W7 Material Handling and Plant Layout

Question 1

Material Handling

Answer 1

Material handling is the art and science of moving, storing, protecting and controlling
material. It is providing the right material at the right place in the right time, with the right amount,
in sequence, and in the right condition to minimise
production cost.

Question 2

Goals of material handling

Answer 2

Minimize handling
→ Reduces costs
→ Reduces mishandling

Question 3

Material characteristics to consider

Answer 3

*Physical state: Solid, Liquid, Gas
* Size: Volume; Length, Width, Height
* Weight: Per Piece; Per Unit Volume
* Shape: Long and flat, Round, Square, etc.
* Condition: Hot, Cold, Wet, Under pressure, etc.
* Safety risk: Explosive, Flammable, Toxic, Fragile

Question 4

Total Material Flow

Answer 4

It is the mass of material that is transported
in the factory multiplied by the distance that it is transported. It is a measure that can be
used to compare different variations of routes when planning material handling using the same
transportation equipment. A lower value is better.

Question 5

Material handling labour ratio

Answer 5

Indication of how much work needs to be done to
handle material. It is the number of personnel working on material handling divided by the
total number of personnel. This measure is useful when staff have dedicated material handling
roles. A lower value is better.

Question 6

Equipment utilisation

Answer 6

General measure that is also used to gauge the effectiveness of
material handling. It is calculated by dividing the actual output by the theoretical output of
the manufacturing system. A higher value is better.

Question 7

Ten principles of material handling (at least 3)

Answer 7

*Planning Principle
*Standardisation Principle
*Work Principle
*Ergonomic Principle
*Unit Load Principle
*Space Utilisation Principle
*System Principle
*Automation Principle
*Environmental Principle
*Lifecycle Cost Principle

Question 8

Planning Principle

Answer 8

All material handling should be the result of a deliberate plan where
the needs, performance objectives and functional specification of the proposed methods are
completely defined at the outset.
* Deliberate
* Constraints
* Objectives
* Specifications

Question 9

Standardisation Principle

Answer 9

Material handling methods, equipment, controls and software
should be standardised within the limits of achieving overall performance objectives and
without sacrificing needed flexibility, modularity and throughput in anticipation of changing
future requirements.
* Conform to standards
* Maintain flexibility &
modularity

Question 10

Work Principle

Answer 10

Material handling work should be minimised without sacrificing productivity
or the level of service required of the operation.
* Reduce
* Combine
* Shorten
* Eliminate

Question 11

Ergonomic Principle

Answer 11

Human capabilities and limitations must be recognised and respected
in the design of material handling tasks and equipment to ensure safe and effective operations.
* Eliminate repetitive & strenuous tasks
* (Physical and mental)
* Ensure Safety

Question 12

Unit Load Principle

Answer 12

Unit loads shall be appropriately sized and configured in a way which
achieves the material flow and inventory objectives at each stage in the supply chain.
* Easier to handle than
individual items
* Promote
* Flexibility
* Continuous flow
* Just-In-Time delivery

Question 13

Space Utilisation Principle

Answer 13

Effective and efficient use must be made of all available space
* 3D
* Storage Density vs Accessibility

Question 14

System Principle

Answer 14

Material movement and storage activities should be fully integrated to
form a coordinated, operational system which spans receiving, inspection, storage, production,
assembly, packaging, unitising, order selection, shipping, transportation and the handling of
returns.

Question 15

Automation Principle

Answer 15

Material handling operations should be mechanised and/or automated where feasible to improve operational efficiency, increase responsiveness, improve
consistency and predictability.
* Efficiency
* Responsiveness
* Consistency
* Predictability

Question 16

Environmental Principle

Answer 16

Environmental impact and energy consumption should be
considered as criteria when designing or selecting alternative equipment and material handling
systems.
* Reusable, biodegradable
containers
* Special care for combustible
or toxic materials

Question 17

Lifecycle Cost Principle

Answer 17

A thorough economic analysis should account for the entire life
cycle of all material handling equipment and resulting systems.
* Capital investment
* Installation
* Setup
* Equipment programming
* Training
* Testing
* Operating
* Maintenance
* Repair
* Reuse
* Disposal

Question 18

Material Handling Equipment divisions

Answer 18

Transport Equipment
Storage systems
Unitising equipment
Identification and tracking systems

Question 19

Transport Equipment

Answer 19

The equipment that is used to physically move material from one
location to another. These include: Industrial trucks, Automated guided vehicles (AGV),
monorails, conveyors, cranes an hoists.

Question 20

Storage systems

Answer 20

Systems that allow material to be stored in a safe and accessible manner.
These include: bulk storage, rack systems, shelving and bins, drawer storage, pallets, skid boxes, containers and sophisticated
automated storage systems

Question 21

Unitising equipment

Answer 21

Equipment that allow a number of components to be unitised as a
single element for transportation or storage. These include: pallets and skid boxes.

Question 22

Identification and tracking systems

Answer 22

Systems that enable the location of the material to
be tracked throughout the enterprise. These include: Radio frequency identification devices
(RFIDs) and Barcodes.

