Material Handling

Unit - 4
 Material Handling
Haynes defines “Material handling embraces the
basic operations in connection with the movement
of bulk, packaged and individual products in a
semi-solid or solid state by means of gravity
manually or power-actuated equipment and within
the limits of individual producing, fabricating,
processing or service establishment”.
OR
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.
 Objectives of Material Handling
1. To increase the efficiency of material flow by ensuring
the availability of materials when and where they
needed
2. To reduce Material Handling cost
3. Minimise delays and interruptions by making available
the materials at the point of use at the right quantity
and at the right time.
4. To improve facility utilization
5. To improve safety and working conditions
6. To facilitate manufacturing processes
7. To increase productivity
8. Prevention of damages to materials.
9. Lower investment in process inventory.
Principles of Material Handling
Space
Planning Systems Unit Load Gravity Material flow
utilization

Equipment
Simplification Safety Mechanization Standardization Flexibility
Selection

Deadweight Motion Idle time Maintenance Obsolescence Capacity

Control Performance
 Unit Load Concept
It is defined as the number of items
arranged such that they can be
handled as a single object
Unit load can be accomplished by:
1. Palletization
2. Unitization
3. Containerization
Palletization
Unitization This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Containerization
It is assembling of items in a box or a bin. It
is most suitable for use with conveyors,
especially for small items

https://youtu.be/2JcHMhtH6_s?feature=sh
ared
Selection of Material
Handling Equipment
Properties of the Material

Layout and Characteristics of the building

Production Flow

Cost Considerations

Nature of Operations

Engineering Factors

Equipment Reliability
Evaluation of Material Handling System
The cost factors include investment cost, labour cost, and anticipated service hours per year,
utilization, and unit load carrying ability, loading and unloading characteristics, operating costs and
the size requirements are the factors for evaluation of material handling equipment.

Other factors to be considered are source of power, conditions where the equipment must operate,
and other technical aspects.

The effectiveness of the material handling system can be measured in terms of the ratio of the time
spent in the handling to the total time spent in production. This will cover the time element.

The cost-effectiveness can be measured by the expenses incurred per unit weight handled.
Equipment Utilisation Ratio
The equipment utilization ratio is an important indicator for judging the materials handling
system.
This ratio can be computed and compared with similar firms or in the same over a period.
To know the total effort needed for moving materials, it may be necessary to compute the
Materials Handling Labour (MHL) ratio. This ratio is calculated as under:
Material Handling
Equipment
Broadly, material handling
equipment can be classified
into two categories, namely:
• Fixed Path Equipment
• Variable Path Equipment
Material Handling Equipment
• Fixed path equipment that moves in a Variable path equipment has no restrictions in
fixed path. the direction of movement, although their size
is a factor to be given due consideration.
• Conveyors, monorail devices, chutes, and
pulleys. Trucks, forklifts, mobile cranes, and industrial
• Overhead cranes have a very good range tractors belong to this category.
in terms of hauling tonnage and are used Forklifts are available in many ranges; they are
for handling bulky raw materials, stacking, manoeuvrable, and various attachments are
and, at times, palletizing. provided to increase their versatility.
Material Handling
Equipment
Material Handling Equipment may be
classified into five major categories:
• Conveyors
• Industrial Trucks
• Cranes and Hoists
• Automated Guided Vehicles
• Monorails and other rail-guided
vehicles
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
• 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
Forklift
Truck
Powered Trucks

• 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
Trailer Trains
Trailer Trains
Advantages Disadvantages
1. They are not required to follow a fixed path 1. They cannot handle heavy loads
of movement & therefore, can be used
2. They limited capacity per trip
anywhere on the floor where space permits
3. Most trucks have to be driven by an operator
2. They are capable of loading, unloading, &
lifting, in addition to transferring material 4. Trucks do not allow handling to be
combined with processing & inspection, as
3. Because of their unrestricted mobility, which
other types of equipment do
allows them to serve different areas, trucks
can achieve high utilization
Automated Guided
Vehicle System (AGVS)

A material handling system uses

independently operated,
self-propelled vehicles guided along
defined pathways on the facility
floor.
Types of AGV:
• Driverless trains
• Pallet trucks
• Unit load AGVs
Driverless Automated
Guided Train
Common application is
moving heavy payloads
over long distances in
warehouses and factories
without intermediate stops
along the route
AGV Pallet Truck
Used to move palletized loads along
predetermined routes

The worker backs the vehicle into a

loaded pallet; the pallet is then
elevated from the floor.

