Material Handling

Material handling is the function of moving

the right material to the right place in the right time, in the right amount, in sequence, and in the right condition to minimize production cost.

The cost of MH estimates 20-25 of total manufacturing labor cost in the United States
[The Material Handling Industry of America

Primary Handling activities

The primary handling objective in a warehouse is

to sort inbound shipments according to precise customer requirements.

The three handling activities are

receiving, in-storage handling, and shipping.

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Receiving
Merchandise and materials typically arrive at the

warehouse in larger quantities.

The first handling activity required is unloading the

transportation vehicle.
In most warehouses, unloading is manual. Limited automated and mechanized methods.

Receiving
Generally, one or two people unload a shipment. The product is hand-stacked on pallets to form a unit load

for movement efficiency.

In some cases, conveyors are employed to unload vehicles

more rapidly.
Larger types of

merchandise may be unloaded directly from the car or truck to be moved into the warehouse.

Wooden Pallets

In-storage Handling
In-storage handling consists of all movement within a

warehouse facility.
To position it for storage or order selection.

Finally, when an order is received, it is necessary to

accumulate the required products and to transport them to a shipping area.

The two types of in-storage handling are transfer and

selection.

In-storage Handling Transfer

There are at least two and sometimes three

transfer movements required within a typical warehouse.

The merchandise is first moved into the building

and placed at a designated storage location.

The inbound movement is handled by forklift

trucks when pallets are used or other mechanical traction for larger unit loads.
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Forklift lifting another forklift

In-storage Handling Selection

The selection process groups materials, parts, and products

into customer orders.

It is typical for one section of the warehouse to be

established as a selection area to minimize travel distance.

The typical selection process is coordinated by a

computerized control system.

The primary focus for warehouse automation is the

selection process.
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Shipping
Shipping consists of checking and loading orders onto

transportation vehicles.
As in receiving, shipping is manually performed in most

systems.
Shipping with unit loads is becoming increasingly popular

because considerable time can be saved in vehicle loading.

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Basic Handling Considerations

Some guidelines for the design of material-handling

systems are:

Equipment for handling and storage should be as standardized as possible. The system should be designed to provide maximum continuous product flow. Handling equipment should be utilized to the maximum extent possible.

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Basic Handling Considerations

Handling systems are classified as mechanized, semi-

automated, automated, and information-directed.

A combination of labor and handling equipment is utilized

in mechanized systems.
Generally, labor constitutes a high percentage of overall

cost in mechanized handling.

Automated systems, in contrast, attempt to minimize

labor as much as practical by substituting capital investment in equipment.

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Mechanized Systems
Mechanized systems employ a wide range of

handling equipment.
The types of equipment most commonly used are:

Forklift trucks, Walkie-rider pallet trucks, Towlines, Tractor-trailer devices, Conveyors, and
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Forklift Trucks
Forklift trucks can move loads

both horizontally and vertically.

A forklift normally transports a maximum of two

unit loads (two pallets) at a time.

However, forklifts are not limited to unit-load

handling.
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Forklift Trucks
A pallet or slip sheet forms a platform upon which

loads are stacked.

A slip sheet consists of a thin sheet of material

such as fiber or corrugated paper.

Slip sheets are an inexpensive alternative to pallets

and are ideal for situations when product is handled only a few times.
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Choosing the right lift truck

Choosing the best vehicle for your operation will

result in optimal utilization of space and labor while maintaining a high safety factor.
Factors to consider when selecting a lift truck:

Fuel Types Lift Capacity and Lift Height Aisle Types Truck Types
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Fuel Types
Electric

Electric vehicles are designed for indoor use only. Advantages are the absence of fumes and their quiet operation.

Gasoline or Diesel

Outdoor use only. Heavily used in construction.

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Fuel Types
LPG Liquid Propane

Advantages of using LP include minimal fumes the ability to quickly change LP tanks

Fuel-cell Technology

hydrogen fuel cell power sources providing the clean-air benefits of electric

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Truck Types
Lift Trucks have come a long way since first being introduced in the early part of the 20th century as can be seen in this early photo of an Ellwell-Parker "Tiering Tructor".

