Material Handling

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Prof. Janakarajan Ramkumar
Professor
Department of Mechanical
IIT Kanpur, India.
 Content

• Material Transport Systems

• Material Handling

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• Logistics
• Material Characteristics

• Plant Layout PT
• Flow rate, Routing, Scheduling

• Unit Load Principle

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• Material Transport Equipments
• Vehicle Management
• Conveyors
 Material Handling Defined

“The movement, protection, storage and control of materials and products

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throughout the process of manufacture and distribution, consumption and
disposal” (The Material Handling Industry of America)

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• Estimated to represent 20-25% of total manufacturing labor cost.
• The proportion varies depending on type of production and degree of
automation
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Material Handling Technologies
in the Production System

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Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Material Handling Principles

• Material should be moved as little as possible.

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• Reduction in time by using shortest routes

• Material movement in lots, rather than individual

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• Gravity can also be used for transportation

• Rehandling and back tracking of materials should be avoided

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• Periodically repairing, maintenance Checkup of existing
material handling equipments.
 Objectives of Materials Handling
• To reduce manufacturing cycle time

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• To provide better working conditions

• To give smooth flow of materials

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• To increase storage capacity

• To provide higher productivity at lower manufacturing costs

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• To reduce unit material handling cost

• To use the floor area efficiently and effectively

Materials Handling in Industry

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 Materials Handling
Handling of materials must be performed:
• Safely

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• Efficiently
• At low cost
• In a timely manner

locations)
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• Accurately (the right materials in the right quantities to the right

• And without damage to the materials

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 Logistics
Concerned with the acquisition, movement, storage, and distribution of
materials and products to satisfy customer demand

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• Two categories of logistics:

• External logistics - transportation and related activities that occur

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outside of a facility (between different geographical locations)
• Five traditional modes of transportation: rail, truck, air, ship, and
pipeline
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• Internal logistics - material handling and storage within a facility
 External Logistics

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Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Internal Logistics

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Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Categories of Material Handling
Equipment
1. Transport equipment - to move materials inside a factory, warehouse,
or other facility

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2. Positioning equipment – to handle parts at one location
3. Unit load formation equipment - refers to (1) containers to hold
materials and (2) equipment used to load and package the containers
4.

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Storage equipment - to store materials and provide access to those
materials when required
Identification and control equipment - to identify and keep track of the
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materials being moved and stored
Use of Computers in Handling

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https://www.ptonline.com/products/material-handling-plant-supervisory-computer-for-conveying-loading-drying-cooling
Use of Computers in Handling

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https://www.analog.com/en/applications/markets/industrial-automation-technology-pavilion-home/industry-4-pt-0.html
 Design Considerations in Material
Handling

Design of the material handling system depends on:

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• Characteristics of materials to be moved
• Quantities and distances to be moved

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• Type of production facility

• Available budget
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 Material Characteristics
Material characteristics affect type of transport and storage equipment required
• Solid, liquid or gas

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• Size
• Weight
• Shape - long, flat, bulky

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• Condition - hot, cold, wet, dirty
• Risk of damage - fragile, brittle, sturdy
• Safety risk - explosive, flammable, toxic, corrosive
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 Flow Rate, Routing, and Scheduling

• Flow rate - amount of material moved per unit time

• Examples: pieces/hr , pallet loads/hr , tons/hr

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• Whether the material must be moved in individual units, as batches, or
continuously
• Routing - pick-up and drop-off locations, move distances, routing variations,

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conditions along the route
• Scheduling - timing of each delivery
• Prompt delivery when required
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• Use of buffer stocks to mitigate against late deliveries
 Plant Layout
• Material handling equipment considerations must be included in the plant
layout design problem
• Correlation between layout type and material handling equipment:

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Plant layout type Material handling equipment
Fixed-position Cranes, hoists, industrial trucks
Process
Product PT
Hand trucks, forklift trucks, AGVS
Conveyors for product flow
Trucks to deliver parts to stations
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 Unit Load Principle
In general, the unit load should be as large as practical for the material handling
system that will move and store it
• A unit load is the mass that is to be moved or otherwise handled at one

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time
• Reasons for using unit loads in material handling:
• Multiple items handled simultaneously

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• Required number of trips is reduced
• Loading/unloading times are reduced
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• Product damage is decreased
 Unit Load Containers

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(a) Wooden pallet, (b) pallet box, (c) tote box

Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Material Transport Equipment
Five categories are:
1. Industrial trucks

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2. Automated guided vehicles
3. Rail-guided vehicles (e.g., monorails)
4. Conveyors
5. Cranes and hoists
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 Industrial Trucks
Two basic categories:
1. Non-powered

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• Human workers push or pull loads
2. Powered
• Self-propelled

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• Guided or driven by human operator
• Common example: forklift truck
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 Non powered Industrial Trucks
(Hand Trucks)

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(a) Two-wheel hand truck, (b) four-wheel dolly, (c) hand-operated low-lift
pallet truck

Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Powered Industrial Trucks

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(a) Walkie truck, (b) forklift truck, and (c) towing tractor
Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education
 Automated Guided Vehicles
An Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVS) is a material handling
system that uses independently operated, self-propelled vehicles guided

