Materials Handling

Principles of material handling

Material handling is a technique, the efficiency of which is governed by the following
principles:

1. The first principle of material handling is not to handle the material at all. The
materials should be moved as little as possible. The selection of production machinery
and the type of the plant layout should be such that the material and long may be
eliminated as far as possible.

2. The time of each move should be minimized. This can be attained through the
shortest routes and use of mechanized material handling equipment in place of manual
labor.

3. The distance of each move should be minimized. This can be attained through use
of the shortest routes and elimination of backing tracking.

4. The principle of unit load should be applied. According to this principle, the
materials should be moved in lots rather than on individual basis. The optimum
number of pieces should be moved in one unit.

The concept of containerization and keeping materials on pallets is applied in deciding

the unit load. The principal of unit load avails the economies in the form of reduced
loading, labor cost, packing cost, elimination of damage and pilferage, savings in time
and the effective utilization of material handling equipment.

5. The gravity should be used wherever possible as it is the cheapest source of motive
power.

6. Re-handling and back-tracking of the materials should be avoided. This can be

attained through proper layout and efficient routing and scheduling.

7. The appropriate material handling equipment should be selected so that the safety,
efficiency and flexibility can be maintained.

8. The design of the container, pallets, drums etc. should be such that they may entail
economy in handling, at the same the material damages during the transit may be
reduced.

9. The material handling service must not interfere with the production flow.

10. The safety of the people must be taken care of.

11. The provision of the stand-by facilities should be made so that the sudden
breakdown may not shut down the operations.

12. The check up, repairing and maintenance of the existing material handling
equipment should be made periodically.

13. The material handling services should be evaluated periodically and necessary
changes should be incorporated wherever it is possible.

Material handling principles are as follows:

 Orientation Principle: It encourages study of all available system

relationships before moving towards preliminary planning. The study includes
looking at existing methods, problems, etc.
 Planning Principle: It establishes a plan which includes basic requirements,
desirable alternates and planning for contingency.
 Systems Principle: It integrates handling and storage activities, which is cost
effective into integrated system design.
 Unit Load Principle: Handle product in a unit load as large as possible
 Space Utilization Principle: Encourage effective utilization of all the space
available
 Standardization Principle: It encourages standardization of handling methods
and equipment.
 Ergonomic Principle: It recognizes human capabilities and limitation by
design effective handling equipment.
 Energy Principle: It considers consumption of energy during material
handling.
 Ecology Principle: It encourages minimum impact upon the environment
during material handling.
 Mechanization Principle: It encourages mechanization of handling process
wherever possible as to encourage efficiency.
 Flexibility Principle: Encourages of methods and equipment which are
possible to utilize in all types of condition.
 Simplification Principle: Encourage simplification of methods and process by
removing unnecessary movements
 Gravity Principle: Encourages usage of gravity principle in movement of
goods.
 Safety Principle: Encourages provision for safe handling equipment according
to safety rules and regulation
 Computerization Principle: Encourages of computerization of material
handling and storage systems
 System Flow Principle: Encourages integration of data flow with physical
material flow
 Layout Principle: Encourages preparation of operational sequence of all
systems available
 Cost Principle: Encourages cost benefit analysis of all solutions available
  Maintenance Principle: Encourages preparation of plan for preventive
maintenance and scheduled repairs
 Obsolescence Principle: Encourage preparation of equipment policy as to
enjoy appropriate economic advantage.

Scope of Material handling:

Materials handling is spread over to many different industries and fields of
engineering,

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the largest single field for applications of material handling where a
wide range of materials handling equipments are used.

Materials handling problems involve surveys, plant and equipment layouts, routing,
packaging and storage of materials.

Processing

Processing requires handling of bulk materials (like gases, liquids, semi-liquids and
bulk solids). Special handling problems affect the plant design.

Construction

Construction needs proper receiving, sorting, storing and moving materials. In heavy
construction projects, there is now a choice of special methods and equipments of
materials handling. It influences the civil engineers in project planning.

Mining

In both underground mines and open pit operations, there is now a variety of
equipment for extraction, handling and transportation of coal and ore. Cost of
extracting the materials has been reduced to the minimum.

Power

Materials handling equipment for handling fuel and ash are needed.

Machine Tools

The design of many processing machines is influenced by the need for integrating
various material handling features or attachments to modern machine mechanisms.

