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ME 486 - Automation
Objectives
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• The plan should be developed in consultation between the planner(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 plan should promote concurrent engineering of product, process design, process
layout, and material handling methods as opposed to independent and sequential
design practices.
• The plan should reflect the strategic objectives of the organization as well as the more
immediate needs.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• Standardization means less variety and customization in the methods and equipment
employed.
• The planner should select methods and equipment that can perform a variety of tasks
under a variety of operating conditions and in anticipation of changing future
requirements.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• The measure of material handling work is flow rate (volume, weight, or count per unit
of time) multiplied by distance moved.
• Consider each pickup and set-down, or placing material in and out of storage, as
distinct moves and components of the distance moved.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• The Work Principle is implemented best by appropriate layout planning: locating the
production equipment into a physical arrangement corresponding to the flow of work.
This arrangement tends to minimize the distances that must be traveled by the
materials being processed.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• Ergonomics is the science that seeks to adapt work or working conditions to suit the
abilities of the worker.
• The material handling workplace and the equipment must be designed so they are safe
for people.
• Equipment should be selected that eliminates repetitive and strenuous manual labor
and that effectively interacts with human operators and users.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
Principle 5 - UNIT LOAD PRINCIPLE: 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.
• A unit load is one that can be stored or moved as a single entity at one time, such as a
pallet, container, or tote, regardless of the number of individual items that make up the
load.
• Less effort and work are required to collect and move many individual items as a
single load than to move many items one at a time.
• Large unit loads are common in both pre- and post-manufacturing in the form of raw
materials and finished goods.
• Smaller unit loads are consistent with manufacturing strategies that embrace operating
objectives such as flexibility, continuous flow and just-in-time delivery. Smaller unit
loads (as few as one item) yield less in-process inventory and shorter item throughput
times.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• In storage areas, the objective of maximizing storage density must be balanced against
accessibility and selectivity.
• When transporting loads within a facility, the use of overhead space should be
considered as an option. Use of overhead material handling systems saves valuable
floor space for productive purposes.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• Systems integration should encompass the entire supply chain, including reverse
logistics. It should include suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and customers.
• Inventory levels should be minimized at all stages of production and distribution while
respecting considerations of process variability and customer service.
• Information flow and physical material flow should be integrated and treated as
concurrent activities.
• Methods should be provided for easily identifying materials and products, for
determining their location and status within facilities and within the supply chain, and
for controlling their movement.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• Environmental consciousness stems from a desire not to waste natural resources and to
predict and eliminate the possible negative effects of our daily actions on the
environment.
• Containers, pallets, and other products used to form and protect unit loads should be
designed for reusability when possible and/or biodegradability after disposal.
• Materials specified as hazardous have special needs with regard to spill protection,
combustibility, and other risks.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• Life cycle costs include all cash flows that occur between the time the first dollar is spent
to plan a new material handling method or piece of equipment until that method and/or
equipment is totally replaced.
• Life cycle costs include capital investment, installation, setup and equipment
programming, training, system testing and acceptance, operating (labor, utilities, etc.),
maintenance and repair, reuse value, and ultimate disposal.
• A plan for preventive and predictive maintenance should be prepared for the equipment,
and the estimated cost of maintenance and spare parts should be included in the economic
analysis.
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling principles ( from Groover )
• A long-range plan for replacement of the equipment when it becomes obsolete should be
prepared.
• Although measurable cost is a primary factor, it is certainly not the only factor in
selecting among alternatives. Other factors of a strategic nature to the organization and
that form the basis for competition in the market place should be considered and
quantified whenever possible.
ME 486 - Automation
Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV)
Driverless trains - AGV is a towing vehicle used to tow one or more trailers
forming a train between stations.
Unit load carriers - Move unit loads from from one station to another
station. A unit load is a collection of items that is delivered repetitively as a
unit.
ME 486 - Automation
AGV applications
Driverless train operations - Movement of large material quantity over large distances
(between buildings, warehouses).
Storage/distribution systems - Uses unit load carriers and pallet trucks to transfer material
between stations, sometimes interfacing with other automated systems such as an AS/RS
(Automated Storage and Retrieval System). Works well in assembly operations where the
unit loads (or kits) can be transferred from a central storage area to assembly sites.
Assembly line operations - AGV’s become part of the assembly operation by transferring
material along an assembly line (such as moving an engine block between operational
stations)
Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) - AGV’s are used to transfer parts, materials and
tooling between the FMS process stations.
Miscellaneous applications - Non-manufacturing applications include the handling of
sensitive waste, transportation of material at hospitals, mail transportation.
ME 486 - Automation
AGV guidance and control
Traffic control - collision avoidance between multiple AGV’s. The control system is
designed with blocking algorithms that use a combination of on-board vehicle sensing
and zone control.
Systems management - programming interfaces and algorithms for moving AGV’s between
stations, and for scheduling the movement of multiple AGV’s.
