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Facilities planning and design
Material Handling
Material handling
The layout design and material handling
system design are inseparable
Material handling is an integral part of the
overall facility design process
Material handling problems arise in a wide
variety of contexts and a lot of alternative
solutions usually exists
There is typically more than one “best”
solution to a material handling system
design problem
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Material handling
In a typical industrial facility material
handling accounts for
25% of all employees
55% of factory space
87% of production time
Material handling is estimated to represent
between 15-70% of the total cost of
manufactured product
The ideal goal is to “totally eliminate”
material handling activities
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Material handling
Improvements in material handling will
lead to
more efficient manufacturing,
efficient distribution of flows,
reduced requirements for material
handling equipment,
reduced total manufacturing costs,
lower inventories,
improved safety, etc.
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Definitions
Material handling means providing the right
amount of the right material, in the right
condition, at the right place, at the right time,
in the right position, in the right sequence, and
for the right cost, by the right method(s)
Material handling
is both art and science
involves movement, storage, control, and protection
of goods and materials
throughout manufacture, distribution, consumption,
and disposal
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Objectives
Objectives of material handling
Increase efficiency of material flow
Reduce material handling costs
Improve facility utilization
Improve safety and working
conditions
Facilitate the manufacturing process
Increase productivity
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Principles
10 principles of material handling:
1. Planning
2. Standardization
3. Work
4. Ergonomic
5. Unit load
6. Space utilization
7. System
8. Automation
9. Environmental
10. Life-cycle cost
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Checklists
To facilitate the identification of
opportunities to improve existing
material handling systems
To ensure that everything has been
accounted for
Contain conditions where possible
improvement opportunities may exist
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Checklists
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Designing material handling systems
1. Define the objectives and scope for the material
handling system
2. Analyze the requirements for moving, storing,
protecting, and controlling material
3. Generate alternative designs for meeting material
handling system requirements
4. Evaluate alternative material handling system designs
5. Select the preferred design for handling, storing,
protecting, and controlling material
6. Implement the preferred design
Selection of suppliers
Training of personnel
Installation, debug, and start-up
Performance audits 10
Material handling system equation
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Material handling planning chart
To organize data and generate alternatives
Gather information for a specific material
handling problem and provide a preliminary
examination of the solution alternatives
Each material handling activity should be
listed
Operation, Transport, Storage, Inspection
Sequence of activities, sizes of loads, amount,
frequency, distance, method of handling
should be included
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Material handling planning chart
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Material handling planning chart
Study each move
Can the move be eliminated?
Can the move be combined with another or
with an in-transit operation?
Can the move be simplified?
Is re-sequencing the moves possible?
Is it advantageous?
If the move must take place, then
determine the best method
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Performance
How to measure the performance of the
material handling system?
Support efficient production operations
Throughput
Response time
Cost
Space and cube utilization
Flexibility
Expandability
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Unit load
Unit to be stored, picked-up, and moved
between two locations as a single mass
single part carried by a person
each carton moved through a conveyor system
a number of cartons on a pallet moved by fork
lift trucks
a truck load delivered from a warehouse to a
customer
a number of intermodal containers
Unit load specification is an integral part of
material handling and storage system design
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Unit load
Large unit loads
require bigger and heavier equipment,
wider aisles, higher floor load capacities,
increase work-in-process inventory
require fewer moves
Small unit loads
increase transportation requirements
reduce work-in-process inventory, require
simple material handling methods, support
just-in-time production
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Effect of unit
load size on job
completion
times
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Integrity of unit load
The unit load may be
different along the
supply chain
Integrity can be
maintained in various
ways:
Boxes
Cartons
Pallets
Strapping, stretch
wrapping
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Moving the unit load
4 basic methods for moving the unit load
1. Lifting under the mass
2. Inserting the lifting element into the
body of the unit load
