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chapter five

Material Handling system

Outlines
 Introduction to MH
 Objectives of MH
 Principles of MH
 Various types of material handling equipment
 Basic categories of material handling equipment

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Introduction to MH

Historical MH is move the material around.

Activities in any operation generally can be either value adding
or non-value adding activities.
Move materials around does not add any value, thus the simple
rule with respect to material handling is less in (cost, time,
labor ,distance and etc) the better.
About the 90% of the time, in any manufacturing company,
material spends in move and storage.
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MHS is the broad concern of especially disciplines like System

Engineering and Engineering Management. But in this course it
focus on only some fundamental issues including principle,
various material handling equipment and their basic

category.
Definition Basic Concepts and 5

principles
Definition and objectives: material handling encompasses the
movement and positioning of material to provide place utility for
processing and /or distribution function.
It includes all of the basic operations involved in the movement
of bulk, packaged, and individual products in the semi-solid or
a solid state by means of machinery and with in the limit of a
place of business.
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Objective of Material Handling

i.To increase the efficiency of material flow by ensuring the availability of

materials when and where they are needed.

ii.To improve facilities utilization.

To
iii. improve safety and working conditions.

To
iv. facilitate the manufacturing process.

v.To increase productivity.

To
vi. reduce material handling cost.
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Some Important Concepts

MHS is an integrated system involving such activities

handling ,storing, and controlling of materials.

 The primary objective of using a material handling system is

to delivered the right amount of material safely to the desired

destination at the right time with minimum cost.

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Principle of material handling

The handling of material must be performed safely ,efficiently (at
low cost), in timely manner, accurately ( the right material in the
right location and without damage the material.
According to the material handling institute, there are twenty
basic principles of material handling.
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Principles Descriptions
1 Material handling methods should be planned that meets basic
Planning
requirements and which is flexible to include any other desirable
features.
2 Materials handling functions should be integrated and coordinated
Systems
with various activities of receiving, shipping, production assembly,
etc.
3 Attempts should be made for simplifying, reducing, combining or if
Simplification
possible to eliminate unnecessary movements related to equipment
and materials.
4 Material How should ideally be determined by Operation sequences
Material flow
involved in a process.
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5 Equipment Equipment should be carefully selected considering all
selection aspects of materials, movements and methods used.
6 Idle time Attempts should be made for reducing the idle times and
principle unproductive times of material handling equipment.

7 Capacity Production capacity of machines should be fully utilized.

principle

8 Space utilization Cubic space available in plant should be utilized in an effective

manner.
9 Standardization Standardize equipment and methods used for various activities.

10 Equipment and methods should be designed in such a way that

Ergonomic allows for effective interaction between humans and machines.
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11 Mechanization Wherever possible, mechanized methods for increasing
efficiency.

12 Flexibility Use methods and equipment that are capable of

handling a variety of tasks

13 Gravity Gravity principle should be utilized as much as

possible for transfer of materials keeping in mind the
safety aspects.

14 Safety Safe handling methods and equipment should be used.

15 Light weight As far as possible, reduce the weight of equipment.

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16 Motion Equipment's for handling should be kept in motion.
principle
17 Performance Performance of material handling devices should be measured
by various factors, such as cost per unit handled, increased
production rate. etc.

18 Cost Evaluate each alternative solution and select the optimal one.

19 Maintenance Preventive maintenance activities should he performed on all

material handling devices for ensuring its trouble free
functioning.
20 Obsolescence For achieving efficiency, obsolete equipment and methods
should be replaced by more efficient ones.
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Material handling system equation

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Major material handling Equipment Categories

Different types of MH equipment listed in in each table below
can be classified into the following five major categories.
i. Transport Equipment.
ii. Positioning Equipment.
iii. Unit Load Formation Equipment
iv. Storage Equipment
v. Identification and Control Equipment
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Transport equipment
Transport equipment is used to move material from one location to
another. (e.g., between workplaces, between a loading dock and a storage
area, etc.)
The major subcategories of transport equipment are:
 conveyors,

cranes, and

Industrial trucks.

Material can also be transported manually using no equipment.