Question 23

Selection of Transport Equipment

Answer 23

Quanitity: High or Low
High Quantity : Long Distance or Short Distance
Low Quantity: Long Distance or Short Distance
High Quantity Long Distance: Conveyors; AGV trains
High Quantity Short Distance: Conveyors
Low Quantity Long Distance: Powered trucks; Unit load AGV
Low Quantity Short Distance: Manual; Hand trucks

Question 24

Planning Principle Key Points

Answer 24

The plan should be developed in
consultation between theplanner(s) and all
who will use and benefit from the equipment
to be employed.
Success in planning large scale material
handling projects generally requires a team
approach involving suppliers, consultants when
appropriate, and end user specialists from
management, engineering, computer and
information systems, finance and operations.
The material handling plan should
reflect the strategic objectives of the organization as well as the more immediate needs.
The plan should document existing
methods and problems, physical and economic constraints, and future requirements
and goals.
The plan should promote concurrent
engineering of product, process design,
process layout, and material handling methods, as opposed to independent and sequential
design practices.

Question 25

Plan

Answer 25

A plan is a prescribed course
of action that is defined in advance of
implementation. In its simplest form a
material handing plan defines the material (what) and the moves (when and
where); together they define the method
(how and who).

Question 26

Standardisation Principle key points

Answer 26

The planner should select methods and
equipment that can perform a variety of tasks
under a variety of operating conditionsand in
Standardization applies to sizes of
containers and other load forming components
as well as operating procedures and equipment.
Standardization, flexibility and modularity must not be incompatible.

Question 27

Standardisation

Answer 27

Standardization means less
variety and customization in the methods
and equipment employed.

Question 28

Work Principle

Answer 28

Simplifying processes by reducing,
combining, shortening or eliminating unnecessary moves will reduce work.
Consider each pickup and set-down, or
placing material in and out of storage, as distinct
moves and components of the distance moved.
Process methods, operation sequences and
process/equipment layouts should be prepared that
support the work minimization objective.
Where possible, gravity should be used
to move materials or to assist in their movement while respecting consideration of safety
and the potential for product damage.
The shortest distance between two
points is a straight line

Question 29

Work principle definition

Answer 29

The measure of work is
material handling flow (volume, weight or
count per unit of time) multiplied by the
distance moved.

Question 30

Plant Layout

Answer 30

The arrangement of the physical elements of the manufacturing
activities.
Objective: Minimise waste of resources in transportation of material from one location to another.

Question 31

Factors of Plant Layout

Answer 31

• Quantitative: Distances, Volume of material flow
• Qualitative: Information sharing, Staff expertise, Contamination

Question 32

Functional Layout

Answer 32

Where resources are grouped according to the
process they perform.
Parts are moved between various departments, in
order for all operations to be carried out. This
layout is effective when part variety is very high
but part volume is low (Job shop production).

Question 33

Fixed Position Layout

Answer 33

Where moving resources are
brought to the stationary
part as required.

Question 34

Product Layout (Assembly Line)

Answer 34

Where resources are grouped according to the
sequence of operations required by the parts.
Effective in mass production when part variety is
low and part volume is high.

Question 35

Cellular layout

Answer 35

Where parts are grouped together into part
families and resources are grouped according to
the process requirements of part families.
Also called group technology or Cellular
Manufacturing.

Question 36

Layout Design

Answer 36

Visualising the flow
Grouping operations
Ranking flows
Non-flow relationships
Relationship charts
Relationship diagrams

Question 37

Visualising the flow

Answer 37

The main aim of layout design is to minimise
material flow in the manufacturing system. Thus, visualising the flow of the material is an
important technique in understanding the movements of materials and their storage patterns. Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs) can be drawn to highlight the various aspects of material flow.

Question 38

Process flow Diagrams (PFDs)

Answer 38

Operation
Delay
Transport
Inspection
Storage

Question 39

Grouping Operations

Answer 39

Grouping operations: with the selection of type of layout, it might be necessary to group
operations that are closely related together. With this grouping, it will be assured that closely
related machines will be placed in physical proximity to each other

Question 40

Ranking flows

Answer 40

A method for allowing quantitative flow information to be combined with nonquantitative relationship information. In this method, the flow between different departments
are calculated and then sorted in a descending manner. The values are then grouped into
five categories: A for absolutely necessary, E for especially important, I for important, O for
ordinary and U for unimportant.

Question 41

Non-flow relationships

Answer 41

Flow rates are not the only determinant in layouts. Other parameters might be considered in allocating space. Numbers in table 7.4 can be used to assign a
value to these relationships.

Question 42

Relationship Charts

Answer 42

These charts can be used to combine the information provided in the
two previous categories as indication of which departments should be located close to each
other and which departments should be placed far away from each other. Figure 7.2 shows an
example of a simple relationship chart.

Question 43

Relationship Diagrams

Answer 43

These diagrams are used to show the spatial relationship of various
departments and are another presentation of the relationship charts. In these diagrams the
notation in table 7.5 is used to show the relationships. Figure 7.3 shows the process used in
building relationship diagrams.

Question 44

Systematic Layout Planning (SLP)

Answer 44

1. Group resources into appropriate departments.
2. Calculate the flows between the departments.
3. Rank the flows and determine flow based relationships between the departments.
4. Determine the non-flow relationships between the departments.
5. Combine the relationships into the overall relationship matrix.
6. Construct a relationship diagram.
7. Calculate the space requirements for the various departments.
8. Redraw the relationship diagram and scale departments according to space
   requirements.
9. Construct a block layout.