Chapter 5: Material Handling

5.1 Introduction
- Historically, material handling is to move the materials around. Since manufacturing is a
value-added operation and move materials around does not add any value, the simple rule
for material handling is the less (cost, time, labor and etc.) the better.
- oday, it is recogni!ed that material handling is an integrated part of any manufacturing
system as sho"n in the figure belo".
#ig. 1$ %aterial handling and manufacturing systems
- In most manufacturing plants, materials spend more time being moved and stored than
being processed (it could be as much as &'( of the time). herefore, analysis and design
of material handling system is very important.
- his chapter corresponds to )hapter * in the te+tboo, and )hapters & and 1' in -eference
./0. It is interesting to ,no" that there is a course in the 1ept. of Systems 2ngineering and
2ngineering %anagement that discuss only the material handling.
- %aterial handling involves a rather broad body of ,no"ledge. Ho"ever, "e "ill focus on
only some fundamental issues including basic principles, various material handling
e3uipment such as conveyor and 456 (4utomated 5uided 6ehicle), material route
planning, and 4utomatic Storage and -etrieval Systems (4S7-S).
5.8 9asic )oncepts and :rinciples of %aterial Handling
(1) Some important concepts
- 4 material system is an integrated system involving such activities as handling, storing,
and controlling of materials
- In material handling, material has a rather broad meaning, covering all ,inds of ra"
materials, "or, in progress, sub-assemblies, assemblies, and finished assemblies
- he primary ob;ective of using a material handling system is to ensure that the material in
the right amount is safely delivered to the desired destination at the right time "ith
minimum cost.
5-1
customer
customer
1esign
analysis
:rocess
planning
9ill of
materials
%aterial
handling
ooling
design and
analysis
%achine
tool and
control
<uality
control
%anufacturing
=sage and
disposal
1esign
(8) he :rinciples of material handling
- he handling of materials must be performed safely, efficiently (at lo" cost), in a timely
manner, accurately (the right materials in the right location), and "ithout damage to the
material.
- he %aterial Handling Institute has complied 8' basic guidelines for designing and
operation material handling systems. hese guidelines are referred to as the principles of
material handling. hese principles are listed belo".
- Orientation principle. Study the system relationships thoroughly prior to preliminary
planning in order to identify e+isting methods and problems, physical and economic
constraints, and to establish future re3uirements and goals
- Planning principle. 2stablish a plan to include basic re3uirements, desirable options,
and consideration of contingencies for all material-handling and storage activities.
- Systems principle. Integrate the handling and storage activities that are economically
viable into a coordinated system of operation including receiving, inspection, storage,
production, assembly, pac,ing, "arehousing, shipping and transportation.
- Unit load principle. Handle product in as large a unit load as practical.
- Space utilization principle. %a,e effective utili!ation of all cubic space.
- Standardization principle. Standardi!e handling methods and e3uipment "henever
possible.
- Ergonomic principle. -ecogni!e human capabilities and limitations by designing
material handling e3uipment and procedures for effective interaction "ith the people
using the system.
- Energy principle. Include energy consumption of the material handling systems and
material handling procedures "hen ma,ing comparisons or preparing economic
;ustifications.
- Ecology principle. %inimi!e adverse effects on the environment "hen selecting
material handling e3uipment and procedures.
- Mechanization principle. %echani!e the handling process "here feasible to increase
efficiency and economy in handling of materials.
- Flexibility principle. =se methods and e3uipment that can perform a variety of tas,s
under a variety of operating conditions.
- Simplification principle. Simplify handling by eliminating, reducing, or combining
unnecessary movements and7or e3uipment.
- Gravity principle. =tili!e gravity to move material "henever possible, "hile
respecting limitations concerning safety, product damage, and loss.
- Safety principle. :rovide safe material-handling e3uipment and methods that follo"
e+isting safety codes and regulations in addition to accrued e+perience.
