In today’s world, simulation and optimization are playing a vital role in reducing the time, cost and preserving resources. In manufacturing industries, there are ample amount of problems that go on with the expansion of the industry. In such cases, to tackle these problems simulation can be helpful to check whether any change in the current situation makes any effect on the current efficiency of the overall plant. In the presented case study, a solution to the problem of internal and external logistics has been designed by using simulation and optimization to improve part of a material flow of an organization. Basically, the organization whose major production is established in the south of Sweden deals with the manufacturing and assembly of equipment. Before the dispatch, all of them go to the painting section which is the expansion of the present shop floor. However, the design and analysis of the material handling system to feed the new painting line which is going to be established by the organization is the aim of this case study. While achieving this aim the literature regarding the discrete event simulation, Lean and Simulation-Based optimization related to the material handling system has been done. Furthermore, the appropriate material handling systems along with the different scenarios were suggested to reduce the cost and the lead times between the production line and the new painting line. To support this process a methodology combining simulation, optimization and lean production has been implemented under the framework of the design and creation research strategy. In the Kaizen workshop organized at a company with managers and stakeholders, the designed scenarios were presented and after some discussion one of them was chosen and the selected scenario was designed and optimized. Moreover, the Simulation-Based multi-objective optimization has been helpful for the optimization of the designed model proposed as a final solution.

The target of thesis is to analyze handling equipment and device for realization of loading operations in agriculture and provide proposals and principles for optimal usage of applied handling equipment and device. The characteristics and clasifications of materials in agriculture, loading operations and transportation, listing of applied handling equipment and device for realization of such processes are stated in literary survey of this work. Next part of the work focuses on selection of modern handling equipment, device and producers ( domestic and international) available at current market and defines factors influencing the prefered choice to use particular handling equipment and device for loading processes on farms and in other agricultural environment. A part of the analysis is data and information acquisition of particular farm and review of loading processes in agriculture connected to applicable handling equipment and device, furthermore, currently used handling equipment and device with proposal to optimalization.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:18:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2134.pdf: 6972689 bytes, checksum: 9585b0c3ed9c5691b7b4e49bea7a6eb7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-11-27 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Despite the large tendency to task automation, manual material handling (MMH) is still performed in occupational settings. This activity has been widely studied but the focus has been kept on the low back. Besides the lower back, the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders also on upper limb, among workers who perform MMH, shows that there is a need to achieve a better understanding on the interaction between this segment and physical risk factors in the workplace. Besides physical factors, the musculoskeletal load during the MMH seems to be also influenced by the workers experience. In order to contribute with information on the effects of workplace factors on the upper limb behavior during MMH, two studies were developed. The objective of the first study was to evaluate the effects of height of the target surface and load mass on the muscular activity and movements during MMH performed by experienced and inexperienced subjects. Both muscular activity and movements were influenced by the variation of the load mass and height of the target surface. However, there was any difference for the comparison between experienced and inexperienced subjects. This fact was probably related to the homogeneity of the grip used by the subjects to carry out the handling, which has probably an association with the design of the box used in the experiment. In order to better understand the characteristics of the grip used