Proceedings of

th th
6 International & 27 All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference
(AIMTDR-2016)
College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA
December 16-18, 2016

Design of Manual Material Handling Trolley for Spool

Loading and Unloading: Case Study
Ganesh S. Jadhav1, Arunita Paul2 and Urmi R. Salve3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Daulatrao Aher College of Engineering, Karad415124
2Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwhati781039, Assam, India
3Ph.D, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwhati781039, Assam, India

E-mail: 1gsjadhav@yahoo.co.in, 2arunita.paul2007@gmail.com, 3meeturmi@gmail.com

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Manual material handling is one of the major causes of an accident at various industries. In United
Manual Material Handling States more than half million cases of MSD reported annually due to manual material handling
Trolley (MMH). The selection of the proper material handling equipment is one of the important functions
MSD while designing the process. Appropriate material handling system can enhance productivity,
Spiral Spool production processes, operators safety and optimum utilization of manpower. This paper describes
Baking Oven the development of manual material handling trolley for material loading and unloading in an
electronics component manufacturing company. In this manufacturing unit (flattening) the materials
were transported from one workstation (spiral press and baking oven) to another manually and
unloaded and loaded from spiral press and into baking oven respectively manually. While doing so
the workers need to handle 25kg spool 60 times in an 8hrs shift. Further they get exposed to 1250C
each time they load the spool. Due to manual handling of the semi finished product there was a
chance of material damage. From the preliminary observation it was clear that the workers were
suffering from different musculoskeletal disorders such as low back pain, wrist pain and the adopted
posture were not optimum. This leads an urgent implementation of mechanical aids. But
implementation of well automated material handling system was not possible due to high economical
burden towards manufacturing unit.
In view of the above a need was generated to provide a low cost material handling system to protect
the workers from occupational stress.
With various design consideration three concepts were generated and modified. After experts
validation one final concept was selected. The selected model was tested for static analysis using
COMSOL in order to predict deflection and stress of CAD model of the trolley. This ensured that the
new design could sustain the applied load. The trolley was made up of mild steel material. The
working trolley was evaluated at the same workstations. Postures were evaluated using REBA and
compared with before designing scenario. The results revealed that the adopted postures by the
workers were improved and duration of exposure to extreme temperature was reduced. Further the
same trolley was in use for unloading, loading and material transferring. The follow-up study was
done till three months and it was found that the system was sustainable in the unit without hampering
the productivity.
After implementation of trolley their production rate was improved by small percentage. Postural
load assessment ravelled that posture has been improved after implantation of the newly designed
trolley. Static analysis of the trolley has been done using COMSOL in order to predict deflection and
stress of CAD model of the trolley. This ensured that the new design could sustain the applied load.
An ergonomic intervention and design of trolley for manual material handling improved the posture
which in turn improves the working conditions leading to reduce the discomfort and fatigue of
workers. It also increases the productivity and efficiency. Due to the development of manual material
handling trolley the operator had less exposure to baking oven which reduce the heat exposure
(occupational health hazard). The material damage possibility also completely eliminated due to this
kind of arrangement.

1. Introduction of accidents involve handling goods in one way or another

(Health and Safety Commission, 1991). Hoogendoorn et al.
Manual material handling includes any tasks which require
(2000) observed that workers who lifted a 25 kg load more than
a person to lift, lower, push, pull, hold or carry any object or
15 times per day have increased risk of low back pain. Manual
material. A large proportion of the accidents that occur in
handling of spools may expose workers to physical conditions
industry involve the manual handling of goods. In the USA,
(e.g., force, awkward postures, and repetitive motions) that can
about 500 000 workers, suffer some type of overexertion injury
lead to injuries, wasted energy, and wasted time. Manual
per year due to MSD (Bridger 2003). In the UK, more than 25%

