Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS)
Material Handling
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Material Handling
Definition
The movement, storage, protection and control of materials
throughout the manufacturing and distribution process
including their consumption and disposal.
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Logistics (for larger system)
Logistics is concerned with the acquisition, movement,
storage, and distribution of the materials and products, as well
as the planning and control of these operations in order to
satisfy the customer demand.
• External logistics
• Internal logistics
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Material handling equipments
The material handling equipments are classified into four
catagories-
1. Material transport equipments
2. Storage systems
3. Unitizing equipments
4. Identification and tracking systems
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Material transport equipments
Material transport equipments are used to move the material
inside a factory.
Five categories:
1. Industrial trucks
2. Automated guided vehicles (AGV)
3. Monorails and other rail guided vehicles
4. Conveyors
5. Cranes and hoists
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Industrial trucks
Two basic categories:
1. Non-powered (low cost/low rate of delivery)
Human workers push or pull loads
2. Powered (medium cost)
Self-propelled, guided or driven by human
Common example: forklift truck
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Nonpowered Industrial Trucks
(Hand Trucks)
(a) Two-wheel hand truck, (b) four-wheel dolly, (c) hand-operated low-lift pallet truck
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Powered Trucks:
Walkie Truck
• Wheeled forks insert into pallet openings
• No provision for riding; truck is steered by worker using
control handle at front of vehicle
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Powered Trucks:
Forklift Truck
• Widely used in factories and
warehouses because pallet
loads are so Common.
• Capacities from 450 kg (1000
lb) up to 4500 kg (10,000 lb)
• Power sources include on-
board batteries and internal
combustion motors
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Powered Trucks:
Towing Tractor
• Designed to pull one or more trailing carts in factories and
warehouses, as well as for airport baggage handling.
• Powered by on-board batteries or IC engines.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Automated Guided Vehicles
An Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGVs) is a material
handling system that uses independently operated, self-
propelled vehicles guided along defined pathways in the
facility floor.
Types of AGV:
1. Driverless trains
2. Pallet trucks
3. Unit load AGVs
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Automated Guided Vehicles:
Driverless Trains
• First type of AGVs to be
introduced around 1954.
• Common application is
moving heavy payloads
over long distances in
warehouses and factories
with or without intermediate
stops along the route
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Automated Guided Vehicles:
AGV Pallet Truck
• Used to move
palletized loads along
predetermined routes
• Vehicle is backed into
loaded pallet by
worker; pallet is then
elevated from floor.
• Worker drives pallet
truck to AGV guide
path and programs
destination.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Automated Guided Vehicles:
Unit Load Carrier
• Used to move unit loads from station to station.
• Often equipped for automatic loading/unloading of
pallets and tote pans using roller conveyors, moving
belts, or mechanized lift platforms.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
AGVs Applications
1. Driverless train operations - movement of large quantities
of material over long distances.
2. Storage and distribution - movement of pallet loads
between shipping/receiving docks and storage racks.
3. Assembly line operations - movement of car bodies and
major subassemblies (motors) through the assembly
stations.
4. Flexible manufacturing systems - movement of workparts
between machine tools.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Vehicle Guidance Technology
Method by which AGVs pathways are defined and vehicles are
controlled to follow the pathways
Three main technologies:
1. Imbedded guide wires - guide wires in the floor emit
electromagnetic signal that the vehicles follow
2. Paint strips - optical sensors on-board vehicles track the white
paint strips
3. Self-guided vehicles - vehicles use a combination of
• Dead reckoning - vehicle counts wheel turns in given direction to
move without guidance
• Beacons located throughout facility - vehicle uses triangulation to
compute locations
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Vehicle Guidance Using Guide
Wire
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Vehicle Management
Two aspects of vehicle management:
• Traffic control - to minimize interference between vehicles
and prevent collisions
1. Forward (on-board vehicle) sensing
2. Zone control
• Vehicle dispatching
1. On-board control panel
2. Remote call stations
3. Central computer control
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Zone Control
Zone control to implement blocking system. Zones A, B, and D are
blocked. Zone C is free.