by the subjects to perform the task, another study was conduced. The objectives were (1) to evaluate how experienced and inexperienced subjects would grasp a box when all sides were free to be approached; (2) to describe grip force and wrist movements according to each kind of hand grip, attempting to different heights of the destination surface; (3) to check for safe range of motion recorded for wrist movements in all conditions. Wrist movements and grip force were recorded during the task. Experienced and inexperienced subjects grasped the box by placing their hands on the lateral side and fingers on bottom side. This pattern was observed in all assessed conditions. It seems that when the box allows the free access to the bottom side, both experienced and inexperienced subjects prefer to use that side to position their hands/fingers. Data on movements and grip force has suggested that this grip can provide biomechanical advantage and should be available in occupational settings. In general, the results have shown that physical factors, like height of target surface and load mass, are determinants on the musculoskeletal load. Considering the demand required from the upper limbs, the high surface (around shoulder level) seems to produce higher risk to the development of disorders on this segment. To provide a better understanding on the upper limbs load, studies considering different layouts, as well as asymmetrical tasks and real occupational settings should be conduced. / Apesar da grande tendência à automação de tarefas, o manuseio de carga ainda é amplamente realizado em ambientes ocupacionais. Esta atividade tem sido bastante estudada, com o foco sendo quase sempre mantido na coluna lombar. O acometimento do membro superior de sujeitos que realizam tarefas de manuseio indica a necessidade de melhor entendimento a respeito da interação deste segmento com os fatores de risco físicos do ambiente de trabalho. Além dos fatores físicos, a sobrecarga musculoesquelética durante o manuseio parece ser também influenciada pela experiência dos trabalhadores. Para contribuir com o entendimento dos efeitos dos fatores do ambiente de trabalho no comportamento do membro superior durante o manuseio de cargas, dois estudos foram desenvolvidos. O primeiro estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o efeito da altura da superfície-alvo e massa da carga na atividade muscular e postura do segmento durante manuseio de carga, realizado por sujeitos experientes e inexperientes. Tanto a atividade muscular quanto os movimentos do ombro foram afetados pela variação da massa da carga e da altura da superfície-alvo. No entanto, não houve diferença para a comparação entre indivíduos experientes e inexperientes. Este fato foi associado à homogeneidade no tipo de preensão adotada pelos sujeitos para a realização da tarefa, o que foi atribuído ao desenho da caixa utilizada. Para melhor entender as características da preensão adotada por sujeitos experientes e inexperientes no manuseio de uma caixa que permite livre acesso às faces para posicionamento das mãos, o segundo estudo foi conduzido. Os objetivos foram (1) avaliar como sujeitos experientes e inexperientes manuseariam uma caixa quando todas as superfícies desta estavam livres para o contato; (2) descrever a força de preensão e movimentos do punho de acordo com a preensão realizada, considerando diferentes alturas de superfície-alvo; (3) avaliar as amplitudes de movimento do punho registradas de acordo com a amplitude de movimento segura proposta pela literatura. Movimentos do punho e força de preensão foram registrados durante a atividade. Sujeitos experientes e inexperientes pegaram a caixa a partir do posicionamento das mãos na face lateral e dedos na face inferior, em todas as condições avaliadas. Parece que quando a caixa permite livre acesso à face inferior, todos os sujeitos, independentemente do nível de experiência, preferem posicionar as mãos nesta superfície. Os dados de postura e força sugerem que este tipo de pega possa ser biomecanicamente mais vantajoso para o sistema musculoesquelético e deveria estar disponível nos manuseios. De maneira geral, os resultados dos estudos indicam que fatores físicos do ambiente de trabalho, como altura da superfíciealvo e massa da caixa manuseada, são determinantes da carga final imposta ao sistema musculoesquelético. Considerando a demanda imposta ao membro superior, a superfície alta (em torno da altura do ombro) parece fornecer maior risco para o desenvolvimento de lesão neste segmento. Para melhor entendimento da carga imposta ao membro superior, estudos envolvendo diferentes layouts, assim como manuseios assimétricos e ambientes ocupacionais reais devem ser conduzidos.