851 ISBN: 978-93-86256-27-0

 th th
6 International & 27 All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR2016)
College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA
material handling tasks may expose workers to physical risk
factors. If these tasks are performed repeatedly or over long
periods of time, it can lead to fatigue and injury.
This paper has been done only on capacitor manufacturing
process of electronic manufacturing company. In the stage
flattening of wound capacitor flattens the cell on spiral press
machine.
In the stage flattening (2nd stage of the process) of wound
capacitor manufacturing there was a machine named Spiral
Press machine. In this stage there were two major manual
activities. First is unloading of spool (diameter of 810 mm,
approximate weight is 25 kg) from spiral press machine and the
second is loading at baking oven. Both the activities were
manual demanding job and there was no automated system
installed due to various internal reasons.
Figure 1 shows the spiral press machine which is used for
fattening of wounded cells. The spiral press machine operates
with masking strip and casset strip. Figure 2 shows that baking
oven which is used to bake the spools of wounded cells; this is
the requirement of the product.
Fig. 1. Spiral press machine
Fig. 2. Baking oven
The same process is being handled by other similar
manufacturing unit. They use Jib head crane for material
handling and vacuum gripper for spool lifting position. After
analysing the by process research team they proposed to install
the automated system which is installed in other manufacturing
units. But the management was interested to implement simple
mechanical material handling system. Automated set up was not
financially affordable to their present situation.
Further they demanded that the same system should be
useful for loading and unloading the material at spiral press and
baking oven respectively. In the existing system the oven
operators load the spool in unsafe manner. The spool size was
810mm but the oven width was 750 mm. Because of this
difference the whole spool cannot go inside of the oven without
changing the direction. For changing the directions there were
some more manual handling. The operators expose themselves
at approximate 125C while loading the spool in the baking
oven.
ISBN: 978-93-86256-27-0
2. Problem statement
While unloading the spools due to heavy weight
(approximate 23kg) lifting from certain distance operator
exposed to various risk of low back pain and discomfort. At the
same time there was no system available for transportation of
blank cassets (base container).
While loading and unloading the spools of heavy weight in
the baking oven operator exposed to risk of heat exposure. The
temperature in the oven is near about 125 degree Celsius. And
also there was no track for loading the trolley in the oven.
3. Literature review
Selection of material handling process is an important
function in the design of material handling system, and thus it is
a crucial step for facilities planning (Chan, 2002). Production
can be enhanced by proper material handling equipment which
may give effective utilization of manpower and improve system
flexibility. A large number of accidents has been reported in
literature due to manual material handling. In the USA, about
5,00,000 workers, suffer some type of overexertion injury per
year (NIOSH, 1981). Approximately 60% of the overexertion
injury claims involve lifting and 20% pushing or pulling
(NIOSH, 1981). In the UK, more than 25% of accidents involve
handling goods in one way or another (Health and Safety
Commission, 1991).
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, handling is
defined as: Seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise
working with the hand or hands (Bridger R.S.2003). Fingers are
involved only to the extent that they are an extension of the
hand, such as to turn a switch or to shift automobile gears
(Rakesh et al., 2013). Weight of the load being lifted gets
transferred to the spinal column in the form of compression and
shear forces during manual handling task. The compression and
shear are greater when the load is lifted quickly because higher
forces are needed to accelerate the mass from rest, according to
Newtons laws of motion (Bridger, 2003).
The most common form of occupational ill-health in many
of todays industrialized nations is musculoskeletal disorders
(MSDs) that related with manual material handling tasks
(Christopher et al., 2010). Heavy lifting at work increases the
risk of back pain. Exposure to manual materials handling
(MMH) activities is considered to be an important contributor to
the etiology of back disorders (Kuiper et al., 2010). Ergonomic
intervention and ergonomic redesign of workstations to improve
posture and working conditions helps in reducing workers
discomfort and fatigue, increasing productivity and a significant
reduction of employment related MSDs. One of the major
causes of MSD among industrial workers is MMH. WHO
recommended combined ergonomic improvements such as
workstation redesign, or the introduction of new tools
equipment or job rotation for managing MSD (Kari et al.,
2010).
Manual materials handling tasks involved more than one
type of activity (lifting, pushing, carrying, etc.). Manual
materials handling require workers to handle the materials in
good condition and avoid injuries. However, the lacks of
awareness of ergonomic and healthy issues among the workers
lead them under the risk of occupational diseases that may
affect their health (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2010).
Prevention of musculoskeletal disorders is one of the most
important tasks of securing safety and health at work. There is a
growing recognition in both industrialized and industrially
852
 Design of Manual Material Handling Trolley for Spool Loading and Unloading: Case Study

developing countries that simple improvements in materials 5.3 Concept generation

handling and workstations for preventing musculoskeletal
disorders which have multiple impacts on safety and health
promotion and on productivity enhancement (O'Neill, 2000).
Scientific evidence shows that effective ergonomic
interventions can lower the physical demands of MMH work
tasks, thereby lowering the incidence and severity of the
musculoskeletal injuries they can cause. Their potential for
reducing injury-related costs alone makes ergonomic
interventions a useful tool for improving a companys
productivity, product quality, and overall business
competitiveness (Rakesh et al., 2013).
4. Chosen approach

