Automated material handling uses machinery and electronic equipment to increase efficiency and reduce costs, human error, and injury. Examples include robotics, inventory systems, and shipping equipment. It is necessary in many manufacturing environments and has been around since the early 20th century.
Automated material handling refers to the management of material processing through the use of automated machinery and electronic equipment. In addition to increasing the efficiency and speed with which materials are produced, shipped, stored and moved, automated material handling reduces the need for people to do all the work manually. This can significantly reduce costs, human error or injury, and hours lost when workers need heavy tools to perform certain aspects of the job or are unable to physically do the job.
Some examples of commonly used automated manipulation processes include robotics in manufacturing and toxic environments; computerized inventory systems; scanning, counting and sorting machines; and shipping and receiving equipment. These assets enable humans to get work done faster, safer, and with less need for additional personnel to handle the routine tasks and time-consuming aspects of producing goods from raw materials.
In many factories, manufacturing plants, and areas where manufacturing requirements prevent humans from performing manual labor, automated material handling may be the only option. For example, today it would be nearly impossible for a human workforce to assemble large numbers of automobiles entirely by hand without the use of some automated handling equipment, such as robot assembly devices and crawlers that carry the automobile shells from one end from the factory to another.
Furthermore, it would be physically impossible for a team to transport, lift and track heavy containers filled with materials and place them in storage areas or truck beds without the use of automated handling assets such as lifts, cranes or trucks. Automated systems use tracking devices to scan and control incoming or outgoing materials, and this information is automatically linked to computers that tell factory management when to order more materials, where materials are stored, and where to allocate and ship materials. These automated handling tools are common in most warehouse, trucking, and manufacturing environments because they increase productivity and reduce waste.
Automated materials management is nothing new for manufacturing and materials management. It has been around since the early 20th century, when mass production required the use of heavy machinery to transform raw materials into useful products for commercial and consumer use. Automated handling is now common among many companies that transform materials into other goods and will continue to develop, thanks to continuous technological advances.
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