MATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEM DESIGN - Environmentally Conscious Materials Handling - page 4

Figure 1.1 Gravity Roller Conveyor (Source: Courtesy of Pentek)

2. The material handling workplace and the equipment employed to assist
in that work must be designed so they are safe for people.

2.5 Unit Load

A unit load is one that can be stored or moved as a single entity at one time,
such as a pallet, container, or tote, regardless of the number of individual items
that make up the load. Unit loads shall be appropriately sized and configured in a
way that achieves the material flow and inventory objectives at each stage in the
supply chain. When unit load is used in material flow, six key aspects deserve
attention:
1. Less effort and work are required to collect and move many individual
items as a single load than to move many items one at a time.
2. Load size and composition may change as material and products move
through stages of manufacturing and the resulting distribution channels.
3. Large unit loads are common both pre- and postmanufacturing in the form
of raw materials and finished goods.
4. During manufacturing, smaller unit loads, including as few as one item,
yield less in-process inventory and shorter item throughput times.
5. Smaller unit loads are consistent with manufacturing strategies that
embrace operating objectives such as flexibility, continuous flow, and
just-in-time delivery.