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Vehicle Safety
• Travel velocity of AGV is slower than typical walking speed
of human worker
• Automatic stopping of vehicle if it strays from guide path
• Acquisition distance
• Obstacle detection system in forward direction
• Use of ultrasonic sensors common
• Emergency bumper - brakes vehicle when contact is made
with forward object
• Warning lights (blinking or rotating red lights)
• Warning sounds of approaching vehicles
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Rail-Guided Vehicles
• Self-propelled vehicles that ride on a fixed-rail system
• Vehicles operate independently and are driven by
electric motors that pick up power from an electrified rail
• Fixed rail system
• Overhead monorail - suspended overhead from the ceiling
• On-floor - parallel fixed rails, tracks generally protrude up from the floor
• Routing variations are possible: switches, turntables, and
other special track sections
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Overhead Monorail
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Conveyor Systems
Large family of material transport equipment designed to
move materials over fixed paths, usually in large
quantities or volumes.
1. Non-powered
• Materials moved by human workers or by gravity
2. Powered
• Power mechanism for transporting materials is
contained in the fixed path, using chains, belts, rollers
or other mechanical devices
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Conveyor Types
• Roller
• Skate-wheel
• Belt
• In-floor towline
• Overhead trolley conveyor
• Cart-on-track conveyor
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Roller Conveyor
• Pathway consists of a series
of rollers that are
perpendicular to direction of
travel
• Loads must possess a flat
bottom to span several rollers
• Powered rollers rotate to
drive the loads forward
• Un-powered roller conveyors
also available
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Skate-Wheel Conveyor
• Similar in operation to
roller conveyor but use
skate wheels instead of
rollers.
• Lighter weight and
unpowered.
• Sometimes built as
portable units that can be
used for loading and
unloading truck trailers in
shipping and receiving.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Belt Conveyor
• Continuous loop with forward
path to move loads
• Belt is made of reinforced
elastomer
• Support slider or rollers used
to support forward loop
Two common forms:
1. Flat belt (shown)
2. V-shaped for bulk materials
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
In-Floor Tow-Line Conveyor
• Four-wheel carts powered
by moving chains or cables
in trenches in the floor.
• Carts use steel pins (or
grippers) to project below
floor level and engage the
chain (or pulley) for towing.
• This allows the carts to be
disengaged from towline for
loading and unloading.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Overhead Trolley Conveyor
• A trolley is a wheeled carriage
running on an overhead track
from which loads can be
suspended.
• Trolleys are connected and
moved by a chain or cable
that forms a complete loop.
• Often used to move parts and
assemblies between major
production areas.
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Cart-On-Track Conveyor
• Carts ride on a track
above floor level
• Carts are driven by a
spinning tube
• Forward motion of cart
is controlled by a drive
wheel whose angle can
be changed from zero
(idle) to 45 degrees
(forward)
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Powered Conveyor
Operations and Features
Types of motions
1. Continuous - conveyor moves at constant velocity
2. Asynchronous - conveyor moves with stop-and-go motion
• They stop at stations, move between stations
• Another classification of conveyors:
1. Single direction
2. Continuous loop
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(a) Single-Direction Conveyor and
(b) Continuous Loop Conveyor
(a) Single direction conveyor
(b) Continuous loop conveyor
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Cranes and Hoists
Handling devices for lifting, lowering and transporting
materials, often as heavy loads.
• Cranes
• Used for horizontal movement of materials
• Hoists
• Used for vertical lifting of materials
• Cranes usually include hoists so that the crane-and-hoist
combination provides
• Horizontal transport
• Vertical lifting and lowering
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Hoist
Hoist with mechanical advantage
of four:
(a) sketch of the hoist
(b) diagram to illustrate
mechanical advantage
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Bridge Crane
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Gantry Crane
A half-gantry crane
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Jib Crane
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Analysis of
Material Transport Systems
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Analysis of
Vehicle Based Systems
Two graphical tools are used-
• From-to chart
• Network diagram
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?
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Thank You
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