Kurs: Ämnesfördjupande arbete i logistik, 2FE25E, VT 2018  Uppsatsens titel: E-handelns påverkan på materialhanteringsprocessen - En fallstudie på Södra Wood Interiör i Kallinge  Författare: Linnéa Bosson, Emma Mogensen och Jacob Vikenadler  Handledare: Petra Andersson  Examinator: Hana Hulthén  Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: E-handeln har vuxit mycket under de senaste åren. E-handeln inom byggvarubranschen är något som inte slagit igenom än men är idag påväg uppåt. Därför bör företag som verkar inom byggbranschen förbereda sig på denna förändring. Södra Wood Interiör i Kallinge står just nu inför denna förberedelse, där ett flöde av både slutkund- och bulkorders ska kombineras på ett lönsamt och effektivt sätt. Syfte: Syftet är att identifiera förbättringar hos SWI:s centrallager, när det kommer till företagets nuvarande materialhanteringsprocess, inför en fortsatt ökning av e-handel inom byggvarubranschen.  Metod: Uppsatsen är av kvalitativ art och har utförts genom en fallstudie. Uppsatsen behandlas utifrån ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och har ett deduktivt angreppssätt.  Slutsats: Ett ökat flöde av e-handel resulterar i att antalet och storleken på orders förändras. Om SWI väljer att haka på trenden med e-handel och möjliggöra sådana lösningar för sina kunder kommer de få ett ökat flöde av så kallade slutkundorders. Detta leder i sin tur till att SWI måste kombinera ett stort flöde av slutkund- och bulkorders i samma lager. I dagsläget är det troligt att en sådan kombination skulle innebära att materialhanteringsprocessen blir mindre effektiv. I analysen presenteras sedan olika förbättringsförslag som tagits fram för att SWI ska kunna möta den ineffiktivitet som följer av att slutkundorderflödet ökar. Förbättringsförslagen är en egen lagerdel som behandlar slutkundorders i SWI:s befintliga lager och ytterligare ett centrallager på annan plats. / Background: E-commerce has grown during the last years. E-commerce in the construction industry on the other hand has not grown as much, but it is heading upwards. Therefore companies working in the construction industry should prepare for this change. Södra Wood Interiör in Kallinge is currently planning and preparing for this change, where a flow of both retail orders and bulk orders should be combined in a profitable and efficient manner.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify improvements at SWI:s main warehouse, when it comes to the companies material handling process, facing a continued increase in e-commerce in the construction industry.  Method: The essay is of qualitative nature and has been performed by a case study. The essay has been processed in a hermeneutical approach and performed with a deductive approach.  Conclusion: An increased flow of e-commerce results in a change in quantity and size of orders. If SWI choose to follow the trend and enable such solutions for their customers SWI will get an increased flow of so called retail orders. This in turn leads to that SWI have to combine a large flow of retail orders and bulk orders in the same warehouse. In the current situation it is likely that such a combination implies that the material handling process becomes less efficient. The analysis presents various improvements proposed to enable SWI to meet the inefficiency that comes from the increase in retail orders. The improvements suggest a separate warehouse that deals with the retail orders in SWI:s existing warehouse and additional warehouse located elsewhere.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:53:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3747541 bytes, checksum: 321b5f29863e2f68953902273ae4cb9f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The main goal of this dissertation is to design and implementation of an Operational Simulation Model (OSM) of the handling of raw material in an Integrated Steelmaking Plant, considering operations of receiving, unloading, stocking, handling and supplying the different raw materials related to the production process with an operational perspective. The aim of this focus is to help in the decision making of the team controlling the ore inventory. The construction of this computer model was based on the methodological framework developed by Coelho, which passed through problem formulation, planning and elaboration of a detailed specification of the model. The OSM showed that most of the valid concepts for simulations with a strategic focus do not present relevance from an operational point of view. The advantage of the OSM is the fact that it is not random or stochastic, but deterministic. The methodology allowed the model elaboration with a minimum effort and great consistency. The results of scenarios with scheduled equipment stops have shown the simulator s flexibility, with previous identification of bottlenecks and allowed the decision making of corrective actions for avoid them on real situations. The filling of the stockyard map using results of consistent scenarios was a great advance in order to automate this activity. The correct behaviour of the simulator allowed the raw material yard team to consider the well succeeded study. / O objetivo principal desta dissertação é construir um modelo de simulação operacional do manuseio de matérias-primas de uma usina siderúrgica integrada, contemplando as operações de recebimento, descarga, estocagem, manuseio e abastecimento das diversas matérias-primas pertinentes ao processo produtivo, com foco operacional, visando auxiliar a tomada de decisões operacionais da equipe que controla o pátio. A construção desse modelo computacional se baseou na estrutura metodológica desenvolvida por Coelho, que passou pela formulação do problema, planejamento do estudo e pela elaboração de uma especificação detalhada do modelo. O modelo de simulação operacional revelou que grande parte dos conceitos válidos para simulações com foco estratégico não representa tanta relevância sob o ponto de vista operacional. Mas a vantagem do modelo de simulação operacional é a ausência de aleatoriedade, não é estocástico, mas sim determinístico. A metodologia inédita, utilizada para desenvolvimento do modelo do pátio de matérias-primas, permitiu a elaboração do modelo com o mínimo de retrabalho e com grande consistência. Os resultados dos cenários, com paradas programadas dos equipamentos, mostraram a flexibilidade do simulador, permitindo a identificação prévia de gargalos e possibilitando a tomada de ações corretivas para evitá-los nas situações reais. O preenchimento do mapa do pátio, a partir de resultados de cenários consistentes, foi um grande avanço, no sentido de automatizar esta atividade. O comportamento correto do simulador permitiu que a equipe do pátio de matérias-primas considerasse o estudo muito bem sucedido.