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Unit load equipment is used to restrict materials so that they

maintain their integrity when handled a single load during transport
and for storage.
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Positioning Equipment

Positioning equipment is used to handle material at a single

location. It can be used at a workplace to feed, orient,
load/unload, As compared to manual handling, the use of
positioning equipment can provide the following benefits
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•improve product quality and limit damage to materials and

equipment when the item handled is heavy or awkward to hold and

damage is likely through human error or inattention, and

• reduce fatigue and injuries when the environment is hazardous or

inaccessible.
•raise the productivity of each worker when the frequency of

handling is high
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Positioning Equipment

Manual (no equipment)

Under ideal circumstances, maximum recommended weight for manual lifting to avoid

back injuries is 51 lbs.

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Lift/tilt/turn table
Used when positioning involves the lifting, tilting, or turning of a
load. Can be used to reduce or limit a worker’s lifting and/or
reaching motions.
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Dock leveler
Used at loading docks to compensate for height differences between
a truck bed and the dock.

4. Ball transfer table

Used in conveyor systems to permit manual transfer to and from
machines and conveyors and between different
sections of conveyors
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Conveyors
Conveyors are used:
When material is to be moved frequently between specific points
To move materials over a fixed path
 When there is a sufficient flow volume to justify the fixed
conveyor investment
Conveyors can be classified in different ways:
Type of product being handled: unit load or bulk load
 Location of the conveyor: in-floor, on-floor, or overhead
 Whether loads can accumulate on the conveyor or no
accumulation is possible.
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Conveyors
 Roller
 Skate-wheel
 Belt
 In-floor towline
 Overhead trolley conveyor
 Cart-on-track conveyor
 Bucket conveyor
 Screw conveyor……..
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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
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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
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Belt Conveyor
 Continuous loop with forward path to

move loads
 Support slider or rollers used to

 support forward loop

 Two common forms:

 Flat belt (shown)

 V-shaped for bulk materials

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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

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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
Often used to move parts and
assemblies between major
production areas
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cart-on-track conveyor
Carts ride on a track above floor level

Carts are driven by a spinning tube

Forward motion of cart is controlled

by a drive wheel whose angle can be

changed from zero (idle) to 45
degrees (forward)
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Bucket conveyor
• Bulk + On-Floor
• Used to move bulk materials in a vertical or
inclined path
• Buckets are attached to a cable, chain, or
belt
• Buckets are automatically unloaded at the
end of the conveyor run
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Screw conveyor
Bulk + On-Floor
Consists of a tube or U-shaped stationary
trough through which a shaft-mounted helix
revolves to push loose material forward in a
horizontal or inclined direction.
Straight-tube screw conveyor sometimes
referred to as an “auger feed”
Water screw developed circa 250 BC by
Archimedes
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Pneumaticconveyor

Bulk/Unit + Overhead
Can be used for both bulk and unit
movement of materials
Air pressure is used to convey
materials through a system of vertical
and horizontal tubes
Material is completely enclosed and it
is easy to implement turns and
vertical moves.
Dilute-phase pneumatic conveyor or
Carrier-system pneumatic conveyor
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Vertical conveyor
Unit + On-Floor + No
Accumulation
Used for low-frequency
intermittent vertical transfers a
load to different floors (vertical
chain conveyor can be used for
continuous high-frequency
vertical transfers)
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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
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Industrial Trucks
Industrial trucks are trucks that are not licensed to travel on public
roads—“commercial trucks” are licensed to travel on public roads.
Industrial trucks are:
 Used to move materials over variable (horizontal) paths with no
restrictions on the area covered (i.e., unrestricted area)
 Provide vertical movement if the truck has lifting capabilities
 Used when there is insufficient (or intermittent) flow volume
such that the use of a conveyor cannot be justified
 Provide more flexibility in movement than conveyors and cranes
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Industrial Trucks
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Storage Equipment

Storage equipment is used for holding or buffering materials over a

period of time. Some storage equipment may include the transport of
materials (e.g., the S/R machines of an AS/RS, or storage carousels).
If materials are block stacked directly on the floor, then no storage
equipment is required. Storage racks are used to provide support to a
load and/or to make the load accessible
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Storage Equipment
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Identification and Control Equipment.

Equipment used to collect and communicate the information that
is used to coordinate the flow of materials:
within a facility and between a facility
its suppliers and customers
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