- omputerization principle. )onsider computeri!ation in material handling and storage
systems, "hen circumstances "arrant, for improved material and information control.
- System flo! principle. Integrate data flo" "ith the physical material flo" in handling
and storage.
- "ayout flo! principle. :repare an operational se3uence and e3uipment layout for all
viable system solutions, then select the alternative system that best integrates
efficiency and effectiveness.
- ost principle. )ompare the economic ;ustification of alternative solutions in
e3uipment and methods on the basis of economic effectiveness as measured by
e+pense per unit handled.
- Maintenance principle. :repare a plan for preventive maintenance and scheduled
repairs on all material-handling e3uipment.
5-8
- Obsolescence principle. :repare a long-range and economically sound policy for
replacement of obsolete e3uipment and methods "ith special consideration of after-
ta+ cycle costs.
- o begin "ith, "e usually use an e+isting design.
- )onsidering the situation in Hong >ong, "e probably should pay special attention to
planning principle, the simplification principle, and the cost principle.
(/) %aterial handling e3uipment
- here are many different ,inds of material handling e3uipment. hese e3uipment can be
classified into the follo"ing categories$
- )onveyors such as belt, trolley, and feeders (scre", vibrating and pneumatic),
- %onorails and cranes (bridge, gantry, to"er, and stac,er)
- Industrial truc,s and for,lifts, both hand-lift and po"ered,
- 456s such as carrier, pallet truc,s and for, truc,s
- 4utomated storage and retrieval systems
- he choice to these e3uipment depends on a number of factors such as the amount of
materials to move, the type of materials, the cost and etc. 4s sho"n in #igure 8, conveyor
and for, truc, are t"o types of material handling e3uipment. he former provides
ma+imum capacity but no fle+ibility. ?n the other hand, the later provide limited
capability but very good fle+ibility.
#ig. 8$ he spectrum of material handling e3uipment
(@) he analysis or design of a material handling system begins "ith capacity planning, by
"hich "e can determine "hat ,ind of material handling e3uipment "ill be used.
5./ Selection of %aterial Handling 23uipment
(1) he selection of material handling e3uipment starts "ith an analysis of the materials to be
moved. he analysis includes
- he characteristics of the material. In general, materials can be classified as follo"s$
- physical forms$ solid, li3uid, gas
- si!e$
- length, "idth, and height
- volume
- "eight$
- "eight per piece,
- "eight per unit volume
- shape$ long and flat, round, s3uare
- ris, of damage$ fragile, brittle, sturdy
5-/
)onveyor 456
)ontinuous production Single parts production
High volume production 1iscrete production
Aimited batches Ao" volume production
4 large number of batches
%onorail )rane #or, truc,
- safety ris,$ e+plosive, to+ic, corrosive
- condition$ hot, "et, dirty, stic,y
- ?ther factors
- he 3uality of material to be removed (a dedicated system "ill be needed for large
3uality)
- he rate of flo" re3uired (a dedicated system "ill be re3uired for high rate of flo")
- he scheduling of the moves (continuous, in batch, or one at a time)
- he route by "hich the materials are to be moved (the longer the distance, the greater
the cost)
- %iscellaneous factors$
- government regulations
- loading and unloading e3uipment
- BB
(8) %aterial handling analysis
- %anufacturing facilities may be layout in many different "ays. here is a topic of study,
called facility layout. Ho"ever, "e "ill not be able to study its details.
- In general, a layout should provide the follo"ing information$
- Aocations "here materials must be pic,ed out (loading stations)
- Aocations "here materials must be delivered (unloading stations)
- :ossible routes bet"een these locations
- 1istances that must be traveled to move the materials
- #lo" patterns, opportunities to combine deliveries, possible places "here congestion
might occur
- otal area of the facility and areas "ithin specific departments in the layout
- 4rrangement of e3uipment in the layout.
(/) %aterial handling e3uipment selection model
- he basic mathematical model for material handling e3uipment selection is a
mathematical programming model.
- 4ssuming that
- M e3uipment types are available,
- # product moves are to be planned.
- he unit load si!e is ,no"n for each part type
- 4 factory layout is ,no".
- Hence, the fre3uency and distance re3uired for each move, $, $ C 1, B, # is ,no"n.
- he decision variables are$

