Computerized materials handling and facility layout design

Abstract

We are proposing a systematic approach to the design of materials handling (MH) system that includes an algorithm to select the most suitable equipment. Initially, a conveyor system is proposed while determining its association cost. To seek improvements of the system in terms of cost and equipment utilization, the possibility of supplementing or replacing the conveyor with one or more fork-lift trucks (trucks) will be investigated. The final MH system configuration will consist of conveyors and trucks so that total system optimization will be achieved. The literature on MH design is very limited and often this problem is not directly coupled with the layout problem [4]. The model proposed uses the results of a tentatively designed layout and two important characteristics of the materials, namely size and weight. Facility in this paper refers to a manufacturing plant with low to medium production volume in a process oriented environment. Facility layout and materials handling are two highly interdependent problems. The location of departments, the corresponding distances and production rates dictate the cost of MH. On the other hand, MH costs between departments, influence the departmental arrangements [10]. An iterative process is developed between the layout design and MH selection problems.