A manipulação de materiais é uma das tarefas em que comumente empregam-se robôs para substituir o trabalho humano, dadas algumas vantagens como: maior precisão na manipulação de cargas e maior velocidade de execução da tarefa, bem como por aumentar a segurança do operador. Apesar dessas vantagens, os dispositivos robóticos são largamente empregados apenas em situações em que velocidade e precisão são indispensáveis, em outros casos, os equipamentos convencionais (como talhas, gruas e macacos hidráulicos) e os dispositivos específicos (aqueles fazem uso de molas e contrapesos), vêm sendo utilizados nas tarefas cotidianas, principalmente pelo fato de, entre outros, serem menos dispendiosos. Comparando-se estas duas soluções disponíveis, tem-se que os equipamentos tradicionais, apesar de sua simplicidade e versatilidade de movimentação, apresentam limitações quando são exigidas precisão e eficiência, enquanto os dispositivos robóticos apresentam alta complexidade tanto no projeto quanto na operação, representando uma solução cara e com movimentação restrita pela programação. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo estudar e propor uma solução intermediária entre a solução convencional e a robótica. O foco do estudo é o projeto de um dispositivo simplificado, que faz uso de molas e de um sistema de alavanca para manipular cargas. Um estudo preliminar desse mecanismo mostrou imperfeições quanto à força de contrabalanceamento. Com o intuito de corrigir esse erro foi usado um sistema de controle, que é constituído por um motor elétrico, um mecanismo de correção, sensores e um módulo controlador. O dispositivo proposto apresenta um controle simplificado, vez que a movimentação é feita exclusivamente pelo operador, possibilitando assim que o dispositivo apresente um baixo consumo de energia. Um protótipo é desenvolvido e os testes demonstraram a eficácia da solução. / The material handling is one task in which robot is commonly employed to replace the human work because it has some advantages such as, higher precision in the handling and higher speed of the task, and to increase operator safety. Despite these advantages, the robotic device is most employed only in situation that speed and precision are essential; in other cases, the conventional equipments (such as hydraulic jacks, cranes and pulley systems) and the specific device (which use springs and counterweight), have been used in daily tasks mainly because of they are less expensive. Comparing these two solutions, it is possible to say that the conventional devices, despite its simplicity and guidance, have limitations when the task requires precision and speed, while the robotic solution has higher complexity in both design and in operation, representing an expensive solution with a programming that restrict the movement. In this context, the present work has the objective the study and development of an intermediate solution between the conventional solution and the robotic device. The proposed study is based on a simplified device, which uses springs and a lever system to handle material. A preliminary study on this mechanism shows imperfections in balance force. In order to correct this error, a control system is used. The control system is constituted by an electric motor, a correcting mechanism, sensors and a controller. The proposed device presents simple control because movements are responsibility of the human operator moreover presents low power consumption, due to the use of springs. A prototype is developed and tests demonstrate the effectiveness of the solution.