'

other"ise '
move for used is type e3uipment if 1 $ i
%
i$
&
i
C number of units of e3uipment type i ac3uired.
- he cost factors$
- c
i$
C total variable operating cost per period for e3uipment type i to perform move $
-
i
C fi+ed cost per unit-period for e3uipment type i
- t
i$
C time per move for e3uipment i to perform move $
- '
i
C available time per unit-period for e3uipment type i
- he model$


+
M
i
#
$
#
i
i i i$ i$
& % c
1 1 1
d cost7perio min
sub;ect to$

M
i
i$
%
1
1
, for all $
5-@

#
$
i i i$ i$
& ' % t
1
, for all (
%
i$
C D', 1E and &
i
is integer
- his is model is an integer programming model.
- 4n e+ample
- hree alternatives (pushcart, po"er truc,, and conveyor) are being considered for si+
inter-department moves.
- he move data and cost are as follo"s$
23uipment type
1 8 /
%ove c
1$
t
1$
c
8$
t
8$
c
/$
t
/$
1 18FG.@ '.*8 G@'.' '.8@ F&'.' 1.'
8 8GF'.' 1.5' 1///./ '.5' /G''.' 1.'
/ 8GF.' '.15 /8'.' '.18 /85.' 1.'
@ /*5.8 '.81 1FG.* '.'* 18''.' 1.'
5 8GF.' '.15 1//./ '.'5 1'5'.' 1.'
G G/@.8 './G /8'.' '.18 &&&&.' 1.'

i
*5.' /F&.5 '
- Hote that since the conveyor are fi+ed, its time is fi+ed 1 indicating. Ho"ever, it
cannot be used for more than one point-to-point move. So, for move G, the cost is set
to very large.
- =sing the data above, the optimi!ation model becomes$
min 18FG.@%
11
I 8GF'.'%
18
I B I &&&&.'%
/G
I *5.'&
1
I /F&.5&
8
s.t. %
11
I %
81
I %
/1
C 1
)
%
G1
I %
G8
I %
G/
C 1
'.*8%
11
I 1.5%
18
I '.15%
1/
I '.81%
1@
I '.15%
15
I './G%
1G
&
1
'.8@%
81
I '.5'%
88
I '.18%
8/
I '.'*%
8@
I '.'5%
85
I '.18%
8G
&
8
- Solving this optimi!ation problem resulting in$
x
81
C x
88
C x
8@
C x
85
C x
8G
C x
//
C 1, &
8
C 1.
"ith all other variables e3ual to !ero. his indicates that "e shall purchase a conveyor for
move / and lift truc,s for the rest moves. he total cost is //8*.F/.
(@) 4 modified model
- he model presented above is an integer programming model, "hich is difficult to solve
(%4A49 does not support that). herefore, the follo"ing modification is introduced.
- he modification is to allo" the model solution, &
i
, to ta,e fractions ("hich means the
number of e3uipment purchased "ill have to round up to nears integer).
- Aet$
i
#
$
i$ i$
i
'
% t
&

1
5-5
- the model becomes$

M
i
#
$
i$ i$
% c
1 1
J
minimi!e
"here, c*
i$
C c
i$
I (t
i$
7 '
i
). he constraints are the same.
- he modified model can be solved using mathematical programming method (and
%4A49). Ho"ever, it "ould result in a loss. In order "ords, the solution may not be
optimal, instead it "ould be ;ust sub-optimal.
- In the e+ample before, the data "ould become$
%ove c
1$
c
8$
c
/$
1 1/@'.@ *//.5 F&'.'
8 8*&8.5 158F.1 /G''.'
/ 8*&./ /GG.* /85.'
@ /&1.' 81/.& 18''.'
5 8*&./ 158.F 1'5'.'
G G*'.8 /GG.* &&&&.'
- Hote that since '
/
C ', "e ;ust set c*
i$
C c
i$
.
- Solving the program (the lo"er bound), it is found$
x
1/
C x
81
C x
88
C x
8@
C x
85
C x
8G
C 1, &
1
C &
8
C 1.
and the cost is K/8*@./.
- his implies "e should use a for, truc, for moves 1, 8, @, 5 and G, and a manual cart for
move /.
- Hote that the cost is higher, and hence, the solution is sub-optimal.
5.@ %aterial Handling 23uipment L )onveyor
(1) In terms of operation, conveyors have the follo"ing characteristics$
-
hey are generally mechani!ed, and sometimes automated
-
hey are fi+ed-in-position to establish the paths
-
hey can either floor mounted or overhead
-
hey are almost al"ays limited to one-directional flo" materials
-
hey are generally move discrete loads, but certain types can be used to move bul, or
continuous loads
-
hey can be used for either delivery-only or delivery-plus-storage of items
(8) here are several types of conveyors, such as
-
-oller conveyors
-
9elt conveyors
-
)hain conveyors
-
Slat conveyors
-
?verhead trolley conveyors
-
In-floor to"line conveyors
-
)art-on-trac, conveyors
(/) he main 3uantitative measure of a conveyor system includes
-
6elocity, +
c
, (ft 7 min or m 7 min)
-
-ate of flo" of parts, ,
f
, (parts 7 h)
-
he efficiency of the system, E
h
(@) Single direction conveyor
-
4 single direction conveyor is sho"n in #igure /. Its typical operation is to load carriers
or pallets at one end and unloaded at the other end.
5-G
#ig. /$ Single-direction conveyor
-
he time re3uired to move the carrier from the load station to the unload station is$
'
l
C "
d
- +
c
.
-
he carrier flo" rate cannot be greater than the reciprocal of the loading time, that is$
" c
c
' S
+ 1

