About material handling
Material handling is an important element of a manufacturing industry. The protection, movement, control of materials, and end products throughout the process of manufacturing, disposal, distribution, warehousing, and storage is categorised as Material Handling. Right from delivering the raw materials to the end product out of the factory is dependent on the material handling equipment. These equipment are automated, semi-automated, and manual as per the requirement of network of supply.Automated materialhandling refers to any automation that reduces or eliminates the need for human efforts in the above mentioned material handling process in a supply chain.
Here is a list of how material handling automation can benefit manufacturers:
Improved Manufacturing KPIs (Key Performance Indicator)
Automated and centrally connected technology in the organisation provides real-time access to information. Data gathered and transferred since the beginning of supply chain will turn out to be important which allows the full manufacturing lifecycle to be benchmarked and more complete KPIs will be formed.
Labour Management
The benefits of automated material handling leads to improved management of human workforce. With automated systems, repetitive and mundane tasks will be performed by machines and employees can be repositioned to higher-value roles that require more specialized skills or the ability to handle complex tasks. With this capability served by these automated systems, manufacturers are less exposed to issues related to labour shortages.
Integrated Factory
Automated material handling technology connects ‘islands of supply chain’ within the factory. Collecting and sharing of data through sensors allows information to move up or downstream within the operation. These accumulated data are then analysed by the management team for enabling better planning in various sections of work and anticipate delays or changes.
Flexible Manufacturing
The ability to access and analyse complete manufacturing cycle data gives the benefit of on-demand flexibility throughout the manufacturing process. The material can now delivered at any location from central command with the automated system as per the customised needs. This saves the time required for line personnel to retrieve materials from a centralized pick location.
Customer Experience
Optimizing the factory using Material Handling Automation will improve company’s profitability and customer satisfaction. A customer service begins with manufacturing that runs on time. The cost reductions and operating efficiency gained by automated material handling lead companies to offer more competitively priced products and enables better delivery performance.
Conclusion
Applying automated material handling technology to the network of supply chain produces measurable cost savings while bringing an immediate ROI.It streamlines many processes in the factory including product planning, flow and process management, resource allocation, forecasting, customer delivery, control and management of inventories, and after-sales services and support. Mikro Innotech India Pvt. Ltd.is providing path-breaking material handling automation to various industries. Get in touch with their team for customised equipment and automation systems.