Truck building
The automotive engineer develops trucks and trailer as efficient materials handling
vehicles, designed for speedy loading and unloading, ensure cargo is secured properly,
and safe transportation of a variety of materials.

Rail road car builders

The above are involved in improved rail road cars, development of terminal
equipment, improvement in materials handling procedure for loading and securing
freight and transferring or unloading it at terminals.

Barge and Ship building

New handling devices and improved kinds of marine carriers are manufactured in this
industry.

Aircraft

Better cargo and storage methods for air transport where materials handling is
concerned.

Block brakes
Block brakes are sections of brakes located on any roller coaster wherever more than
one train is intended to run. They act as virtual barriers between the trains running on
the roller coaster, preventing collisions should one train stop along the course for any
reason. Because of this, block brakes must be capable of completely stopping the train
(should a vehicle preceding the block stop) and starting a train (after it has been
stopped). Block brake sections usually start the train again either by using a slight
downward slope to let gravity take its course, or by using drive tires to push the train
out of the block. Like trim brakes, block brakes can also be used to control the speed
of the train. These are usually known as mid-course brake runs.

Band brake

A band brake is a primary or secondary brake, consisting of a band of friction

material that tightens concentrically around a cylindrical piece of equipment to either
prevent it from rotating (a static or "holding" brake), or to slow it (a dynamic brake).
This application is common on winch drums and chain saws and is also used for some
bicycle brakes.

A former application was the locking of gear rings in epicyclic gearing. In modern
automatic transmissions this task has been taken over entirely by multiple-plate
clutches or multiple-plate brakes.
Features

Band brakes can be simple, compact, rugged, and can generate high force with a light
input force. However, band brakes are prone to grabbing or chatter and loss of brake
force when hot. These problems are inherent with the design and thus limit where
band brakes are a good solution.

Effectiveness

One way to describe the effectiveness of the brake is as , where is the coefficient
of friction between band and drum, and is the angle of wrap. With a large , the
brake is very effective and requires low input force to achieve high brake force, but is
also very sensitive to changes in . For example light rust on the drum may cause the
brake to "grab" or chatter, water may cause the brake to slip, and rising temperatures
in braking may cause the coefficient of friction to drop slightly but in turn cause brake
force to drop greatly. Using a band material with low increases the input force
required to achieve a given brake force, but some low- materials also have more
consistent across the range of working temperatures.

Lift truck Attachments

Below is a list of common forklift attachments:[13]

 Dimensioning Devices-fork truck mounted dimensioning systems provide

dimensions for the cargo to facilitate truck trailer space utilization and to
support warehouse automation systems. The systems normally communicate
the dimensions via 802.11 radios. NTEP certified dimensioning devices are
available to support commercial activities that bill based on volume.

 Sideshifter - is a hydraulic attachment that allows the operator to move the

tines (forks) and backrest laterally. This allows easier placement of a load
without having to reposition the truck.[14]

 Rotator - To aid the handling of skids that may have become excessively tilted
and other specialty material handling needs some forklifts are fitted with an
attachment that allows the tines to be rotated. This type of attachment may also
be used for dumping containers for quick unloading.

 Fork Positioner - is a hydraulic attachment that moves the tines (forks)

together or apart. This removes the need for the operator to manually adjust the
tines for different sized loads.

 Roll and Barrel Clamp Attachment - A mechanical or hydraulic attachment

used to squeeze the item to be moved. It is used for handling barrels, kegs, or
 paper rolls. This type of attachment may also have a rotate function. The rotate
function would help an operator to insert a vertically stored paper into the
horizontal intake of a printing press for example.

 Pole Attachments - In some locations, such as carpet warehouses, a long metal

pole is used instead of forks to lift carpet rolls. Similar devices, though much
larger, are used to pick up metal coils.

 Carton and Multipurpose Clamp Attachments - are hydraulic attachments

that allow the operator to open and close around a load, squeezing it to pick it
up. Products like cartons, boxes and bales can be moved with this type
attachment. With these attachments in use, the forklift truck is sometimes
referred to as a clamp truck.

 Slip Sheet Attachment (Push - Pull) - is a hydraulic attachment that reaches

forward, clamps onto a slip sheet and draws the slip sheet onto wide and thin
metal forks for transport. The attachment will push the slip sheet and load off
the forks for placement.