"here, S
c
is the spacing bet"een the carriers.
-
he time re3uired to unload the carrier, '
u
, must be less than or e3ual to the loading timeM
or the conveyor must be slo" do"n
-
If each carrier holds n
p
parts, the flo" rate of the parts "ill be$
l
p
c
c p
f
'
n
S
+ n
,
-
he single-direction conveyor has a relatively high efficiency since there "ill be no traffic
congestion along the conveyor, and conveyor does not stop for loading and unloading.
-
Ho"ever, it also has the least fle+ibility.
(5) )ontinuous loop conveyor
-
)omparing to the single-direction conveyor, the continuous loop conveyor has a return
loop as sho"n in #igure @.
#ig. @$ )ontinuous loop conveyor
-
4ssuming that
-
he spacing bet"een the carriers is S
c
-
2ach carrier holds n
p
parts
-
he length of delivery loop is "
d
-
he length of return loop is "
e
5-*
Aoad
station
=nload
station
"d
)onveyor path
+c
Aoad
station
=nload
station
1elivery loop
+c
-eturn loop
-
hen, it follo"s that
-
he (ma+imum) number of carriers in the system "ill be$
c
e d
c
S
" "
n
+

-
he total number of parts in the system
c d
d c p
c
d p
" "
" n n
S
" n
'P
+

-
he flo" rate of the system$
c
c p
f
S
+ n
,
(G) -ecirculating conveyor
-
In the previous model, it is assumed that the parts are continuously moving and no
accumulation of parts is permitted. In practice, it is possible to add a buffer to the
conveyor system to maintain a smoother material flo". Such a system is called the
recirculating conveyor.
-
he problems in operating a recirculating conveyor system are$
-
Ho empty carriers may be immediately available at the loading station "hen needed
-
Ho loaded carriers may be immediately available at the unloading station "hen
needed
-
he principles to operate recirculating conveyor systems are as follo"s$
-
Speed rule. he speed at "hich the conveyor is operated must be "ithin a certain
permissible rangeM the lo"er limit is the loading 7 unloading rate and the upper limit is
speed limit of the conveyor.
-
apacity constraint. he capacity of the conveyor system must be at least e3ual to the
flo" rate re3uirement.
-
Uniformity principle. he parts should be uniformly loaded throughout the conveyor.
5.5 %aterial Handling 23uipment L 4utomated 5uided 6ehicle
(1) 456 is a material handling system that uses independently operated, self-propelled
vehicle that are guided along defined path"ays in the floor. ?"ing to its programmability,
it is very effective in modern manufacturing.
(8) here are number of different types of 456s including$
-
1riverless trains
-
456 pallet truc,s
-
456 unit load carriers
-
456s involve the use of several hi-tech technologies such as computer net"or,, remote
sensing, automatic vehicle guidance and routing. Ho"ever, "e "ill discuss it from the
application point of vie". ?ur focus is capacity planning.
(/) )apacity planning
- #igure 5 sho"s a typical shop floor layout consisting of five "or,stations and a loading
duc,. he 3uestion is to determine ho" many 456s are needed for material handling.
- here are several "ays to determine the capacity and one of them is the from-to chart. 4
from-to chart is li,e a mileage chart on a road map. It describes either the number of
deliveries re3uired or distance bet"een different stations.
- #or the e+ample in #igure 5, the from-to charts are sho"n in ables 1 and 8.
5-F
#ig. 5$ an e+ample of "or,station layout
able 1$ #rom-to chart sho"ing the flo" rate (number of deliveries re3uired in unit time)
bet"een different stations
o
#rom 1 8 / @ 5
1 ' & 5 G '
8 ' ' ' ' &
/ ' ' ' 8 /
@ ' ' ' ' F
5 ' ' ' ' '
able 8$ #rom-to chart sho"ing the distances bet"een different stations (H4 indicates that the
distances are not applicable to this layout)
o
#rom 1 8 / @ 5
1 ' 8'' @'' *'' H4
8 H4 ' H4 H4 /''
/ H4 H4 ' /'' G''
@ H4 H4 H4 ' /''
5 1'' H4 H4 H4 '
- 9ased on the from-to chart, "e can find the so-called transport "or,, '.$
'. C ,
f
"
d
"here, ,
f
represents the flo" rate (piece 7 hour) and "
d
represents the length of delivery
- 4ggregate the transport "or, for all the deliveries, "e obtain the total transport "or,,
''.$
'. C ,
f
"
d
-
#or e+ample above, the '.s are sho"n in a flo" diagram as sho"n in #igure / and the
''. is$
''. C &N8'' I 5N@'' I GN*''' I 8N/'' I &N/'' I /NG'' I FN/'' C 15,5''
5-&
Station 1
Station /
Station 8
Station 5
Station @
Aoading duc,
#ig.
G$
the
flo"
diagram corresponding to the e+ample$ nodes represent loading and unloading "or,stations
and arro"s "ith number represent indicate the material flo" rate
-
In practice, the actual O is usually higher because of the losses during the operations.
In fact, the total amount of time for material handling include$
-
he time of the delivery$ ("
d
7 +
c
), "here, "
d
is the distance bet"een the origination to
the destination, and +
c
is the speed of the material handling system.
-
he time of loading and unloading, '
h
.
-
he time of empty travel, ("
e
7 +
c
), "here, "
e
is the distance of the empty move.
-
he time traffic factor, E
h
.
-
Hence, "e can define an efficiency measure$
t
h c e c d
c d
h
F
' + " + "
+ "
E
+ +

