Poly institute of technology department of CoTM

Chapter Two
Equipment and material management
2.1. Definition
A process encompassing acquisition, shipping, receiving, evaluation, warehousing and distribution
of goods, supplies and equipment is called mate rial management.
Material manageme nt Ensure that materials are delivered in a timely manner to the site in the
quantity and quality required.
When materials arrive they are:
 Counted
 Inspected
 If necessary, Tested
Material management must determine the latest order date accounting for the:
 shop drawing
 Preparation
 submission and
 approval time
 lead time required for fabrication
 shipping
Too many materials stored on the site can lead to problem of:
 space allocation
 weather damage
 theft

2.2. Equipment (plant) & Materials handling and management

Materials handling is defined as movement of material of any form (raw, finished, packaged,
solid, liquid, gas, light and heavy) from one location to another either in a restricted path by manual
or mechanical aids. The movement may be horizontal, vertical or may be combination of both.
Need of Material Handling:
Need comes from daily activities, past experiences and future predictions. Every activity we do,
need to movement from one place to another place whether it is eating food, catching balls or
traveling. Each activity needs means of moving the material.

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Some examples of mate rial handling equipme nts

Forklift Conveyor Gravity Roller Conveyer

Automated Guided Vehicle

Advantages of Material Handling

There are so many advantages of materials handling systems:
(a) Reduction in material and indirect labour cost.
(b) Better use of floor space and facilities.
(c) Improvement in the productivity.
(d) Reduced cost of transportation.
(e) Less fatigue (extreme tiredness) to the workers.
(f) Improved work environment.
(g) Greater flexibility.
(h) Improvement in the safety and reduction in the accidents.
(i) Improved material flow.

Disadvantages of Material Handling

Although material handling systems offers so many advantages but there are few disadvantages:
(a) Initial cost of the equipment in the most of cases is high.
(b) Skilled labour or operator is required to operate almost all types of material handling systems.
(c) If not operated well there are concerns of horrible accidents and hazards.
(d) Regular maintenance is required.
(e) Installation and operating cost is high.
(f) Inventory carrying cost is high in some cases.
Functions Involved in Materials Handling
(a) Surveys and analysis.
(b) Engineering drawings.
(c) Testing and experimental work.
(d) Installation.
(e) Maintenance.
(f) Assembling and packaging.
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 Terms and definitions used in material handling

- Transport:
It is a movement of material from one production center to another production center or from one
storage area to other storage area. Take or carry from one place to another by means of a vehicle,
aircraft, or ship.

- Transfer:
The movement of material from container to machine or vice versa

- Materials:
Almost all the materials are handled in a bulk or packaged form. the matter from which a thing is or
can be made. Items needed for an activity.

- Bulk materials:
Any materials that are handled in quantities without being conta ined in bags, boxes and barrels
- Packaged materials:
Materials contained in convenient sized packages, such as bags, boxes, cartoons, cans, barrels or
other type of containers that are handled as individual pieces by material handling system.

- Unit load:
A certain number of packaged units mounted together on skids, pallets, and platfo rm or skid box
for movement as a single unit. The unit load may be made of certain number of individual pieces
attached to a pallet or contained in a box.

 Material Handling Principles

1. Planning principle: all handling activities should be planned.

(i) Consider the plant layout before equipment / system design.
(ii) Plan correct location for materials supply and disposal. Plan for scrap removal.
(iii) Assure adequate storage space at the workplace.
(iv) Avoid placing materials directly on the floor

Material Handling Equation

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The planning starts with the question ‘‘why’’ materials handling is needed? If the necessity is clearly
established then only a new handling system is to be considered.
Next question is ‘‘what’’ type of materials to be moved to ‘‘where’’ and ‘‘when’’? Answer to this
question leads to the method to be deployed i.e. ‘‘How’’ and by ‘‘whom’’ (operator) the materials
handling will be effected.
In effect, the equation emphasizes the necessity of carefully analyzing both the MATERIALS to be
handled and MOVES to be made before selecting the METHODS.

2. Material flow principle: Plan operations sequence and equipment arrangement to optimize
material flow.
 Eliminate obstacles from material flow.
 Plan material movement in a direct path.
 Move bulky / weighty materials the least distance.
 Keep related work areas close together.
 Combine operations to reduce material movement.
 Minimize movement between floors.
 Process heavy / bulky materials close to receiving

3. Simplification principle: Reduce, combine or eliminate unnecessary movement and/or

equipment. It increases efficiency of materials handling.
 Plan direct moves. Reduce or eliminate long or complicated moves.
 Deliver materials at correct location first time.
 Apply principles of motions economy. Avoid unnecessary handling.
 Avoid use of variety of equipment types and sizes.

4. Gravity principle: Utilize gravity to move material whenever practicable.

 Use roller conveyors, slides between equipment/processes.
 Use sloping floor when materials movement by hand truck is mainly in one direction.

5. Space utilization principle: Make optimum use of building volume.

 Space equipment/processes close together.
 Eliminate or reduce temporary storage of materials.
 Clean storage areas and dispose scrap regularly.
 Stack materials to use building height.

6. Safety principle: Handling methods and handling equipment use must be safe.
 Do not overload materials handling equipment.
 Maintain floor in good condition.
 Provide adequate shop lighting.
 Provide good housekeeping.
 Materials handling equipment operators should be properly trained.
 Keep materials handling equipment in proper condition and do not use defective equipment.
7. Equipment selection principle: Before selecting materials handling equipment, consider all
aspects of materials handling, e.g., materials to be handled, moves to be made, methods to be
utilized.
 Select standardized equipment.
 Consider unitization of load for handling.
 Compare alternatives based on cost of handling.