A worker drives a pallet truck to the

AGV guide path and program
destination.
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
mechanized lift platforms
 AGVs Applications
1. Driverless train operations – the 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 – the movement
of work parts between machine tools
5. Miscellaneous - mail delivery and hospital
supplies
 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
The 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
• The 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 Cart-on-track

conveyor 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 a forward
path to move loads
• Belt is made of reinforced
elastomer
• Support slider or rollers used to
support forward loop
• Two common forms:
– Flat belt
– 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

from towline for loading and unloading
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
Cart-On-Track Conveyor
• Carts ride on a track above floor
level

• Carts are driven by a spinning tube

• The forward motion of the cart is

controlled by a drive wheel whose
angle can be changed from zero
(idle) to 45 degrees (forward)
 Types of motions
• Continuous - conveyor moves at constant
velocity
• Asynchronous - conveyor moves with
stop-and-go motion.They stop at stations,
move between stations

Another classification of conveyors:

• Single direction
• Continuous loop
• Recirculating

Powered Conveyor -
Operations and Features
(a) Single direction conveyor

(b) Continuous loop conveyor

Advantages

1. Permits high capacity for moving large number of items

2. Their speed is adjustable
3. Handling combined with other activities such as processing & inspection is possible
4. They are versatile & can be on floor or overhead
5. Temporary storage of loads b/w work station is possible (particularly overhead
conveyors)
6. Load transfer is automatic & does not require the assistance of many operators
7. Straight line paths or aisles are not required
8. Utilization of the cube is feasible through the use of overhead conveyors
Disadvantages:

1. They allow a fixed path, serving only limited areas

2. Bottlenecks can develop in the system
3. A breakdown in any part of the conveyor stops the entire line
4. Since conveyors are fixed in position, they hinder the movement of mobile equipment
on the floor
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
Hoist with mechanical advantage of
four:
(a) sketch of the hoist
(b) diagram to illustrate mechanical
advantage
Bridge Crane
Gantry Crane
Jib Crane
Advantages:

1. Lifting as well as transferring of material is possible

2. Interference with the work on the floor is minimized
3. Valuable floor space is saved for truck rather than being utilized for installation of
handling equipment
4. Such equipment is capable of handling heavy loads
5. Such equipment can be used for loading & unloading of materials
Disadvantages:

1. They require heavy investment (especially bridge cranes)

2. They serve a limited area
3. Some cranes move only in straight line & thus can not make turns
4. Utilization may not be as high as desirable since cranes are used only for a short time
during daily work
5. An operator has to be available for operating some types, such as bridge cranes

Applications:
Shipyards & heavy equipment production facilities
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE UTILISATION
OF MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS
1. As material handling adds no value but increases the production cycle time, eliminate handling
wherever possible. Ideally there should not be any handling at all!
2. Sequence the operations in logical manner so that handling is unidirectional and smooth.
3. Use gravity wherever possible as it results in conservation of power and fuel.
4. Standardise the handling equipments to the extent possible as it means interchangeable usage,
better utilisation of handling equipments, and lesser spares holding.
5. Install a regular preventive maintenance programme for material handling equipments so that
downtime is minimum.
6. In selection of handling equipments, criteria of versatility and adaptability must be the governing
factor. This will ensure that investments in special purpose handling equipments are kept at a
minimum.
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE UTILISATION
OF MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS
7. Weight of unit load must be maximum so that each ‘handling trip’ is productive.
8. Work study aspects, such a elimination of unnecessary movements and combination of
processes should be considered while installing a material handling system.
9. Non-productive operations in handling, such as slinging, loading, etc., should be kept at a
minimum through appropriate design of handling equipment. Magnetic cranes for scrap
movement and loading in furnaces combination of excavators and tippers for ores loading and
unloading in mines are examples in this respect.
10. Location of stores should be as close as possible to the plant which uses the materials. This
avoids handling and minimizing investment in material handling system.
GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE UTILISATION
OF MATERIAL HANDLING EQUIPMENTS
11. Application of OR techniques such as queueing can be very effective in optimal utilisation
of materials handling equipments.
12. A very important aspect in the design of a material handling system is the safety aspect.
The system designed should be simple and safe to operate.
13. Avoid any wasteful movements-method study can be conducted for this purpose.
14. Ensure proper coordination through judicious selection of equipments and training of
workmen.
 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANT LAYOUT AND
MATERIAL HANDLING
A good layout ensures minimum material handling and eliminates rehandling in the following ways:
1. Material movement does not add any value to the product, so the material handling should be
kept at a minimum, though not avoided. This is possible only through the systematic plant layout.
Thus, a good layout minimises handling.
2. The productive time of workers will go without production if they are required to travel long
distances to get the material tools, etc. Thus, a good layout ensures minimum travel for workmen,
thus enhancing production time and eliminating hunting and traveling time.
3. Space is an important criterion. Plant layout integrates all men’s movements and material through
a well-designed layout with a material handling system.
4. Good plant layout helps in building an efficient material handling system. It helps to keep
material handling shorter, faster, and more economical. A good layout reduces the material
backtracking and unnecessary workmen movement, ensuring effectiveness in manufacturing.