INTEGRATED UNIT LOAD AND TRANSPORT SYSTEM DESIGN IN MANUFACTURING

This paper addresses the selection, evaluation and specification of material transport technology in agile job shop manufacturing. Specifically an integrated approach to design unit loads concurrently with appropriate material transport vehicles is investigated in the following steps: 1. systems boundary definition and collection about the goods handled and the required material transport tasks. 2. task allocation to available resources and technologies. 3. evaluation and selection of unit load alternatives and material handling and transport equipment. Material handling device evaluation is based upon a conventional multicriteria decision-making approach. Decision criteria are developed from agile manufacturing requirements according to logistic needs for internal and external transportation and alternative solutions are evaluated for two design options. The improvements made in terms of flexibility, adaptability to different goods handled, better space utilization, simplification and acceleration of in-plant transportation are demonstrated in a case study for steel frame manufacturing.