• Introduction
• Packaging Perspectives
• Packaging For Materials Handling Efficiency
– Unitization
– Communication
– Containers
– Package Design
• Materials Handling
• Understand important of packaging that affects the cost
of every logistical activity
• Explain several reasons of material handling that impact
warehouse productivity
Managing logistics must plan the best ways to load, offload,
move, sort and select products
Logistics personnel must work closely with engineers to
design or select packaging materials that facilitate materials
handling
• Packaging is typically viewed as being either consumer,
focused primarily on marketing or industrial, focused on
logistics
• Individual products or parts are typically grouped into
cartons, bags, bins or barrels for damage protection and
handling efficiency
• Containers used to group individual products are called
master cartons
• The weight, cube and damage potential of the master
carton determines transportation and material handling
requirements
Packaging protects the product and facilitate ease of
handling in a number of ways:
a. Create one large container out of several smaller units
(known as containerization / unitization)
– Eg.: individual soft drinks are frequently packaged in
six-packs
b. Packages contain information about the products they
contain (communication) – information transfer useful
when sorting products and processing orders
– Eg.: Automated Storage and Retrieval System
(AS/RS), Radio frequency identification (RFID)
c. Packaging concern is the relationship between the boxes
size, order quantity and retail display quantity (rigid /
flexible containers)
The determination of final package design requires a
great deal of testing to assure that both marketing and
logistics concerns are satisfied
d. Product packaging in standard configuration and order
quantities facilitates logistical efficiency (package design)
– Example : cube utilization can be improved through
reduced package size by concentrating products by
eliminating air inside packages and by shipping items
unassembled
– Total weight can sometimes be reduced by product or
package changes
– Example : substituting plastic bottles for glass
Principles of Materials Handling
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Equipment for handling and storage should be as standardized as
possible
When in motion, the system should be designed to provide
maximum continuous product flow
Investment should be in handling rather than stationary equipment
Handling equipment should be utilized to the maximum extent
possible
In handling equipment, selection the ratio of dead weight to
payload should be minimized
Whenever practical, gravity flow should be incorporated in system
design
Classification of Handling Systems:
Mechanized
• Lift trucks
• Towlines
• Tractor
Trailers
• Conveyors
• Carousels
• Rider
Trucks
SemiAutomated
Automated
• Automated
guided
Vehicles
(AGV)
• Robotics
• Live Racks
• Potential to
Automate
• Automated
Storage /
Retrieval
(AS/RS)
InformationDirected
• RF Wireless
• Pick-toLight
Packaging and materials handling decisions affect value in
many ways:
• Material handling costs can be substantial, and
improved labor and equipment productivities can
significantly improve profits
• Materials handling is usually the number one cause of
product damage and loss in logistics – poor handling
practices and improperly packaged items lead to
scratched, dented and broken products
• How packaging and materials handling affects cost and
productivity of logistics?
– Inventory control depends upon the accuracy of
manual and automatic identification systems keyed
by product packaging
– Handling cost depends upon unitization capability
and techniques
– Transportation and storage costs are driven by
package size and density
– Customer service depends upon packaging to achieve
quality control during distribution
• Order selection speed, accuracy and efficiency are
influenced by package identification, configuration and
handling ease
• Significant number of labor hours are devoted to
materials handling and materials handling capabilities
limit the direct benefits that can gained by improved
information technology and automation technology