Their original purpose, the efficient movement of materials, however has not changed.
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Truck Types
1- Standard forklift
The standard forklift, also known as a

counterbalanced lift truck It is available with any of the fuel types and tire types as well as numerous weight capacities, lift heights and attachment options.

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Truck Types
2- Reach truck
The reach truck is a narrow aisle truck designed

specifically for racked pallet storage.

It consists of outriggers in front and telescoping

forks that use a hydraulic scissors-type mechanism that allows you to pick up the load and retract it over the outriggers.

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Truck Types
2- Narrow aisle reach truck

Reach trucks are designed for racking areas only and do not work for loading trucks or quickly moving loads over distances.

Other Names of reach trucks are: Stand-up reach, Straddle reach , Double-deep reach

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Truck Types
2- Reach truck
Narrow aisle truck

designed specifically for racked pallet storage.

Double-deep version

(shown) loads pallets 2-deep in special double-deep racking.

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Truck Types
3- Motorized pallet truck
Other Names include: Walkie, Walkie-rider,

Rider
They come in "Walkie" versions or "Rider"

versions.
As you would expect the walkie is designed for

the operator to walk along with the truck as they move loads, while the Rider has a small platform which the operator stands on.
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WALKIE TRUCKS

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Motorized Pallet Truck (Rider Type)

Low cost and high

maneuver-ability make these vehicles a good choice where frequent movement of loads is required.
Options include double

pallet length forks that allow you to move 2 pallets in one trip.
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Truck Types
4- Order selector
Designed specifically for manual handling of less-

than-pallet-load quantities in racking.

It has fixed forks attached to a platform Order Selectors are very narrow aisle vehicles

which operate in aisles of less than 6'.

Order selectors are available in lift heights up to

40 feet however 20 to 30 foot models are more common.

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Order Selector Truck

Elevates the load and the operator to facilitate manual loading and unloading from racking

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Order Selector Truck

Vehicle is designed

specifically for hand loading less-than-pallet load quantities into and out of selective rack.

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Conveyor Systems

Conveyor systems have been a mainstay of

material handling for over 100 years.

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Conveyor Systems
Belt conveyors were moving materials in

manufacturing plants before the forklift was even invented.

automated material handling systems.
Conveyor is very cost effective and the ease of

expandability and reconfiguration makes it ideal for growing operations.

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Gravity Skate Wheel Conveyor

Gravity flow skate wheel

conveyor is a low cost option for conveying lightweight cartons or trays.

Used extensively in

shipping/receiving and assembly areas, skate wheel conveyors reduce manual material handling of lightweight items over short distances.
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Gravity Roller Conveyor

Application for gravity

roller conveyor is similar to that of gravity skate wheel.

Its cost is a little higher and

it is more effective where heavier items are being handled.

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Automated Belt Conveyor

Automated belt

conveyer has similar applications to gravity roller and skate wheel.

Single units can be

incorporated into gravity conveyor systems to create a simple low cost semiautomated system.
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Flexible Conveyor
Used extensively in

shipping/receiving operations for package handling, flexible conveyor is usually anchored at one end to fixed gravity or automated conveyor allowing the other end to be expanded and flexed into trailers for loading and unloading.

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Unit Load Conveyor

Unit Load Conveyor is

a heavy duty version of roller conveyor used for handling pallet loads or larger trays.

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High Volume Trailer Loading

This shows an

application of conveyor in high volume trailer loading/unloading.

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Sortation Systems

Sortation systems are the key to large elaborate conveyor systems.

The variety of sortation systems is extensive as are their applications.

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Automated Equipment
While you will need deep pockets for some of this

equipment, the increase in productivity and storage capacity can provide a reasonable ROI in many operations.

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Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)

A system of rows of

rack, each row has a dedicated retrieval unit that moves vertically and horizontally along the rack picking and putting away loads.

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Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)

ASRS systems are available in

Mini-load types which store and transfer product on some type of tray or in bins and Unit-load types (shown) which transfer and store pallet loads.

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Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV)

Vehicles that can be

programmed to automatically drive to designated points and perform preprogrammed functions.

Highly repetitive tasks are

performed over extended distances.

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Automated Guided Vehicle

This is another version

of an AGV that has added functionality to raise and lower the pallet to different heights.

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Towline (AGV) system

Towline system is designed for movement of materials and products over paths.

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