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Unit 10: Packaging and Material Handling

The materials handling area is compartmentalized: compartment A is for full pallets, Notes
compartment B is for stack of items too big for palletizing, and compartment C is for
partial mixed load pallets. As pallets exit a main conveyor, they are scanned by a stationary
bar code scanner, and then advance to the AGV pickup zone. A vehicle is assigned to pick
up the pallets, pickup is confirmed, and the vehicle is sent to either the shipping lane or the
partial pallet drop-off location. Schumacher says, “The AGV system is designed to shuttle
full pallets from pick conveyor LO shipping lanes. Other physical moves – sending partial
pallets to staging zones for manual handling later, and diverting problematical pallet
loads out of the handling system – are important to the operation. “The TRACE system
performs secondary tasks such as logging for historical and reporting purposes, diagnostic
functions, and reporting system and AGV malfunctions if they occur. All system
maintenance and programming alterations can be performed by our staff. The time and
expense saved by HD personnel is obvious.”
Source: Anonymous, “AGVS Ease Traffic at Home Depot,” Material handling management, April 2000,
p. 97

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

6. Market position is used for the packaging of items.
7. Expensive products and gift items such as jewellery require a low standard of packaging.
8. PE-LD film is used for making plastic bags, shrink wrapping and stretch wrapping.
9. The PP films are not stronger than the PE films.

10. Paper wrappings provide protection against dust and light, but do not provide mechanical
protection.

10.3 Materials Handling

The handling of products is a key to warehouse productivity for several important reasons.

First, the relative number of labour hours required to perform material handling creates a
vulnerability to any reduction in the output rate per labour hour. Warehousing is typically
more sensitive to labour productivity than manufacturing since material handling is highly
labour-intensive.
Second, the nature of warehouse material handling is limited in terms of direct benefits gained
by improved information technology. While computerization has introduced new technologies
and capabilities, the preponderance of material handling requires significant manual input.

Third, until recently, warehouse material handling has not been managed on an integrated basis
with other logistical activities, nor has it received a great deal of top management concern.
Finally, automation technology capable of reducing material-handling labour is only now
beginning to reach its full potential.
Within the warehouse system, material handling is the prime consumer of labour. The application
of labour to product selection and handling represents one of logistics highest personnel cost
components. The opportunity to reduce this labour intensity and improve productivity lies
with emerging handling technologies. In logistics, the primary emphasis is placed on material
and product inbound and outbound flows rather than inventory storage.

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