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8. Flexibility Principle: Use methods and equipment, which can perform different tasks and
applications.
 Buy flexible equipment like Fork Lift Truck, Conveyor etc.
 Use variable speed drives.
 Make use of attachment & accessories.
 Use four ways pallets, skids and containers.

9. Dead-Weight Principle: Reduce the dead-weight movement.

 Movable materials handling equipment should be made of lightweight materials like aluminum,
magnesium etc.
 Use lightweight, pallets, skids, containers etc.
 Select lightweight equipment for light load.
10. Maintenance Principle: Do schedule maintenance and repair work of all materials handling
equipment to minimize outage.
 Train operators/maintenance personnel properly.
 Follow maintenance procedures as per manufacturers' recommendations.
 Operators should check conditions daily and report.
 Do repair/maintenance to avoid breakdowns.
 Establish preventive maintenance program.
 Maintain adequate spares.
 Standardize equipment to reduce spares.
 Avoid over maintenance.
 Avoid over loading of materials handling equipment.

 Classification of Material Handling Equipments

The main groups of materials handling equipments classified according to:
1. By their design features.
2. By mature and type of work.
3. By working area.
4. By movement or motion.
1. By their Design Features
a. Hoisting equipment is a group of machines with lifting gear intended for moving loads mainly in
batches.
b. Conveying equipment is a group of machines which may have no lifting gear and which move
loads in a continuous flow.
c. Surface and overhead equipment is a group of machines which also may not be provided with
lifting gear and which usually handle loads in batches.
2. Nature and Type of Work
a. Transport Equipment: Equipment used to move material from one location to another (e.g.,
between a loading dock and a storage area). Such as conveyors, cranes and trucks.
b. Positioning Equipment: Equipment used to handle material at a single location so that it is in
the correct position for subsequent handling, machining, transport or storage. Such as robots,
lifts and manipulators.
c. Unit load Formation Equipment: Equipment used to restrict materials so that they maintain
their integrity when handled a single load during transport and for storage. Such as pallets,
bags and cartoons.
d. Storage Equipment: Equipment used for holding materials over a period of time. Such as
sliding rack, cantilever rack and storage carousel.

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3. By Working Area
a. Unrestricted: these equipments can move in any direction. These include all types of trucks and
tractors.
b. Area restricted: they work in the restricted area. These include overhead traveling cranes, gantry
cranes and stacker cranes.
c. Line restricted: Such type of equipments generally works as a continuous transportation device
traveling on a specified path. These include conveyors, railways, lifts and elevators.
4. By Movement or Motion
a. Vertical motion (lifting and lowering devices).
b. Horizontal motion (transportation devices).
c. Combination motion (lifting and lowering plus transportation).

 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.
- Receiving
a. Merchandise and materials typically arrive at the warehouse in larger quantities than when they
depart.
b. The first handling activity required is unloading the transportation vehicle.
c. In most warehouses, unloading is manual.
d. Limited automated and mechanized methods have been developed that are capable of adapting to
varying product characteristics.
e. Generally, one or two people unload a shipment.
f. The product is hand-stacked on pallets to form a unit load for movement efficiency.
g. In some cases, conveyors are employed to unload vehicles more rapid
h. Larger types of merchandise may be unloaded directly from the car or truck to be moved into the
warehouse.
– Establish written protocols, assign responsibility
– Checking of goods for quality, expiry etc
– Cross check with purchase order
– Proper record in designed registers
– Signature of receiver & delivery person
– Periodic checks
Material receipt register

Da te Sr. Supplier’s P. O. No. Dt. Qty Qty Rejec ted Qty MRN
No. Na me Ref. & Received Accepted No.
Da te

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- In-storage Handling
a. In-storage handling consists of all movement within a warehouse facility.
b. Following product receipt, it is necessary to transfer merchandise within the warehouse to
position it for storage or order selection.
c. Finally, when an order is received, it is necessary to accumulate the required products and to
transport them to a shipping area.
d. The two types of in-storage handling are transfer and selection.
e. There is at least two and sometimes three transfer movements required within a typical
warehouse.
f. The merchandise is first moved into the building and placed at a designated storage location.
g. The inbound movement is handled by forklift trucks when pallets are used or other mechanical
traction for larger unit loads.
h. A second internal movement may be required prior to order assembly depending on the operating
procedures of the warehouse.
i. When products are required for order selection, they are transferred to an order selection or
picking area.
j. When the merchandise is physically large or bulky, such as a stove or washing machine, this
second movement may be omitted. In the final transfer, the assortment of products required for a
customer shipment is moved from the warehouse to the shipping dock.
k. The selection process groups materials, parts, and products into customer orders.
l. It is typical for one section of the warehouse to be established as a selection area to minimize
travel distance.
m. The typical selection process is coordinated by a computerized control system.
n. The primary focus for warehouse automation is the selection process.
- Shipping
a. Shipping consists of checking and loading orders onto transportation vehicles.
b. As in receiving, shipping is manually performed in most systems.
c. Shipping with unit loads is becoming increasingly popular because considerable time can be
saved in vehicle loading.
d. A unit load consists of grouped products, while a dead-stack or floor-stack load consists of boxes
loaded directly from the floor.

 Integrates all materials functions

 Purchasing
 Inventory management
 Production control
 Inbound (Traveling) traffic
 Warehousing and stores
 Incoming quality control
Objective: Efficient, low cost operations
 Equipment & material Movement Options to import
- Trucking
- Railways
- Airfreight
- Waterways
- Pipelines

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