MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF

MANUFACTURING SYSTEMS
Session 13

MATERIAL HANDLING
SYSTEMS
E. Gutierrez-Miravete
Spring 2001

MATERIAL HANDLING
SYSTEM TASKS
DISTRIBUTE VITAL MATERIALS TO
THE PLANTS CELLS
IMPLEMENT FLOW PATHS PLANNED
IN THE FACILITY LAYOUT
CONTROL THE FLOW OF PARTS,
TOOLS AND WASTES WITHIN AND
BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS

MHS DESIGN GOALS

TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE
EFFECTIVENESS AND
EFFICIENCY OF THE PLANT
USUALLY, LESS IS BETTER

MHS FEATURES

CORRECT PRODUCT (WHAT)

LOCATION (WHERE)
TIMING (WHEN)
METHOD (WHO & HOW)
CONDITION (HOW)
ORIENTATION (HOW)
QUANTITY (HOW MUCH)

QUESTIONS
WHAT IS POINT OF USE STORAGE?
WHAT IS A UNIT LOAD?
WHY IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE THAT
LESS IS BETTER?

MHS EQUIPMENT TYPES

CONVEYORS (Fig. 9.3)
CRANES AND HOISTS
AUTOMATED STORAGE/RETRIEVAL
SYSTEMS (AS/RS) (F9.4)
INDUSTRIAL TRUCKS
AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLES
(AGV)

MHS OTHER COMPONENTS

CONTAINERS
ROBOTS
BAR CODES
RADIO FREQUENCY SYSTEMS

MHS PRINCIPLES
1.- ORIENTATION
2.- PLANNING
3.- SYSTEMS
4.- UNIT LOAD
5.- SPACE USE
6.- STANDARDIZE
7.- ERGONOMIC
8.- ENERGY

9.-ECOLOGY
10.- MECHANIZE
11.- FLEXIBILITY
12.- SIMPLIFY
13.-GRAVITY
14.- SAFETY
15.- COMPUTERIZE
16.- SYSTEM FLOW

MHS PRINCIPLES
17.- LAYOUT
18.- COST
19.- MAINTENANCE
20.- OBSOLESCENCE

EQUIPMENT SELECTION
NUMBER OF EQUIPMENT TYPES
AVAILABLE (M)
NUMBER OF PRODUCT MOVES
PLANNED (N)
EQUIPMENT i MAKES MOVE j
ASSUME THAT THE FREQUENCY
AND DISTANCE FOR EACH MOVE
ARE ALREADY KNOWN

EQUIPMENT SELECTION

VARIABLE COST PER PERIOD cij

FIXED COST PER UNIT-PERIOD Ci
TIME PER MOVE tij
AVAILABLE TIME PER UNIT-PERIOD Ti
NUMBER OF UNITS OF EQUIPMENT i
ACQUIRED Yi
DECISION VARIABLES Xij
See Ex. 9.1, p. 297

DECISION MODEL
MINIMIZE (cost/period)

i j cij Xij + i Ci Yi
SUBJECT TO

i Xij = 1 (for all j)

j tij Xij < Ti Yi (for all i)
See Ex. 9.2 (O); Ex. 9.3 (Yi removed); Ex.
9.4 (Heuristic)

TWO KEY FEATURES OF

MODERNS MHS
FLEXIBILITY
MODULARITY

BULK LOAD RECEIVAL

NUMBER OF LOADS/ARRIVAL (b)

LOAD ARRIVAL RATE ()
LOAD SERVICING RATE ()
AVERAGE NUMBER OF LOADS
WAITING TO BE SERVICED (L)
AVERAGE TIME BETWEEN LOAD
ARRIVAL AND SERVICE
COMPLETION (W)

BULK LOAD RECEIVAL

WITH A SINGLE SERVER AND
POISSON ARRIVALS, SYSTEM
BEHAVES AS AN Mb/M/1/inf
QUEUE
Eqn. 9.3
Ex. 9.5

CONVEYOR ANALYSIS

CONVEYOR DESIGN GOAL

TO PROVIDE THE DESIRED
LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE IN
THE INTENDED ENVIRONMENT

DECISION VARIABLES

SPEED
LENGTH
CARRIER SPACING
CARRIER CAPACITY
NUMBER OF LOAD AND
UNLOAD STATIONS

CLOSED LOOP
CONVEYORS
REVOLVE AT CONSTANT SPEED
ALONG A FIXED PATH WITH
PART CARRIERS EQUALLY
SPACED ALONG THE
CONVEYOR LENGTH
See Fig. 9.5; Ex. 9.6

CLOSED LOOP CONVEYOR

ANALYSIS
NUMBER OF LOADING STATIONS (Ml)
NUMBER OF UNLOADING STATIONS
(Mu)
NUMBER OF WORKSTATIONS (Mw)
CONVEYOR VELOCITY (v)
NUMBER OF CARRIERS (N)
NUMBER OF PARTS/CARRIER (c)

CONVEYOR
LOAD/UNLOAD CAPACITY
UNITS ARRIVE AT A SINGLE
LOADING STATION WITH
FREQUENCY DETERMINISTIC
EACH CARRIER HOLDS ONE UNIT
CARRIERS ARE A DISTANCE d
APART ON CONVEYOR
UNLOADING FREQUENCY IS
ALSO DETERMINISTIC

