CHAPTER SIX

MATERIALS HANDLING

At the end of this chapter you will be able to:

Define materials handling
Know Benefits of proper materials handling
Identify Influencing factors of materials handling
Discuss Materials handling codes and specifications
Identify Materials handling equipment and guidelines

6.1 Definition and Scope

Why is a material handling important to total materials management?
Because, total material management system depends on well-organized and integrated material
handling system which allows proper flow of materials to all essential parts of the business.
Materials handling has been defined in many ways, but the activity is rather neatly summarized
by the British Standards institution as:
Techniques employed to move, transport, store or distribute materials with or without
the aid of mechanical appliances.
The scope of this chapter is rather narrower than the definition; the emphasis is on the
movement of materials.
Handling materials, which is a major activity in storehouses and stockyards, is a costly
operation and therefore the methods and equipment should be efficient.
o As in many other aspects of storekeeping, this approach depends on;
 The nature of the business,
 The kind of stock carried and
 The type of accommodation required.
Materials handling is of major importance not only in the stores but also throughout the
production processes.
For the purposes of this chapter, however, materials handling will be considered from the stores
angle only, that is, from the point of unloading goods on arrival to the point where why are
issued for use.

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6.2 Objectives of Materials Handling
The objectives of material handling include;
Provide Integrated Materials Handling Systems
Materials handling is common to all types of businesses, both in the office and in operations.
Considering the numerous and diverse business activities that requires material handlings, it is
logical to have an objective that considers integrating all these facets.
Minimize Total Costs
Material handling represents a major portion of total costs for every type of business.
Total materials handling costs can be minimized by various approaches.
The most common method is to directly reduce an existing expense item.
Another approach is to invest in equipment that will reduce materials handling activities by
individual employees.
To control materials handling costs, first must identify general sources of potential savings. The
major sources of material handling costs are space, labor, inventory, equipment, and waste.
Improve Working Condition
Companies that have instituted productivity improvement programs have found that focusing
on areas related to material handling, such as providing safe work areas, reducing employee
fatigue, and enhancing the quality of the work life, is an extremely effective means of
improving productivity.
Improve Productivity
Business publications refer continually to “productivity”. Productivity can be defined as:
1. The ratio of effective or useful output to the total output in any system
2. The relationship between the amount of work accomplished and the amount of labor
necessary to accomplish it
3. the efficiency of people/machines
6.3 Benefits of proper materials handling
Carefully planned and operated materials-handling policies can result in the following benefits:
1. Reduced handling costs
2. Greater economy in use of space (through higher storage density)
3. Reduced risk of damage to stocks
4. Reduced labor requirement

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 5. Less fatigue
6. Increased safety
6.4 Major Influencing Factor of Material Handling
Material handling can be influenced by variety of factors, among the following factors should be
considered when examining material handling problem:
1. The position of the storehouse
2. Handle ability of the materials
3. The case for manual handling
4. The method of packaging incoming materials
5. Economy of movement
6. the selection of suitable machines
7. the storehouse layout
8. Training of operators.

6.5 Materials Handling Principles and Guideline

6.5.1 Materials Handling Principles
The college-Industry council on materials handling education (CICMHE) developed 20 principles of
materials handling. It has been said that anyone indoctrinated with the 20 principles can walk through
almost any existing building and develop beneficial short-term and long-term improvements:
1. Planning: Plan all material handling and storage activities for best overall results.
2. Systems: For efficiency and overall cost control, integrate as many individual handling activities as
possible in to one coordinated system. The different handling activities may involve
receiving, stores, inspection, kitting, distribution process handling, packaging and
transportation. This will ensure standardization, optimum space utilization and overall cost
control.
3. Material flow: Provide a material flow pattern that is easy to work with and does not create
congestion, cross traffic, or an excessive spacious environment.
4. Simplification: Simplify a process first by eliminating any non-value-added operation, combining
operations or using group technology.
5. Gravity: Design the system to take advantage of gravity wherever possible, thereby eliminating
equipment requirements.
6. Space: Utilization: Keep the third dimension, building height in mind when designing system.
7. Unit size: Increase unit size as much as possible to keep the frequency of moves low.

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8. Safety: Keep safety as prime concern in handling and storage operations.
9. Mechanization/automation: Mechanize and automate handling functions when practical.
10. Equipment selection: In selecting equipment give attention to the moves to be made and how it
performs for overall cost and flexibility.
11. Standardization: For flexibility and cost control standardize methods, equipment and containers.
12. Flexibility: Select methods and equipment that can be applied to a variety of tasks.
13. Dead weight: Keep ratio of the weight of moving equipment to the load it carries to minimum.
14. Motion: for maximum utilization, transport equipment must be kept in motion as long as possible.
15. Idle time: Reduce unproductive time for equipment and personnel.
16. Maintenance: Plan for preventive maintenance and schedule repair during off time.
17. Obsolescence: Replace obsolete methods and equipment when newer methods can be justified for
implementation.
18. Control: Use material handling equipment to control manual operation time, scheduling, testing
and processing.
19. Capacity: Use handling equipment to achieve planned production capacity.
20. Performance efficiency: Determine efficiency of the handling system in cost per unit handled.