 Drum Handler Attachment - is a mechanical attachment that slides onto the

tines (forks). It usually has a spring-loaded jaw that grips the top lip edge of a
drum for transport. Another type grabs around the drum in a manner similar to
the roll or barrel attachments.

 Man Basket - a lift platform that slides onto the tines (forks) and is meant for
hoisting workers. The man basket has railings to keep the person from falling
and brackets for attaching a safety harness. Also, a stap or chain is used to
attach the man basket to the carriage of the forklift.

 Telescopic Forks - are hydraulic attachments that allow the operator to operate
in warehouse design for "double-deep stacking", which means that two pallet
shelves are placed behind each other without any aisle between them.

 Scales -Fork truck mounted scales enable operators to efficiently weigh the
pallets they handle without interrupting their workflow by travelling to a
platform scale. Scales are available that provide legal-for-trade weights for
operations that involve billing by weight. They are easily retrofitted to the truck
by hanging on the carriage in the same manner as forks hang on the truck.

Any attachment on a forklift will reduce its nominal load rating, which is computed
with a stock fork carriage and forks. The actual load rating may be significantly lower.

Gravity Bucket Conveyor or Elevator Chain

This combined conveyor and elevator consists of a series of buckets mounted on
spigot pins between two chains.

The buckets, which are free to pivot, retain the material being carried, whether
travelling horizontally or vertically, until they are mechanically tipped at discharge
positions.

Belt Conveyor Types

Permanent: This type of conveyors is installed for the life of the mine. They are used
in main line, slope, long overland installation, preparation plants and
stockpiles.
Portable: These are characterised by relative ease of assembling and disassembling
to facilitate advances and recovery in development and retreat operations
in underground mining. Portable conveyors mounted on crawler or
wheels are also used in mechanised quarries and surface mines.
Shiftable: Used in continuous surface mining this type of conveyor is mounted on
skid or supporting structures aligned together and the whole can be
shifted transversely to follow the advancing working face.
High Angle Conveyor: These are special type of conveyor belt arrangement used for
negotiating steeper angle of inclination. Such belts can work in slope up
to 70-800. Sandwich belt conveyor is a type of such belt conveyor.
Cable Belt Conveyor: Where the belt is carried on moving wire ropes and the tractive
force is applied through the rope to the belt is known as cable belt
conveyor. NALCO (in collaboration with France) is using such system
for long distance conveying of bauxite in their mines in Orissa.

Belt
The belt consists of a carcass covered from all sides with a filler material like PVC
and neoprene as shown in Figure 1.
 Top Cover (Carrying Side)

End Cover End Cover

Carcass

Bottom Cover (Non-Carrying Side)

The belt works as a tractive element as well as load-carrying element. It may be used
for different kind of material transportation at a higher speed ( 6-8 m/s). For this
purpose the belt need to have the following essential properties:

1. Flexibility
2. Transverse rigidity
3. Low mass per unit length
4. High strength
5. Simplicity and inexpensive
6. Longer life
7. Should not stretch under normal working stresses ,i.e., low relative elongation.
8. Wear resistant
9. Fire resistant

Safe Material Handling

Workers suffer many painful injuries because they forget or are not properly trained in
the basics of manual material handling. Here are a few pointers about lifting and safe
handling of materials:

Use required personal protective equipment:

 Think of your toes in case something heavy drops. Always wear steel toed
shoes when lifting or handling heavy objects.
 Think of your hands. Wear good strong gloves when you handle anything
rough, sharp or splintery.

Before you lift:

 Test the load to determine its weight.  Use tandem (multi-person) lifting or
mechanical devices if the load is heavy or awkward.
  Be sure you've got a secure grip.  Do not have anything in your hands when
lifting other than the object you are lifting.  Use lifting handles or handholds if
provided.  Strapping tape is not designed to serve as lifting handles.
 Be sure you have solid footing.
 Inspect the path you are going to follow while carrying the load.  Make sure it
is free of debris and obstacles.
 Check packaging to ensure it is secure and the load will not fall out while being
handled.

When you lift and carry:

 Keep the load close to your body to minimize the strain.