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along defined pathways
Types of AGV:
• Towing vehicles for driverless trains – used to move heavy loads over
long distances

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• Pallet trucks – used to move palletized loads along predetermined
routes
• Unit load carriers – used to move unit loads between stations in a
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facility
 Automated Guided Vehicles

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(a) Driverless train, (b) AGV pallet truck, and (c) unit load carrier
Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education
 AGV’S Applications
in Production and Logistics
1. Driverless train operations - movement of large quantities of material over

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long distances

2. Storage and distribution - movement of pallet loads between

3.
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shipping/receiving docks and storage racks

Assembly line applications - movement of car bodies and major

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subassemblies (motors) through the assembly stations

4. Flexible manufacturing systems - movement of workparts between

machine tools
 Vehicle Guidance Technology
• Method by which AGVS pathways are defined and vehicles are controlled to
follow the pathways
• Technologies include:

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• Imbedded guide wires

• Paint strips
• Magnetic tape

• Laser-guided vehicles
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• Inertial navigation
Vehicle Guidance System
using Wires

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Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Vehicle Management
Two aspects of vehicle management:
• Traffic control - to minimize interference between vehicles and prevent
collisions

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1. Forward sensing
2. Zone control
• Vehicle dispatching

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1. On-board control panel
2. Remote call stations
3. Central computer control
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Industry Automation in
Handling

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http://www.steinbockus.com/Automation/agv%20systems/pcm.html
Zone Control

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 Vehicle Safety
• Travel velocity of AGV is slower than typical walking speed of human worker
• Automatic stopping of vehicle if it strays from guide path

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• Acquisition distance
• Obstacle detection system in forward direction
• Use of ultrasonic sensors common

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• Emergency bumper - brakes vehicle when contact is made with forward object
• Warning lights (blinking or rotating red lights)
• Warning sounds of approaching vehicles
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 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

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• Fixed rail system
• Overhead monorail - suspended overhead from the ceiling
• On-floor - parallel fixed rails, tracks generally protrude up from the floor

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• Routing variations are possible: switches, turntables, and other special
track sections
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 Conveyor Systems
Large family of material transport equipment designed to move materials
over fixed paths, usually in large quantities or volumes
1. Non-powered

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• Materials moved by human workers or by gravity
2. Powered
• Power mechanism for transporting materials is contained in the

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fixed path, using chains, belts, rollers or other mechanical devices
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 Conveyor Types

• Roller

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• Skate-wheel

• Belt

• In-floor towline
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• Overhead trolley conveyor
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• Cart-on-track conveyor
 Conveyor Types

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PT (a) Roller
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(b) skate wheel
(c) belt
(d) in-floor towline
(e) overhead trolley

Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Cart-On-Track Conveyor
• Carts ride on a track and 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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Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

 Powered Conveyor Operations
and Features
• Types of motions

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1. Continuous - conveyor moves at constant velocity
2. Asynchronous - conveyor moves with stop-and-go motion
• They stop at stations, move between stations
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Another classification of conveyors:
1. Single direction
2. Continuous loop
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3. Recirculating
Powered Conveyor

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 Types of Powered Conveyor
Continuous

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•Move at a constant velocity (vc) along the pathway,
• Include conveyor types belt, roller, skate-wheel, and overhead trolley.
•These conveyors form a circuit consisting of a delivery loop and a return
loop.
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•A continuous loop system allows materials to be moved between any two
stations along the pathway.
•Empty carriers are automatically returned from the unload station back to
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the load station.
 Types of Powered Conveyor
Asynchronous
• Operate in a stop-go motion in which container loads move between stations,

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where processes are performed upon them.
• It allows independent movement of each carrier in the system.
• Examples include power-and-free trolley, infloor towline, and cart-on-track,

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and—for some models—roller and skatewheel.
• Reasons for their use include:
• load accumulation
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• temporary storage
• to equalise production rates on different conveyors in adjacent processing
areas
• to smooth production cycle times along a production line
• to accommodate different conveyor speeds along the pathway.
 Cranes and Hoists
Handling devices for lifting, lowering and transporting materials, often as
heavy loads
• Cranes

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• For horizontal movement of materials
• Hoists
• For vertical lifting of materials

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• Cranes usually include hoists so that the crane-and-hoist combination

• Horizontal transport
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• Vertical lifting and lowering
 Hoists
Hoist with mechanical
advantage of four:

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(a) sketch of the hoist
(b) diagram to illustrate
mechanical advantage
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(a) (b)

Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

Hoists and platform

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http://www.equipmentindia.com/News.aspx?nid=qppHdcXjf6Ctbf55ax1k4g==
 Cranes

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(a) Bridge crane, (b) half-gantry crane, and (c) jib crane

Mikell P.Groover, Automation,production systems and computer-integrated manufacturing,2016,Pearson Education

Cranes

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https://www.cargosafetyservices.com.co/GALERIA/
http://www.insem.si/overhead-crane-inquiry.html
 Summary
• What is Material handling?
• What are the types of logistics?

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• What are the various material characteristics?
• What is Unit load principle?

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• What are different material transport equipments?
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Thank you!!

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