3. Squeezing the load between two
lifting surfaces
4. Suspending the load
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Moving the unit load
Typically the unit loads are
Covered in containers
Carried and stored as containers lying on
pallets
Carried in trailers
While planning consider the dimensional
relations between
Containers
Pallets
Trailers
Storage racks/spaces
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Containers
Returnable/Reusable
Cartons are not suitable for this
Stackability
A full container can be stacked on top
of another full container
Lids or tabs provide this feature
Nestability
Shape of the containers permit an
empty container to be inserted into
another empty container
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Containers
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Examples of stackable and nestable containers
Pallets
Another common method of containing
the unit load
Come in a variety of designs that are
usually dictated by the application
Common pallet sizes (cm):
80 x 100
100 x 120
120 x 120
105 x 105
85 x 120
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Pallets
Types of wooden pallets 25
Pallets
Common designs: (a) Stringer design (b) Block design 26
Pallets
A comparison of different pallet types 27
Pallet loading
The relationship between the container and
the pallet is referred to as the pallet loading
problem
The objectives of pallet loading
Space utilization
Stability of the load
Cost
Complicated by international supply chain
considerations
Most cost-effective pallet choice for the overall
supply chain is to use the pallet size of the
receiving country
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Pallet loading
Stacking pallets for different pallet sizes 29
Unit load-warehouse interactions
Unit load (carton used, pallet size, etc.)
directly affect the selection of the material
handling equipment and the physical
configuration of the storage facility
Interdependency between the selection of
Unit load - size
Unit load container – size and type
Pallet - size and type and loading method
Storage area – type of racks, storage method,
height, length
Material moving equipments: trailers, forklifts,
trucks – type, size, capacity
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Container and pallet pooling
Pooling became widely accepted in
Europe and North America
Instead of buying, companies rent
containers and pallets
Minimizes the movement of empty containers
and pallets
Increases utilization
No need to allocate extra space to store pallets
The company is not responsible for maintenance
Real-time tracking of pallets with RFID
tags
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Container and pallet pooling
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Material handling equipment
Material handling systems design is not just
a selection of equipment
Think of material handling system solution
rather than equipment solution
Equipment selection is one of the last steps
Knowledge of equipment alternatives is
essential to be able to come up with
alternative designs
New equipments are continually being
developed. Thus, be aware of the most
current technologies available
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MH Equipment classification
I. Containers and unitizing equipment
A. Containers
B. Unitizers
II. Material transport equipment
A. Conveyors
B. Industrial vehicles
C. Monorails, hoists, and cranes
III. Storage and retrieval equipment
A. Unit load storage and retrieval
B. Small load storage and retrieval
IV. Automatic data collection and communication equipment
A. Automatic identification and recognition
B. Automatic paperless communication
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Equipment selection
Reduce the set of alternatives to those that
are feasible based on the material and move
There generally exists numerous
alternatives. Thus, rely on judgment and
experience
Generally no single alternative is superior to
all other alternatives. Several good solutions
exist and one of them will be selected
This is a “satisficing” rather than an
“optimizing” process
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Estimating costs
Right method of handling with the right cost
Estimation of the cost of material handling
alternatives is not a trivial task
The purchase price of material handling
equipment can vary significantly from
company to company, model to model,
year to year, and the values contained in
such listing can be easily outdated
Verify the accuracy of the information used!
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Estimating costs
Costs include
Initial purchasing costs
Installation costs
Operating costs
Maintenance costs
Operator training costs
Determining which device is right: Preference,
noise, safety, energy efficiency, modularity,
flexibility, reliability, maintainability, …
For more complex systems, more systematic
approach is required such as simulation
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Safety
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) regulations
Many equipments comply safety regulations
Having a “safe” equipment does not ensure
a “safe” environment
Concentrate on the interface between the
workforce and the equipment
Poor ergonomics account for 1/3 of all
workplace injuries
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Summary
Material handling definition
Principles and objectives of material
handling
Checklists for material handling
A systematic approach for designing
material handling systems
Unit load principle
Material handling equipments
Cost estimation
Safety
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