 If the object is over your head, get a ladder or lift to get to it more easily.
 Do not reach to get an object off a pallet.  Turn the pallet or walk around it to
get closer to the item.  If the item is light, slide it closer to you.  Be careful if
the item is sliding over shrink wrap or a wooden pallet as it may get caught.
 Crouch down with the load between your legs and get a good grip on the
object.
 Lift smoothly and slowly with your legs.  Keep your back vertical.
 Keep your body facing the load throughout the lift and while moving the load. 
Don't twist your body; pivot with your feet instead of your spine.
 Carry the load close to your body in the space between your shoulders and
waist.
 Do not block your view with the load.
 Resist the temptation to carry that one extra box to avoid another trip. 

Use equipment (dollies, carts, two-wheelers, hoists or lifts) to move loads whenever
possible.  Push rather than pull if using a manual device to move the load.

Play it safe and smart. Follow these pointers in all of your lifting and handling of
materials.

Overhead Conveyor
These overhead conveyors are designed for conveying unit load above ground in any
path with capability to have horizontal and vertical movement along the path of travel.
Sturdily constructed, our conveyors are designed with variable speed options that can
be adjusted according to different applications.

Classification of Material Handling Systems:

Bases on Design features and operational characteristics, material handling equipment
may be broadly classified as:

Thruster Brake
Our company has acquired one of the most trusted positions in the industry for
manufacturing and supplying a wide range of Thrust Brake. These brakes can be
availed from us in different grades ad dimensions that suits best with the demands and
requirements of our valued clients. We do not compromise in terms of quality and so
we use high grade raw material for the manufacturing of our range. We also make sure
that our range complies with the industrial standards.

Features:

 Flawless functions
 High efficiency
 Reasonable rates

Hydraulic conveyor
A system for handling material, such as ash from a coal-fired furnace; refuse is
flushed from a hopper or slag tank to a grinder which discharges to a pump for
conveying to a disposal area or a dewatering bin.
5 Types Of Lifting Equipment Explained

Specific jobs need specialised equipment and cranes are one of the most highly
adapted tools used across a vast array of industries in all conditions and environments.
Here are five of the most common types of cranes in use the world over, showing that
this type of machinery is something we just can’t do without.

Overhead crane

These types of cranes are common in industries where the constant movement of
heavy materials are required throughout production processes, such as the steel
industry. Also known as a bridge crane, overhead cranes utilise a hook-and-line
mechanism that runs on a horizontal beam, which in turn traverses two rails, which are
usually spread well apart. Overhead cranes can be configured using either single or
double beams. Single beam cranes are known as a single bridge box girder crane,
while double beam units are required for heavier lifting capacities, usually 10 tonnes
and above.

Jib crane

These are one of the more widely used cranes and can be found in all shapes and sizes
and working in a wide variety of industries. They will typically be found in
warehouses, industrial premises and even on military vehicles. A jib crane utilising an
electric chain hoist has a horizontal member and is fixed to either the ground, wall or
other secure footing, such as a truck bed. It is capable of swinging through an arc and
can also be fixed. Hoists are another type of jib crane that can be used for lifting heavy
items in such situations as from the bottom floor to the second level in a warehouse.

Tower crane

These types of cranes are most often seen perched on the top of tall buildings during
their construction phase. Sitting in the cab of one of these monsters is certainly not a
job for the faint-hearted! A type of balance crane, they can be fixed to the ground or
onto structures to provide the ultimate in lifting and height capacity. A mast gives the
crane its height and is attached to a slewing unit that lets the crane rotate. A long jib
(or working arm), a shorter counter jib and operator’s cab sit on top of the slewing
unit. The counter jib carries a counter weight while the longer horizontal jib carries
the load from the centre of the arm. While tower cranes can sometimes be operated
remotely, most often they are controlled by an operator in the cab a with the help of a
dogger or rigger, who acts as a signaller on the ground.

Gantry crane

For the ultimate in gantry cranes, you can’t go past those used to unload shipping
containers at a busy port. They are the best example of a type of crane that has been
adapted for uses in a wide variety of industries and environments. A gantry crane uses
a hoist to lift very heavy objects and is mounted on a machinery house or trolley that
runs along rails. They are usually made to very precise specifications for individual
industries due to their highly specialised nature, such as the container crane. The can
come in all sizes but are most effective in shipyards and big industrial settings where
their design means they can consistently and efficiently lift extremely heavy loads.

