all materials
handling equipment to minimize outage.

• Train operators/maintenance personnel properly.

• Follow maintenance procedures as per manufacturers'
recommendations.
• Operators should check conditions daily and report.
• Do repair/maintenance to avoid breakdowns.
• Establish preventive maintenance programme.
• Maintain adequate spares.
• Standardize equipment to reduce spares.
• Avoid over maintenance.
• Avoid over loading of materials handling equipment.
16.OBSOLESCENCE PRINCIPLE

Replace obsolete handling methods and equipment by more

efficient methods or equipment to improve operations.

• Establish a definite replacement policy.

• Rent or lease new equipment to tryout.
• Keep up-to-date as to what is new in the market through
books, journals, expositions, factory visits, conference,
manufacturers' representatives etc.
17.CONTROL PRINCIPLE
Use materials handling equipment to improve production &
inventory control and order handling.

• Move materials in lots, batches, containers of a

predetermined quantity and size.
• Use containers with wire mesh for visual
checking/counting.
• Synchronize materials handling with production.
• Coordinate materials handling programme with purchasing
and production.
• Use mechanized handling.
18.CAPACITY PRINCIPLE
Use Materials Handling so that full production capacity can
be achieved.

• Use mechanical handling systems for uniform flow of

materials.
• Operate equipment at optimum rate.
• Plan to utilize return run of the materials handling
equipment.
• Make full use of building volume.
• Change size, shape of unit load to utilize space, equipment
and manpower.
• Use outdoor or rented storage space, when necessary.
• Widen aisle ways to speed materials movement.
19.PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLE
Select materials handling systems with higher efficiency,
measured in terms of expenses per unit load handled.

• Identify all possible units, which could be used as a basis

for comparison.
• Select common, convenient, standard equipment.
• Use versatile equipment.
CHARACTERISTICS AND CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS
The characteristics of materials affecting handling include the
following: size (width, depth, height); weight (weight per item,
or per unit volume); shape (round, square, long, rectangular,
irregular); and other (slippery, fragile, sticky, explosive,
frozen).
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Method to be adopted and choice of equipment for a
materials handling system primarily depends on the type of
material/s to be handled.
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It is very important to know about different types of
materials and their characteristics which are related to
methods and equipment used for their handling.
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As innumerable(uncountable) different materials are used
and need to be handled in industries, they are classified
based on specific characteristics relevant to their handling.
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Basic classification of material is made on the basis of
forms, which are (i) Gases, (ii) Liquids, (iii) Semi
Liquids and (iv) Solids.
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Examples of common industrial liquids are: water,
mineral oils, acids, alkalies, chemicals etc.

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Examples of common semi-liquids are: slurry(insoluble
materials), sewage(waste matter), sludge, mud, pulp,
paste etc.

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Gases are generally handled in tight and where required,
pressure resisting containers.

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Most common method of handling of large volume of
gas is through pipes by the help of compressor, blower
etc. This process is known as pneumatic conveying.
Liquids and semi-liquids can be handled in tight or open
containers which may be fitted with facilities like insulation,
heating, cooling, agitating etc. as may be required by the
character of the liquid.

Large quantity of stable liquids/semi-liquids are generally

conveyed through pipes using suitable pumps, which is
commonly known as hydraulic conveying.
Classification of Materials Handling Equipment
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Material handling equipment can be classified according
to the movement mode: above-floor transportation (e.g.,
belt conveyors, trucks, etc.), on-floor transportation (e.g.,
chain conveyors), and overhead transportation (e.g.,
cranes).
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It can be classified into the following five major categories.
I. Transport Equipment.
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Equipment used to move material from one location to
another (e.g., between workplaces, between a loading
dock and a storage area, etc.).
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The major subcategories of transport equipment are
conveyors, cranes, and industrial trucks.
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Material can also be transported manually using no
II.Positioning Equipment.
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Equipment used to handle material at a single location
(e.g., to feed and/or manipulate materials in the correct
position for subsequent handling, machining, transport,
or storage).
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Unlike transport equipment, positioning equipment is
usually used for handling at a single workplace.
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Material can also be positioned manually using no
equipment.
III. Unit Load Formation Equipment.
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Equipment used to restrict materials so that they
maintain their integrity when handled a single load
during transport and for storage.
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If materials are self-restraining (e.g., a single part or
interlocking parts), then they can be formed into a unit
IV. Storage Equipment.
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Equipment used for holding or buffering materials over a
period of time.
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Some storage equipment may include the transport of
materials (e.g., the Storage/retrieval (S/R) machines of
an Automatic storage/retrieval systems (AS/RS) ).
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If materials are block stacked directly on the floor, then
no storage equipment is required.
V. Identification and Control Equipment.
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Equipment used to collect and communicate the
information that is used to coordinate the flow of
materials within a facility and between a facility and its
suppliers and customers.
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The identification of materials and associated control can
be performed manually with no specialized equipment.
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The variety of materials handling equipment and
systems used in industry is as follow.

1.Industrial Vehicles/Trucks.
2.Conveyors.
3.Hoisting Equipment.
4.Bulk Handling Equipment/System.
5.Robotic handling system.
6.Containers and Supports.
7. Auxiliary Equipment.
Industrial Vehicles/Trucks

These are manual or power driven vehicles suitable for

movement of mixed or unitized load, intermittently, where
primary function is transporting.

The vehicle/truck is physically moved along with the load

from one point to another via a flat or slightly inclined
route. This classification excludes highway vehicles,
railroad cars, marine carriers and aircrafts.
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Conveyors

These are gravity or powered equipment commonly used

for moving bulk or unit load continuously or intermittently,
uni-directionally from one point to another over fixed path,
where the primary function is conveying of the material by
the help of movement of some parts/components of the
equipment. The equipment as a whole does not move

Robotic Handling System

Specially designed robots are increasingly being used in
materials handling application, particularly in loading and
unloading of jobs to and form a machine or a machining
cell.
Hoisting Equipment
These equipment are generally utilized to lift and lower and
move unit and varying loads intermittently, between points
within an area known as the reach of the equipment, where
the primary function is transferring.

A hoisting equipment may also be mounted on a powered

vehicle when the movement of the lifted load is not limited
within a fixed area of operation.

Bulk Handling Equipment/System

In the large process industries and constructional projects, a
wide range of heavy equipment are used for handling and
storage of large amount of bulk solids. These are called bulk
handling equipment.
Containers and Supports
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This classification generally includes all types of
secondary devices and aids which are utilized for
storing, unitizing and movement of materials.
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Different types of pressure, tight, loose, closed and
open-top containers; platforms and coil supports and
different securements such as strapping, chain, rope,
cables with tighteners, bulkheads, etc. are examples of
secondary devices and aids.

Auxiliary Equipment
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A large number of equipment and attachments which
cannot be classified under above heads, but are
frequently used independently or in conjunction with
some other materials handling equipment, are classified
in this type.
 Material handling system equation

Materials + Moves + Methods = Preferred system

Table 1. Material Handling Equipment
Table 2. Positioning Equipment
Table 3. Industrial Trucks
Table 4. Storage Equipment