QUESTIONS
WHAT HAPPENS IF UNITS ARRIVE
FASTER THAN THEY CAN BE
LOADED?
WHAT HAPPENS THE FIRST TIME A
UNIT PASSES AN IDLE UNLOAD
STATION?
WHAT HAPPENS IF ALL UNLOADING
STATIONS ARE BUSY? (BLOCKING)
Ex. 9.6, p. 304

CRITERIA
FOR BLOCKING

k = d/v > 1
FOR SUCCESSFUL HANDLING OF
CONVEYOR TRAFFIC THROUGH
UNLOADING

Mu > /k

CARRIER CAPACITY
SETTING
ASSUME VOLUME AND TIMING OF
LOAD/UNLOAD REQUEST ARE
KNOWN
AMOUNT OF MATERIAL LOADED
ONTO THE j-th CARRIER ON
PASSING STATION i (fi(j))
LOAD/UNLOAD PERIOD (p)

CARRIER CAPACITY
FOR CONVEYOR STABILITY OVER
THE CYCLE p NEED
LOADING = UNLOADING

i j fi(j) = 0
See Fig. 9.6; Ex. 9.7

PATH FLEXIBILITY
CONVEYORS: FIXED PATH
MANNED TRUCKS: FLEXIBLE PATH
AGVS: SEMI-FLEXIBLE PATH

AUTOMATED GUIDED
VEHICLES
USEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT OF
ASYNCHRONOUS ASSEMBLY
CAN PROVIDE CONTROL IN
ADDITION TO TRANSPORT
CAN FUNCTION TO PICK UP AND
DROP OFF LOADS ONLY
CAN FUNCTION AS MOBILE PART
FIXTURES

QUESTIONS
HOW ARE AGVS CONTROLLED?
CENTRAL COMPUTER & LOCAL
CONTROLLERS

HOW DO AGVS NAVIGATE?

INDUCTIVE GUIDEPATHS
OTHER SYSTEMS

AGVS FOR PICK UP/DROP

OFF ENVIRONMENT
DESIGN ISSUES
NUMBER OF PICK UP POINTS (P)
NUMBER OF DROP OFF POINTS (D)
PATH CONNECTING P AND D

OPERATIONAL ISSUES
NUMBER OF VEHICLES IN SYSTEM
ROUTES THE VEHICLES TAKE

AGV SYSTEM DESIGN

ISSUES
LOCATION OF P AND D
GUIDE PATH AND FACILITY
LAYOUT
DECISION PROBLEM: FIND SET OF
ARCS CONNECTING P AND D THAT
MINIMIZE LOADED TRAVEL
See Fig. 9.7; Table 9.3

PATH DESIGN RULES

1.- TRAVEL SHOULD BE
UNIDIRECTIONAL UNLESS TRAFFIC
IS VERY LIGHT (WHY?)
2.- PICKUP STATIONS SHOULD BE
DOWNSTREAM OF DROP-OFF
STATIONS (WHY?)

PATH DESIGN RULES

3.- FOR EACH PICKUP POINT ALONG A
SEGMENT, TOTAL DROP-OFFS FROM
THE START OF THE SEGMENT TO
THIS PICKUP SHOULD BE AT LEAST
AS LARGE AS TOTAL PICKUPS TO
THIS POINT IN THE SEGMENT
(WHY?)
4.- LOCATE P AND D ON LOW USAGE
SEGMENTS (WHY?)

PATH DESIGN RULES

5.- IF EMPTY VEHICLES ENTER AND
STOP ON A SEGMENT TO PICK UP,
THEN NO VEHICLES SHOULD
LEAVE THE SEGMENT EMPTY
AFTER DROPPING A LOAD IN THE
SEGMENT
6.- BYPASSES AND SHORTCUTS MAY
BE CONSIDERED

PATH DESIGN
MATERIAL HANDLING PATHS (See
Ex 9.8)
TANDEM APPROACH (See Fig 9.8)

VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS
HOW MANY VEHICLES ARE NEEDED
TO PERFORM HANDLING?
VEHICLE UTILIZATION TIME
LOADED TRAVEL TIME
UNLOADED TRAVEL TIME
BLOCKED TIME
LOAD TIME
UNLOAD TIME

VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS
FINDING LOADING, UNLOADING
AND LOADED TRAVEL VEHICLE
TIME (See Ex. 9.9)
HOW ABOUT EMPTY TRAVEL TIME?
TRANSPORTATION MODELING (Eq. 9.7)
See Ex. 9.10 (O)

VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS
WHAT ABOUT BLOCKING?
DIVIDE PATH INTO ZONES
PREVENT TWO VEHICLES FROM
BEING IN SAME ZONE
See Ex. 9.11 (O)

AGV OPERATION
PICKUP AND DELIVERY DEMANDS
MUST BE MET AT EACH P AND D
TWO CASES
STATIC SITUATION (CONSTANT
DEMAND RATE FOR PICKUP AND
DELIVERY)
DYNAMIC SITUATION

STATIC FLOW OPERATION

ROUTES SHOULD BE SELECTED SO
THAT THEY REPEAT
CONTINUOUSLY SATISFYING THE
SPECIFIED DEMANDS
WHAT IS A CYCLE? (p. 318)
See Ex. 9.12
See Table 9.5a; T9.5b, T9.6

DYNAMIC FLOW
PRIORITIZE PICKUPS BASED ON
FCFS WORKSTATION REQUESTS
NUMBER OF REMAINING SPACES
AVAILABLE IN OUTPUT QUEUE

CYCLES MAY BE USED (JOB SHOP)

IMPLEMENT DEMAND DRIVEN
MOVE PRIORITIES (JIT)

PALLET SIZE AND

LOADING