Loader crane

Usually seen on the back of trucks, they are invaluable when it comes to the loading
and unloading of materials. Although they can be quite versatile in terms of their
reach and lifting ability, they can also be compact when folded back and not in use.
Loader cranes use a hydraulically-powered and articulated arm, which can also be
telescopic for greater reach. Most often loader cranes are directed by the operator
using a portable cable control system or crane-mounted hydraulic control levers.

Lift Truck Attachments

Paper roll clamps

For handling paper rolls in paper mills, warehouses, printing houses, forwarding
companies,

Pulp & waste paper bale clamps

For handling different bales, such as pulp, cotton, wool, fabrics, tobacco, in
warehouses, production sites, …

Sideshifters

Installed on the forklift truck carriage, it easily side shifts the forks…

Fork positioners

For the handling of palletized goods, in warehouses, production sites, forwarding

companies…
Multi pallet handlers

To handle several pallets at a time, mainly used in the soft drink industries, breweries,
…

Parallel clamps

To handle several types of goods, such as bales, bins, palletized loads, concrete
blocks, …

Carton clamps

For the handling of cartons and white goods, in production sites, logistic centres,
forwarding companies, …

Brudi push pulls

For the handling of goods positioned on slip-sheet, …

Rotators

For rotating bins, boxes, containers, also in difficult environments, such as foundries,

Specialized Product

Dedicated to rotate bins, containers, to load containers in double depth, …

Accessories & options

To furtherly increase productivity and safety, add a special tool to your fork lift truck
attachment

Screw Conveyor
A screw conveyor or auger conveyor is a mechanism that uses a rotating helical
screw blade, called a "flighting", usually within a tube, to move liquid or granular
materials. They are used in many bulk handling industries. Screw conveyors in
modern industry are often used horizontally or at a slight incline as an efficient way to
move semi-solid materials, including food waste, wood chips, aggregates, cereal
grains, animal feed, boiler ash, meat and bone meal, municipal solid waste, and many
others. The first type of screw conveyor was the Archimedes' screw, used since
ancient times to pump irrigation water.

They usually consist of a trough or tube containing either a spiral blade coiled around
a shaft, driven at one end and held at the other, or a "shaftless spiral", driven at one
end and free at the other. The rate of volume transfer is proportional to the rotation
rate of the shaft. In industrial control applications the device is often used as a variable
rate feeder by varying the rotation rate of the shaft to deliver a measured rate or
quantity of material into a process.

Screw conveyors can be operated with the flow of material inclined upward. When
space allows, this is a very economical method of elevating and conveying. As the
angle of inclination increases, the capacity of a given unit rapidly decreases.

The rotating part of the conveyor is sometimes called simply an auger.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration: (OSHA)

Crane Safety
Fatalities and serious injuries can occur if cranes are not inspected and used properly.
Many fatalities can occur when the crane boom, load line or load contacts power lines
and shorts electricity to ground. Other incidents happen when workers are struck by
the load, are caught inside the swing radius or fail to assemble/ disassemble the crane
properly.

 Cranes are to be operated only by qualified and trained personnel.

  A designated competent person must inspect the crane and all crane controls
before use.
 Be sure the crane is on a firm/stable surface and level.
 During assembly/disassembly do not unlock or remove pins unless sections are
blocked and secure (stable).
 Fully extend outriggers and barricade accessible areas inside the crane’s swing
radius.
 Watch for overhead electric power lines and maintain at least a 10-foot safe
working clearance from the lines.
 Inspect all rigging prior to use; do not wrap hoist lines around the load.
 Be sure to use the correct load chart for the crane’s current configuration and
setup, the load weight and lift path.
 Do not exceed the load chart capacity while making lifts.
 Raise load a few inches, hold, verify capacity/balance, and test brake system
before delivering load.
 Do not move loads over workers.
 Be sure to follow signals and manufacturer instructions while operating cranes.

Trough Belt Conveyors

Trough Belt Conveyors are designed to leverage the open frame and trough effect of
the rubber belt to fully contain the load of materials. Trough belt conveyors are the
most widely used and efficient means of moving bulk materials because they are
manufactured to:

 Convey high tonnage of materials.

 Handle gradual inclines over long runs of 150 or more.
 Convey horizontal up to 28° incline depending on product.
 Require very little maintenance.