-
he re3uired handling system capability is$
h
m
E
''.

Ohen there are n
p
parts are needed to handle, the re3uired handling system capability is$
h p
m
E n
''.

-
Hote that in the above study, the "or,station layout and the material delivery paths are
fi+ed. o design a better "or,station layout and 7 or a material delivery path, "e must use
the group techni3ues described in )hapter G.
-
he te+tboo, presents another formal, "hich "ill be discussed in the tutorial.
5.G 4utomated Storage and -etrieve Systems
(1) 4lthough many manufacturing companies are driving for the so-called Pust-In-ime (PI)
manufacturing ("hich "ill be discussed in )hapter *), it is inevitable that the materials
have to be stoc,ed or stored for use. herefore, there are "arehouses, and automated
storage and retrieve systems (4S7-S) in various level.
(8) In a "arehouse, many activities may occur as sho"n belo"$
able /$ Oarehouse facilities and activities
#acilities 4ctivities
Storage rac,s 7 slots Storage
5-1'
1
8
/
@
5
G
&
5
&
/
8
F
<uality control -eceiving inspection
-eceiving doc,s =nloading, depac,ing, identifying, sorting
Store 7 retrieve Aocation selection, transport, S7- re3uest se3uencing
%anufacturing :arts preparation (for shop floor release)
Shipping doc,s ?rder assembly, pac,ing labeling, loading
(/) Oarehouses big or small may be arranged in various forms. Ho"ever, it has five basic
components including building shell, storage medium, transport mechanism, and
controls 7 polices. Aet discuss these components in more details.
-
/uilding shell. It supplies space and a controlled environment for product, e3uipment, and
personal. he shell should be light"eight (for saving building materials and for easy of
rearrange "hen necessary), and strong enough to hold the intended storage items.
-
Storage medium. Storage rac,s are used to hold loads. 4 typical e+ample is pallet rac,s.
Its standard si!e is 8@ + /8 inches to @F + @F inches. :allet rac,s can be placed bac, to
bac,, and7or stac,ed one on the other allo"ing large storage space.
-
'ransport mechanisms. hey may be either automated, semi-automated, or manual, and
are used to transport loads from place to place. he most commonly used machine is the
for,lift type machine. Hote that manual transport mechanics re3uire larger spaces.
-
ontrol - police. he basic policy decision is "hether to have dedicated or open storage.
In dedicated storage, each product has its o"n permanent storage areas. ?pen storage, on
the other hand, allo"s loads to be placed in any location.
(@) Oarehouse design
-
he basic principle for "arehouse design L the F5( rule$
-
use F5( of the slots
-
use F5( of the cubes is each slot.
-
he si!e of the "arehouse. #igure * sho"s a typical "arehouse setup, "here a is the
number of storage ro"s and b is the number of storage columns, a is and b are si!e of the
storage ro"s and columns respectively including the aisle spaces.
#ig. *$ Illustration of a typical "arehouse dimension
-
Suppose the "arehouse has n levels and a total of 0 locations are needed for storage
(remember the F5( rule), then "e must have abn 0.
-
If all the locations are used e3ually, the average trip has a one-"ay distance of
.a78 I b7@0
he longest trip is$
.a I b780
5-11
a
b
Aoading 7
unloading
doc,
-
herefor, to minimi!e the "arehouse shape , you "ill have$
@ 8
minimi!e
b a
+
sub;ect to$
n
0
b a
a1 b integer
-
Suppose a and b are sufficiently large, then "e can rela+ the integer condition. Substitute$
a C 0 7 bn
to the ob;ective function, ta,e differentiation and set to !ero, it follo"s that$
'
@ 8
8
+