ME 486 - Automation
AGV material handling analysis
Terms:
vc - AGV average speed Rdv - rate of deliveries per vehicle
(c = conveyor, carrier, cart, etc.) nc - number of carriers required
ve - AGV empty speed
Rf - specified flow rate of system (del/hr)
Th - load handling time
Tc - delivery cycle time (min/del)
Ld - destination distance
TL - time to load at load station (min)
Le - empty move distance
TU - time to unload at load station (min)
Tf - traffic factor (<= 1)
WL - workload (total work in min per hour)
Eh - handling system efficiency
A - proportion of time vehicle is operational
AT- available time in min/hr/veh
E - worker efficiency
ME 486 - Automation
AGV material handling analysis
Equations:
num of vehicles for workload nc = WL/AT = Rf / Rdv (num of veh for work load)
ME 486 - Automation
AGV example (from text)
Given the AGV layout in the figure and the info listed,
determine the number of vehicles required for a
delivery (flow) rate of 40 del/hr.
Info:
Loading time = 0.75 min Unloading time = 0.5 min
Vehicle speed = 50 m/min Availability = 0.95
Traffic factor = 0.9 (from fig) =>Ld = 110 m ; Le = 80 m
E=1
Solution:
Ideal cycle time/del/veh = Tc = 0.75 + 0.5 + 110/50 + 80/50 = 5.05 min
Compute workload = WL = (40) (5.05) = 202 min/hr
Available time = AT = (60) (0.95) (0.90) (1.0) = 51.3 min/hr/veh
Num of vehicles = nc = 202/51.3 = 3.94 veh => 4 vehicles!
ME 486 - Automation
AGV questions
ME 486 - Automation
Automated Storage and Retrieval System
(AS/RS)
Definition - An AS/RS is a
combination of equipment and
controls which handles, stores,
and retrieves materials with
precision, accuracy, and speed
under a defined degree of
automation. (Materials Handling Institute)
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS classification
Unit load AS/RS - Large automated system designed to use S/R machines to
move unit loads on pallets into and out of storage racks.
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS applications
Order picking - Used to store and retrieve materials in less than full unit
load quantities, such as man-on-board or mini-load applications.
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS control
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS material handling analysis
Terms:
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS material handling analysis
Equations:
AS/RS dimensions W = 3 (x + a) a = 6 in
L = ny (y + b) b = 8 in
H = nz (z + c) c = 10 in
single command cycle Tcs = Max {L/vy , H/vz } + 2 Tpd “uniform racks,
random storage”
dual command cycle Tcd = Max {1.5 L/vy , 1.5 H/vz } + 4 Tpd
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS example (from text)
Given a 4 aisle AS/RS layout, each aisle contains 60 horizontal racks and 12 vertical racks.
Unit load dimensions are x = 42 in, y = 48 in, and z = 36 in. The S/R machine has a horizontal
speed of 200 ft/min and vertical speed of 75 ft/min. It takes 20 s for a P&D operation. Find
Solution:
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS example (cont)
Solution:
Dual command cycle time = Tcd = Max{(1.5)(280/200), (1.5)(46/75)} + 4(20/60) = 3.432 min/cycle
Utilization = 0.9: 2.066 Rcs + 3.432 Rcd = 60 (0.9) = 54 min, but Rcs = Rcd
ME 486 - Automation
AS/RS questions
1. Who are major vendors of AS/RS?
2. Describe their components (power source, transmission system,
communication system, etc.)?
3. What are typical costs?
4. What type of interfaces do they have? How are they programmed?
5. How fast do they move?
6. What are load capabilities?
7. Unusual maintenance requirements?
8. What type of S/R control is used? PID?
9. Who are primary users?
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyors
Definition - A conveyor is a
mechanized device to move
materials in relatively large
quantities between specific
locations over a fixed path.
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyors
Roller conveyors - Series of tube rollers perpendicular to motion direction, which can be
powered or use gravity for motion.
Skate-wheel conveyors - Similar to rollers but use skate wheels parallel to motion direction.
Skate
wheel
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyors
Trolley
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyors
Towline
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyor material handling
Terms:
vc – carrier average speed np – number of parts per carrier
(c = conveyor, carrier, cart, etc.) nc – number of carriers
sc – material spacing on conveyor
RL – loading rate (parts/min)
TL – loading time (min)
RU – unloading rate (parts/min)
TU – unloading time (min)
Tc – total cycle time (min)
Rf – material flow rate (parts/min)
Np – total number of parts in system
Ld – distance between load and unload
Le –distance of return loop (empty)
Note: If one part per carrier, then part flow rate
L – length of conveyor loop is carrier flow rate.
Td – delivery time
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyor handling analysis
material flow rate (np > 1) Rf = np vc /sc 1/ TL (num parts per min)
“system flow rate = loading rate of parts = flow rate of parts on conveyor”
“unloading time must be less than loading time or else pile up carriers”
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyor handling analysis
“material flow rate = num parts per carrier times carrier flow rate”
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyor handling analysis
Equations – recirculating:
Speed rule – operating conveyor speed must fall within a certain range
from load/unload rates Rf = np vc /sc Max{RL , RU}
“flow rate of parts on conveyor must exceed the max load or unload part rate to maintain part spacing”
ME 486 - Automation
Conveyor questions
ME 486 - Automation
Material handling
ME 486 - Automation