Concept 1

5. Methodology
1. Data collection regarding machine dimension (center
distance from floor) cassets, spiral spools and their Concept 2
weights.
2. Postural evaluation of existing workstation.
3. Checking the pre-design feasibility.
4. Concept development.
5. Final design of material handling trolley.
6. Re-evaluation of the designed trolley in terms of
comfort and posture.
5.1 Data collection
The data and information related to spiral press machine
and baking oven were mainly collected from survey. The centre Concept 3
distances from the floor to machine centre (height) have been By considering advantages and disadvantages concept no.3
measured physically. Also the weights of casset and spiral has been finalised. This concept was basically used to unload
spools are measured physically. Frequently occurred postures the material from spiral press machine. In this concept the frame
were recorded by video recording. RULA grand scores were material is considered as mild steel which withstands the
arrived at by using score sheet and the recorded posture. The temperature of 1250C for 2 to 3 hours. In this type of trolley the
pre concept design feasibilities were checked. centre hollow pipe can moved to the spiral press machine so
that operator can easily unload the material from spiral press
5.2 Design machine.
To design a safe material handling trolley for material
loading and unloading following issues have taken into 6. Results observation
consideration: Various design dimensions and specifications of spiral
1. Safe for material loading and unloading in working press machine and baking oven are mentioned in table 1.
condition. Table 1
2. Window of baking oven should be same or little design dimension of the spiral press spool
boarder than the spool size. Weight of the Weight of the Diameter of Height of spiral spool
3. Optimum space utilization. blank casset caseet with spiral spool from floor (Centre
4. Easy to maintain. spool Distance)
16 Kg 25 kg 810 mm 500 mm
5. Improve operators posture.
6. One trolley should accomplish both purpose for spiral Table 2
pecifications of the baking oven
press and baking oven.
Width Height Depth Temperature
7. Material should able to withstand the temperature of 750 mm 1320 mm 720 mm 1250C
the oven.

853 ISBN: 978-93-86256-27-0

 th th
6 International & 27 All India Manufacturing Technology, Design and Research Conference (AIMTDR2016)
College of Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA

Table 3 While doing thermal analysis of trolley input was given

REBA score sheet before Implementation load and temperature and output was stress and defection.
Material Handling REBA Recommendation Deflection=3.5mm and Stress= 108MPa.
activity Score
Spool lifting 9 Investigation and changes are required Yield strength for mild steel=250MPa
immediately 108MPa < 250MPa. Hence proposed design is safe.
Spool shifting in lifted 5 Investigation and changes are required
position soon 6.3 Actual design of trolley
Spool Mounting 7 Investigation and changes are required
immediately
The above result revealed that there is a requirement of
changing the MMH for reducing the postural risk.
6.1 Work schedule
Operator completes approximately 50 to 55 spools in 8
hours shift on spiral press machine. Baking oven operator load
and unload spools in the baking oven in 50 to 55 times in 8
hours shift. The temperature in the baking oven was noted with
the help of digital thermometer which is mounted in the oven. It
was near about 125C.
6.2 Combined thermal and load analysis of trolley
Static analysis of the trolley has been done using
Fig. 3. Actual trolley front view
COMSOW in order to predict deflection and stress of CAD
model of the trolley. This will ensure that this new design could
sustain the applied load. Specification of the material used Mild
Steel is as follows:
Material = Mild Steel
Youngs Modulus= 210 GPA; Poisson Ratio= 0.27 to 0.30
Since we assumed as F.O.S. =2. For doing analysis load is
considered 5000N but in design load is 2300 N. Therefore
designed trolley is safe the given load.

Fig. 4. Actual trolley side view

Stress

Fig. 5. Actual trolley inside the oven

Re-evaluation of the designed trolley in terms of comfort
and posture:
7. Discussions
The result of this study revealed that the baking oven
operators are engaged in prolonged bending posture in there
Deflection working condition of material loading in the oven. After doing

ISBN: 978-93-86256-27-0 854

 Design of Manual Material Handling Trolley for Spool Loading and Unloading: Case Study
an ergonomic assessment by REBA method for spiral press
machine activity there is need to do some ergonomic design
interventions in terms of manual material handling activity. So
that prevention of musculoskeletal disorder can be
implemented.
In order to prevent above MSD problem there is feasibility
to implement some low cost improvements or to implement
manual material handling trolley to satisfy both purposes for
spiral press and baking oven.
Due to the track provision for loading and unloading the
material, the stress on hand gets minimized and material
handling movements are easily carried out. This track is used
not only for CDI spools but also other pitch spools. It also helps
in all types of spools.
8. Conclusion
Major problems are associated with material loading and
unloading operations, awkward postures in different parts of
body. It is concluded that this awkward posture has an adverse
effect on production and efficiency of workers.
An ergonomic intervention and low cost design of trolley
for manual material handling to improve posture and working
conditions helps in reducing workers discomfort and fatigue,
increasing productivity and significant reduction of employment
related MSD.
Acknowledgment
We are especially thankful to all managers, engineers and
workers of electronic manufacturing components company who
were involved during carrying out this work. We are also
thankful to Indian Institute of technology Guwahati and Dr.
Daulatrao Aher College of Engineering Karad.
855
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ISBN: 978-93-86256-27-0