nb
0

herefore, the solution is$
8
1
8
N

,
_

n
0
b

,
8
1
8
N
,
_

n
0
a

-
4n e+ample$ all the loads are on /G + /G inches pallets, bays are @8 + @8 inches (F5(
rule), the "arehouse has one layer (n C 1), and the space factors are C 8, C 1M find the
number of columns and number of ro"s necessary.
0 C @8 + @8 C 1*G@
11 5 . 1'
@ N 8 N 8
1*G@
N
8
1

,
_

a
G' / . 5&
8 N 1
1*G@ N 8 N 8
N
8
1

,
_

b
In addition, the average one-"ay distance is$
8G 15 11
@ 8
+ +
b a
(locations)
(5) Aocation assignment L dedicated storage
-
Suppose there are # parts to be allocated to storage locations in a "arehouse, each has its
dedicated location. he dedicated storage allo"s us to find a part easily (ho"ever, it may
be very efficient).
-
he storage space necessary$
( )

+
n
i
S
1
stoc, safety si!e bath
-
he ob;ective of allocation of the space is to minimi!e the average assessment time
-
he algorithm is rather complicated and hence "ill not be covered. Ho"ever, "e "ill
discuss a simple case, "hose solution is rather straightfor"ard.
-
4ssumption$
-
"arehouse is divided into M e3ual capacity grids
-
:roduct i, i C 1, 8, B, # re3uires a ma+imum of 2
i
grid s3uares for storage
-

#
i
i
M 2
1
("e can al"ays add a dummy product to fill the space)
-
there are t"o ports in the "arehouse, one for receiving and one for shipping
-
the product trip 7 period is$
!
ip
C c
i
!
p
"here, c
i
is the total volume of product i moving in and out of storage per time period,
!
p
is the proportion of loads that use port p.
-
the cost per period for :roduct i in grid $ is$
5-18

P
p
p$ p
i
i
i$
d !
2
c
c
1
"here, d
p$
is the distance bet"een :ort p to 5rid $.
-
let

P
p
p$ p $
d ! f
1
-
the total ob;ective function becomes

#
i
M
$
$
i
i
f
2
c
1 1
minimi!e
-
note that the each f
$
is matched a c
i
7 2
i
, In other "ords, the ob;ective function "ill be
minimi!ed by matching small values in f
$
"ith large values in (c
i
7 2
i
).
-
Solution$ from a physical point of vie", this indicates that the areas closer to the ports
should be used to store the product "ith large 3uantities.
-
he algorithm$
Step 1$ order grids$ computer f
$
, ; C 1, 8, B, %, place the grids in nondecreasing order
of f
$
, that is, f
.10
f
.80
) f
.%0
Step 8$ order product$ put products in nonincreasing order, that is,
0 .
0 .
0 8 .
0 8 .
0 1 .
0 1 .
...
#
#
2
c
2
c
2
c