6.5.1 Materials Handling Guideline

The following guidelines are of the materials handling system (Gopalakrishnan and Sundaresen; 2002):
1. Sequence the operations in a logical manner.
2. Use gravity wherever possible.
3. Standardize the handling equipments.
4. Install a regular preventive maintenance programme for material handling equipments.
5. In selection of handling equipments, criteria of versatility and adaptability must be the
governing factor.
6. Non-productive operations in handling, such as slinging, loading, etc, should be kept at a
minimum.
7. Location of stores should be as close as possible to the plant.
8. The system designed should be simple and safe to operate.
9. Avoid any wasteful movements.
10. Ensure proper coordination through thoughtful selection of equipments and training of
workmen.

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6.6 Material Handling Equipment
A large variety and size of materials handling equipment is available and hence choosing the proper
equipment is always a difficult process. The choice of the equipment rests on a large number of
parameters. These include; type of materials, unit load, safety, obsolescence, standardization in design,
capital operational and maintenance cost.
Often, the choice of materials handling equipment will be governed by; the existing models, standard
equipments, after-sales service, availability of spares, capability to handle loads, maneuverability, etc.
Broadly, materials handling equipment can be classified into two categories; namely fixed path
equipment and variable path equipments.
1. Fixed path equipments:- are those which move in a fixed path. Various types of conveyors,
mono-rail devices, chutes, and pulley drive equipments belong to this category. A slight
variation in this category is provided by overhead cranes which, though restricted, can move
materials in any manner within a restricted area by virtue of its design. Overhead cranes have
good range in terms of hauling tonnage and are used for handling bulky raw materials, stacking
and, at times, palletizing.
2. Variable path equipments; - have no restrictions in the direction of movement although their
size is a factor to be given due consideration. Trucks, forklifts, mobile cranes as well as
industrial vehicles and tractors belong to this category. Forklifts are available in many ranges
and they are maneuverable and various attachments are provided to increase their versatility.
Having seen the variety of equipments available, we will examine the factors which have to be
evaluated in the selection of materials handling equipment. Thus factors are;
1. Nature of movement
2. Material characteristics
3. Existing state of handling equipment
4. Equipment characteristics like speed, noise, life, fumes, flexibility and reliability, and
5. Cost consideration.
6.7 Material Disposal
Material disposal deals with the disposal/removal of surplus, obsolete, scarp and waste materials for
effective usage of available material.

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Surplus Material
Surplus materials are materials in the store, which are more than what the user department requires.
These materials are an avoidable burden on the stores inventory and should be disposed of to recover
the money blocked because of them. Material surplus arises due to;
 When purchase is greater than actual requirements.
 When wrong items have been purchased.
 When anticipated production did not materialize.
 Forward purchasing.
Disposal of Surplus Items
Once the surplus items are identified, the following actions could be taken for their disposal:
i. It should be determined if the surplus items can be used elsewhere in the organization.
ii. A list of surplus items is to be circulated to other organizations, which can use such items.
iii. The original supplier/customer may be interested in taking back certain items that are in
surplus.
iv. Trading organizations are very good source for disposal of surplus item.
v. Donation to an educational or technical institute free of cost.
Obsolete Material
The process of modernization and rationalization, particularly in traditional industries like textiles and
jute venders, the spares of the old machineries obsolete. Over-buying whether due to wrong forecast of
requirements or to take advantage of quantity discounts, can result in obsolescence. Other contributory
factors in this aspect are:
- Faulty planning, -Non-implementation of projects,
- Over reliance on economic lot size, -Wastage in storage,
- Damage in transportation, -Careless handling
- Changes of fashions, -Erratic demand,
- Vagaries in supply, etc.
Once material has been declared obsolete, it is wise to dispose of it for the best price that can be
obtained. The return-to-supplier method of disposal is also possible as suppliers typically allow the
return of both new and used surpluses as a courtesy to good accounts.
Scrap Material

These are rejected material from the production process, which cannot be used any more and are to be
thrown away. Similarly, old, broken parts, rejects, cut pieces of iron sheets, angle iron, gaskets,

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insulation, materials etc., are generated during maintenance and repair works also included. These
materials are removed from the place of work and dumped in the scrap yard.
Disposal of Scrap
Many methods are used for disposal. Two methods which are frequently used are by auction and by
tender. Parties in both the cases are normally required to inspect the scarp in the scrap yard and deposit
earnest money.
Waste
Waste is a material that occurs because of carelessness, faulty production methods, poor handling,
spoilage, breakage, and poor purchasing. In some cases, waste can be defined as the residue of
materials that results from the normal manufacturing process and that has no economic (resale) value
unlike scrap which does have a value. An example for this could be smoke produced by burning fuel.

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