Author : Sandeep G. Thorat, Renu V. Indapurkar, Sujata G. Kothavade and B. S. Kothavale

In all types of industries, selection of material handling methods play an important role with various factors such as production rate, efficiency, accuracy and cost, depending on that. This paper provides information regarding different material handling methods and storage systems. According to factors such as objective of industry, floor space and required cost etc various systems can be selected. Mainly for storage, different racking systems can be used e.g. structural racking, narrow pallet racking, double deep racking etc. The details of all these systems with prime focus on structural racking are given. An optimum material handling solution for industries with medium production, lesser floor space and minimum human intervention is discussed by combining structural racking, AS/RS and scissor lift. The concept of this combined mechanism is explained theoretically. The structural pallet rack is used for storage of material with retrieval mechanism containing rollers. Scissor lift enables separate access to the pallets with little human intervention. The conceptual study of mechanism proves it to be an optimum solution of material handling for industries with less floor space available and low investment cost.

Keywords: Material handling, Structural rack, AS/RS, Scissor lift, Semi-automated bar storage and retrieval