Material Handling Systems

Meaning and Definition

 In  a manufacturing  firm  the raw  materials  are obtained  from the suppliers  and are stored  in the stores room.  They are  issued to production  departments and are moved inside the plant area from one  process to another for the purpose of processing till they are converted into finished production. Finished  products are section. The  shipping section. The  function  of the materials handling  is confined  only to the movement  of raw materials from the store room to the shipping  section.

"Materials  handling  refers to  the movement of materials  from the  store room  to the  machine  and from  one machine to  the next  during  the process of manufacture"

According  to the American Material Handling Society. " Materials  handing  is the  art and science involving  the movement  packing and storing of substances in any form.

Thus  materials  handling  function  includes  all types  of movement  vertical  horizontal  or combination of  both  and of all  types  of materials  fluid, semi fluid and discrete items and of movements required for  packaging and storing.