This work is the final part of the Master of Science degree in Industrial Design Engineering towards Production Design, at Luleå University of Technology. This project has been conducted during the spring of 2017 at Alimak Hek. The task has been to analyze material handling, material presentation and why material shortages occur at the industrial hoists final assembly stations. To get an understanding of the system, interviews and observations were conducted. A literature study was carried out to find current knowledge and different solutions. To involve the workers in the process and to check if the problems were understood correctly a workshop was conducted. This was also an opportunity to discuss desired future state and ideas with the workers. Another way to look at potential solutions was through the benchmarkings. These were both conducted internally and at other companies where different solutions for material handling was studied.   The material in focus has been fastening material. This was stored in bins at racks. These racks were placed at the assembly stations and the two big racks have been the focus of this project. The problems at these storages has been that the refilling did not work as it was supposed to. The old system was an order list with which material could be ordered from the main storage at Alimak, this however is not used any more. The system of today is that the empty bins are collected and put on a pallet to be sent to the main storage for refilling. The problem with this is that the workers did not take the bins when they were empty but rather went to a different storage to look there. This meant that the material sometimes got totally emptied at all racks before the bins were sent to refilling. This made for urgent needs where workers had to go to the storage themselves to get something refilled. Another problem was that these storages were placed behind the fixed stations which made them hard to get to and see. The bins used in today’s system were not all marked the same way and an old system for numbering was still partly used. The bigger storages were divided so that one should have the stainless material and the other should have the galvanized/zinc-coated material. This together with the other aspects made it hard to know where the bins should be and sometimes all bins of one kind was put in the same rack.   To fix these problems different suggestions were made. The use of a two-bin system has been suggested because of its simplicity and the potential it has to avoid a lack of material to arise. The two racks of today should be combined into one and moved to a more visible place. This would make the refilling easier and reduce the need to search for material at different places. Two general layouts have been developed, and the open layout has been suggested to be implemented because of the accessibility it would bring to the system. The approximate size of the rack and bins needed have been put forward and different suggestion for order in the rack has been made. The marking of the bins and rack has also been discussed and this should be made distinct so it is easy to see and read.

This thesis is focused on design of an electric stand-on low lift pallet truck with regards to operators ergonomical needs. The goal of this thesis is to design aestheticaly pleasing machine while regarding the technological requirements.

The main goal of a study is to rationalize organization of production and material handling in company AVL Moravia s.r.o. via material flow intensity analysis. Analysis results in suggesting new organization of production and economical rating of the suggestion.

This thesis focuses on control strategies for intralogistics transport systems. It evaluates how switching from central to decentral dispatching approaches influences the performance of these systems. Many ideas and prototypes for implementing decentral control have been suggested by the scientific community. But usually only the qualitative advantages of this new paradigm are stated. The impact on the performance is not quantified and analyzed. Additionally, decentral control is often confused with distributed algorithms or uses the aggregation of local to global information. In the case of the latter, the technological limitations due to the communication overhead are not considered. The decentral prototypes usually only focus on routing. This paper takes a step back and provides a generic simulation environment which can be used by other researchers to test and compare control strategies in the future. The test environment is used for developing four truly decentral dispatching strategies which work only based on local information. These strategies are compared to a central approach for controlling transportation systems. Input data from two real-world applications is used for a series of simulation experiments with three different layout complexities. Based on the simulation studies neither the central nor the decentral dispatching strategies show a universally superior performance. The results depend on the combination of input data set and layout scenario. The expected efficiency loss for the decentral approaches can be confirmed for stable input patterns. Regardless of the layout complexity the decentral strategies always need more vehicles to reach the performance level of the central control rule when these input characteristics are present. In the case of varying input data and high throughput the decentral strategies outperform the central approach in simple layouts. They require fewer vehicles and less vehicle movement to achieve the central performance. Layout simplicity makes the central dispatching strategy prone to undesired effects. The simple-minded decentral decision rules can achieve a better performance in this kind of environment. But only complex layouts are a relevant benchmark scenario for transferring decentral ideas to real-world applications. In such a scenario the decentral performance deteriorates while the layout-dependent influences on the central strategy become less relevant. This is true for both analyzed input data sets. Consequently, the decentral strategies require at least 36% to 53% more vehicles and 20% to 42% more vehicle movement to achieve the lowest central performance level. Therefore their usage can currently not be justified based on investment and operating costs. The characteristics of decentral systems limit their own performance. The restriction to local information leads to poor dispatching decisions which in return induce self-enforcing inefficiencies. In addition, the application of decentral strategies requires bigger storage location capacity. In several disturbance scenarios the decentral strategies perform fairly well and show their ability to adapt to changed environmental conditions. However, their performance after the disturbance remains in some cases unpredictable and relates to the properties of self-organizing complex systems. A real-world applicability has to be called into question.