Step /$ assign products$ for i C 1, 8, B, # assign product .i0 to the first 2
.I0
grid
s3uares still available.
-
4n e+ample$ consider a "arehouse setup as sho"n in #igure F, in "hich the loads are
received at (', ') and shipped at (5, '). hree products are stored and all products ma,e
four times as many trips to the shipping as from the receiving. Storage and throughput
re3uirements are given belo". 4ssign products to storage locations.
:roduct Ho. of grids re3uired otal loads moved per day
1 1' 1''
8 5 15'
/ F 1G'
-
he solution is as follo"s$
Step 1$ compute f
$
form f
$
C '.8d
1$
I '.Fd
8$
, the result is sho"n in the table above.
Step 8$ order the product according to (c
i
7 2
i
), it is easy to find$
.(c
1
7 2
1
), (c
8
7 2
8
), (c
/
7 2
/
)0 C .1', /', 8'0,
5-1/
F.8 *.G *.' G.@
*.8
5.8
G.8
G.G
@.8
G.' 5.@
5.G 5.'
@.' @.G
@.@
8.@ /.'
/.@
/.G
5.F
@.F
/.F
1.F
8.F
6 6 1 1
1
1
1
1
/
1 1
1 /
/ /
/
8 8
8
/
1
/
/
8
8
(',')
(5,')
f; values
(',')
(5,')
?ptimal assignment
in other "ords, :roduct 8 is most important follo"ed by :roduct / and then 1.
Step /$ assign :roduct 8 to the best 48 C 5 position, follo"ed by :roduct / and 1. he
unassigned position is mar,ed as Q6R (vacancy). he final result is sho"n in
the table above.
(G) Aocation assignment L open storage
-
he location assignment in open storage (also called random storage) is made possible by
the use of computers
-
he space re3uirement calculation is the same as that of the dedicated storage
-
Since the parts "ould be randomly stored, there is no need for the location assignment.
-
Oe can calculate the e+pected stoc,ing 7 retrieving time by averaging.
(*) :ic,ing up the orders
-
Suppose "e "ant to pic, up an order consisting of ;ust 1 product, all "e have to do is to
allocate the storage position and go there to pic, it up.
-
Ho"ever, suppose "e "ant to pic, up an order consisting of n products stored in n
different places, then it is difficult to find the optimal solution. In fact, it is e3uivalent to
the travel salesman problem. It is called H:-incomplete problem and "e cannot find the
optimal solution "hen n is large. 9ut, as you can image, a simple sub-optimal solution
"ill do the ;ob ;ust fine.
-
?ne of the simple methods for sub-optimal solution is the minimum distance algorithm as
demonstrated belo". Suppose there are n locations, and each location is mar,ed by its
coordinate "
i
(x, y, z), i C 1, 8, B, n, and the pic,up list is mar,ed by$

'

other"ise 1
location from up pic,ed ll product "i no if &&&&& i
a
i
Step 1$ start from the initial "or,station (the loading 7 unloading doc,), set it as the current
position, c(x, y, z).
Step 8$ calculate the distances bet"een the current position to all the locationsM
3
i
C SS c(x, y, z) L "
i
(x, y, z) SSa
i
, i C 1, 8, B, n.
Step /$ add the location "hose distance is the minimum to the to go list
Step @$ set the selected location as the current position, repeat Step 8 until all the locations are
searched.
-
his algorithm is simple, and you may try a simple e+ample by yourself.
(F) 4utomated Storage 7 -etrieval Systems (4S7-S)
-
4S7-S is a basic component in "arehouse and modern manufacturing systems.
-
In manufacturing systems, in addition to store and retrieve materials, 4S7-S also carry on
transportation tas,s sending the parts to specific areas.
-
here are several types of 4S7-S
-
=nit load 4S7-S$ used to store and retrieve large or palleti!ed loads in standard si!e
containers and it is usually automatic (#igure *.* in the te+tboo,)
-
%iniload 4S7-S$ used to small loads such as tools and supplies
-
:erson on-board 4S7-S$ a person rides "ith the S7- machines
-
1eep lane 4S7-S$ a variation of unit load system for high density storage and
retrieval and it usually has many rac,s in one lane
-
he design of an 4-7-S. In order to design a 4-7-S system, follo"ing factors shall be
considered
-
he load si!es
-
he dimensions of an individual storage space
-
he number of storage spaces, note that$
-
he F5( rule
5-1@
-
It "ould be different for dedicated storage and random storage
-
he system throughput and the number of 4S7-S machines
-
he si!e parameters of the space
-
he number of ro"s, columns, layers, aisle, B
-
he bay "idth, rac, length, B
-
)ycle time
-
=tili!ation of S7- machines
-
hese factors can be 3uantitatively measured using simple calculations as sho"n in the
e+amples in the te+tboo,, "hich "ill be covered in the tutorial.
5-15