Chapter 10

Material handling is defined as the movement, protection, storage and control of
materials and products throughout the process of manufacture and distribution,

consumption and disposal.
Design Considerations in Material Handling
Design of the system depends on the materials to be handled, quantities and distances
to be moved, type of production facility served by the handling system, and other factors,
including available budget. This section considers these factors that influence the design
of the material handling system.
The flow rate referred as the amount of material moved per unit time. The amount or
quantity of material to be moved affects the type of handling system that should be
installed. If large quantities of material must be handled, then a dedicated handling
system is appropriate. If the quantity of a particular material type is small but there are
many different material types to be moved, then the handling system must be designed
to be shared by the various materials moved.
Routing factors include pickup and drop-off locations, move distances, routing variations,
and conditions that exist along the routes. Given that other factors remain constant,
handling cost is directly related to the distance of the move: The longer the move distance,
the greater the cost. Routing variations occur because different materials follow different
flow patterns in the factory or warehouse. If these differences exist, the material handling
system must be flexible enough to deal with them.
Scheduling relates to the timing of each individual delivery.
The material must be picked up and delivered promptly to its proper destination to
maintain peak performance and efficiency of the overall system. Scheduling urgency is
often mitigated by providing space for buffer stocks of materials at pickup and drop-off
points.
Plant Layout. The material handling system is an important factor in plant layout design.
When a new facility is being planned, the handling system should be considered part of
the layout.
In process layouts, a variety of parts and/or products are manufactured in small or
medium batch sizes. The handling system must be flexible to deal with the variations.
Considerable work-in-process is usually one of the characteristics of batch production,
Hand trucks and forklift trucks (for moving pallet loads of parts) are commonly used in
process layouts.
A product layout involves production of a standard or nearly identical types of product
in relatively high quantities. Final assembly plants for cars, trucks, and appliances are
usually designed as product layouts. The transport system that moves the product is
typically characterized as fixed route, mechanized, and capable of large flow rates.
Conveyor systems are common in product layouts. Delivery of component parts to the
various assembly workstations along the flow path is accomplished by trucks and similar
unit load vehicles.
Finally, in a fixed-position layout, the product is large and heavy and therefore remains
in a single location during most of its fabrication. Heavy components and subassemblies
must be moved to the product. Handling systems used for these moves in fixed-position
layouts are large and often mobile. Cranes, hoists, and trucks are common in this
situation.
A unit load is simply the mass that is to be moved or otherwise handled at one time. The
unit load may consist of only one part, a container loaded with multiple parts, or a pallet
loaded with multiple containers of parts.
Included in the definition of unit load is the container that holds or supports the materials
to be moved. To the extent possible, these containers are standardized in size and
configuration to be compatible with the material handling system.
Palletized unit loads are collected into truck loads, which then become larger unit loads
themselves. Then these truck loads are aggregated once again on freight trains or ships,
in effect becoming even larger unit loads. Most factories and warehouses use forklift
trucks to move materials on pallets.
There are good reasons for using unit loads in material handling
(1) multiple items can be handled simultaneously,

(2) the required number of trips is reduced,
(3) loading and unloading times are reduced, and
(4) product damage is decreased. Using unit loads results in lower cost and higher
operating efficiency.
Automated guided vehicle system (AGVS) is a material handling system that uses
independently operated, self-propelled vehicles guided along defined pathways.
AGV APPLICATION
Driverless train- Movement of large quantities of materials over long distance.
Storage and distribution- Movement of pallet load between shipping/receiving docks.
Assembly operations- Movement of car bodies assembly stations.
Flexible manufacturing system-Movement of work part between machine tools.
Describe the working principle of AGV.
A driverless train consists of a towing vehicle (the AGV) pulling one or more trailers to
form a train.
It was the first type of AGVS to be introduced and is still widely used today. A common
application is moving heavy payloads over long distances in warehouses or factories with
or without intermediate pickup and drop-off points along the route. For trains consisting
of 5–10 trailers, this is an efficient transport system.
Automated guided pallet trucks, Figure 10.5(b), are used to move palletized loads along
predetermined routes. In the typical application the vehicle is backed into the loaded pallet
by a human worker who steers the truck and uses its forks to elevate the load slightly.
Then the worker drives the pallet truck to the guide path and programs its destination,
and the vehicle proceeds automatically to the destination for unloading.
AGV unit load carriers are used to move unit loads from one station to another. They
are often equipped for automatic loading and unloading of pallets or tote pans by means
of powered rollers, moving belts, mechanized lift platforms, or other devices built into the
vehicle deck
Two methods of traffic control used in commercial AGV systems are (1) on-board
vehicle sensing and (2) zone control. The two techniques are often used in combination.
On-board vehicle sensing, also called forward sensing, uses one or more sensors on
each vehicle to detect the presence of other vehicles and obstacles ahead on the guide
path. Sensor technologies include optical and ultrasonic devices. When the on-board
sensor detects an obstacle in front of it, the vehicle stops. When the obstacle is removed,
the vehicle proceeds.
In zone control, the AGVS layout is divided into separate zones, and the operating rule
is that no vehicle is permitted to enter a zone that is already occupied by another vehicle.
The length of a zone is at least sufficient to hold one vehicle plus allowances for safety
and other considerations. The leading vehicle must proceed into the next zone before the
trailing vehicle can occupy the current zone.

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Chapter 10

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Material handling is defined as the movement, protection, storage and control of

materials and products throughout the process of manufacture and distribution,

(1) multiple items can be handled simultaneously,

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