handling of material in warehouse solving the problems involving the movement control and protection of materials, goods and products applied in both manufacturing and distributional operations does not add value to the product but it usually adds a significant value to the product These early methods treated the three basic stages of handling— a. materials collection b. Manufacturing c. product distribution Modern materials-handling systems, by contrast, emphasize the integrated flow of goods from the source of raw materials to final user This can be achieved by transporting goods in large quantities and in standardized units; by handling procedures using cranes, conveyor belts, and other machines; and by the careful coordination of the movement of goods with production, processing, and distribution schedules a. Designing the system for continues flow of material, i.e. idle time should be zero. b. Going in for standard equipment, which ensures low investment and flexibility in case of changes in material handling requirements in the future. c. Incorporating gravity flow in material flow system d. Ensuring that the ratio of the dead weight to the payload of material handling equipment is minimum. Various material handling systems are in use, right from those that are fully manual to the ones that are fully automatic. However, the selection of a particular system depends in factors such as: i. ii. iii. iv. Volumes to be handled Speed in handling Productivity Product characteristics (weight, size, shape) v. Nature of the product (hazardous, perishable, crushable) The Key to Greater Productivity, Customer Service and Profitability 1. Planning Principle: where the needs, performance objectives, functional specifications of the methods 2. Standardization Principle: should be standardized within the limits of achieving overall performance objectives 3. Work Principle: should be minimized without sacrificing productivity 4. Ergonomic Principle: Human must be recognized and respected in the design of material-handling tasks 5. Unit Load Principle: can be stored or moved as a single 6. Space Utilization Principle: All available space must be used effectively and efficiently. 7. System Principle: Material movement and storage activities should be fully integrated to form a coordinated, operational system that spans receiving, inspection, storage, production, assembly, packaging, unitizing, order selection, shipping, transportation, and the handling of returns. 8. Automation Principle: operations should be mechanized and/or automated where feasible to improve operational efficiency 9. Environmental Principle: total energy consumption should be an evaluation criterion 10. Life Cycle Cost Principle: A complete economic analysis should account for the entire life cycle of all material-handling equipment and the resulting systems. Lifting and Transport Equipment Equipment that falls into this category is fork lift trucks, order picking trucks, overhead cranes, tower cranes and belt, chain and overhead conveyors. fork lift trucks overhead conveyors Storage Equipment within this category are pallet racks, mobile shelf units, and plastic, wood and steel containers Automated Handling Equipment automated guide vehicles, storage and retrieval equipment, conveying systems and product sorting equipment Material Handling Equipment Selection Properly Match: The Material Characteristics The Move Requirements The Equipment Capabilities/Requirements Other factors to be considered include: Labor skills available Capital available Return on investment Expected life of installation STUDY ON THE APPROACHES OF THE SELECTION OF EQUIPMENT AND DESIGN OF THE MHS Problems to overcome : minimizes cost and maximizes reliability. [ Sequence A ] [ Sequence B ] Layout Design MHS Design MHS Design Layout Design Modifications of Layout Review of the MHS Design The Solution Sequence and Preferable Relations Between MHS and Facility Layout Design The selection of equipment and design of the MHS can be done using four ways: by means of a traditional selection method, using an analytical model, by knowledge-based approaches, Hybrid approaches (analytical and knowledge based approaches). Traditional Selection Method 1. the designer relies principally on handbooks and experience 2. approach may not be cost-effective Analytical Model 1. generally consider only quantifiable factors such as cost and utilization 2. often difficult to implement Knowledge-based Approaches 1. involves the use of expert guidelines. 2. allows extensive matching of equipment characteristics to application requirements PRODUCT AND PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS AND MHS EQUIPMENT SELECTION FOR EACH PRODUCT The choice of MHS equipment depends on the product and process requirements. For this reason, MHS equipment can be selected according to the product and process specifications. Main Features of the MHS Equipment Selection 1. Product Type (bar stock, package, pallet load, unit) 2. Product Weight 3. Product Size (Cubic Volume) 4. Product nature (Sturdy, Fragile) 5. Product Volume 1. 1.Speed Requirements 2. Accumulation Requirements (Yes or No) 3. Distance for Transfer 4. Frequency of Movement 5. Flexibility of Process Route 6. Loading and Unloading Requirements 7. Safety Aspects MHS Design Stages MHS Equipment Selection Rationalastion of the Selected MH Equipments Utilisation and Detail Design of Material Handling System Finding appropriate equipment for a handling problem involves extensive matching of product and process features and material handling equipment specifications. The Rationalization of the MHS between departments (nodes) Why Rationalization required ? Different product types are likely to require different details. reducing the total investment and operating cost of the MHS. If there are material transfers between two departments and they require these two types of equipment at the same time, the equipment types and their alternatives have been considered and alternative choices must be established and arranged in a form. If the requirement of MHS types is more than one and these types of equipment can replace each other then select the dominant one. Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV) Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) Implementation Of The Approaches The approach comprises three stages which are represented by two different knowledge-bases and one external program. • The knowledge-base contains all the rules and the objects which describe a particular topic. • function of the external program is to reorganize the data for the MHS selection phase and has been developed using FORTRAN. Product Database Product Process Routes MHS.EXE Specifies MHS equipment types for each product MHS-DEP.DAT Flow Chart of the Arrangement Procedure Obtain Product and Process features for MHS Equipment Selection Program of Rule Set for Material Handling Equipment Selection The Main Flow Chart of the Approach MHS Equipments for Each Product Organization of Selected Equipment (External Program) Rationalisation Pre-Designed MHS Utilisation and DETAIL DESIGN MHS EQUIPMENT SELECTION FOR PRODUCTS In a MHS equipment selection, the selection procedure can be carried out as follows: If the distances, the event intervals between arrival times and the components are relatively large, an AGV system is likely to prove appropriate. For generalization, each MHS equipment has been taken as a member of a class, which has a certain number of features and which can be represented by slots in a program. example, an AGV may be represented using a class object and the details are given [Leonardo Expert System Shell (Creative Logic, 1989)] 1: Name: AGV 2: Long Name: 3: Type: 4: Value: 5: Certainty: 6: Derived From: 7: IsA: mhs 8: Member Slots: 8: load_type: discrete 9: we_ran: high 10: load_size: mdm 11: req_speed: high 13: req_acc: very high 14: req_diss: high 15: frequ_req: often 16: path_flexi: high 17: load_un_ab: high MHS Equipment Type Load Type Robots Discrete LowSolidLowMedium Medium Fragaile Medium No short often low high AGV Discrete Medium Medium SolidMedium Fragaile No medium often high high RGV (Rail Guided Vehicle ) Discrete High MediumLarge Solid High No long low low medium Fork Lift Discrete High Large Solid Medium No long high high high Conveyors Continuous Solid HighMedium Yes shortmedium low low medium Manual Discrete Solid Low No short high high high Load Capacity Size LowSmall Medium Medium Low Medium Loading & Speed Of Accumulation Frequency Flexibility Nature Distance Unloading System Required Of Move Of Path Ability These suggested alternatives will clearly need development with experience of operating the design system. Probem : An MHS is going to be pre-designed for a plant. The plant is designed for 6 processes and 4 different parts. The parts and process routes and their specifications are presented in Table . When the part and process routes and their MHS equipment information have been gathered, the first stage can be carried out for MHS equipment selection. In this selection, for example, heavy loads, Far trips, and very big in size for Part 3, suggests the use of a Rail Guided Vehicle (RGV). Another example can be given for Part 1. This part is of medium weight, medium in size and has a fragile nature; these requirements can be satisfied using an AGV. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Network Analysis and Part Root Process of the case study MHS Equipment for Parts Product Number MHS Equipment Part 1 RGV Part 2 Man Part 3 Fork-Lift Part 4 AGV Product and Process Feature for MHS Equipment Selection Part Part Part Route Number Volume Process 1 50 1-2-4-5-6 2 40 1-5-6-0 3 70 1-3-4-5-6 4 20 1-2-3-5-6 1 Load Type Load Capacity Size Loading & Speed Of Accumulatio Distanc Frequency Nature Unloading System n Required e Of Move Ability medium Fragile Low No Mediu m High Rare small Solid Medium No Short Low No Discrete very high very big Solid High No Far Low Frequently Discrete medium Fragile Medium Yes Mediu m Medium Frequently Discrete medium Discrete high low 2 3 4 5 6 MHS Equipment Requirements Between Departments From Department To Department Required MHS Equipment Rationalized MHS Equipment 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 2 3 5 4 3 2 4 5 2 5 6 RGV, Fork Lift, AGV RGV, Man, AGV, AGV Man Fork Lift, AGV AGV Man AGV, Man AGV, Man RGV, Man, AGV, Fork Lift RGV RGV AGV Man Fork Lift AGV Man AGV AGV RGV Fork Lift Product Number MHS Equipment Part 1 RGV Part 2 Man Part 3 Fork-Lift Part 4 AGV Responsive Flexible Autonomous Highly automatic Multi-functional Modularized Multi-level Compatible The most possible objectives to do in future are: •• High-speed, high-value material handling and logistics processes for challenging environments •• Low-cost, low-impact material handling and logistics capabilities to maintain high service levels •• The workforce of tomorrow and what is needed to develop it. The field of materials handling remains still to be fully to be fully explored. Material handling techniques are not only industry’s biggest opportunity — they are industry’s biggest necessity. Competition is beginning to force this new technology upon industry. Conclusions This study describes a decision aid which may be used by a designer who is not very familiar with selection of material handling systems. The case study exemplifies the selection of MHS equipment using the approach and a recommended rationalization procedure. A knowledge based approach can overcome the limitations of analytical approaches which are generally limited with only quantifiable factors. Rationalizations of MHS equipment will reduce total investment and operation costs. It highlights the importance of the material handling system design and facility layout problem, requiring an integrated solution strategy. It'll help to work a system with full automation and there it'll create a scope for future work on knowledge based programmed Material Handling System Design.