Material handling

Lift trucks provisioning a navy ship
Loading and removing cargo from a Lufthansa Airbus A380 at Frankfurt Airport.

Material handling involves short-distance movement within the confines of a building or between a building and a transportation vehicle.[1] It uses a wide range of manual, semi-automated, and automated equipment and includes consideration of the protection, storage, and control of materials throughout their manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, consumption, and disposal.[2] Material handling can be used to create time and place utility through the handling, storage, and control of waste, as distinct from manufacturing, which creates form utility by changing the shape, form, and makeup of material.[3]

  1. ^ Coyle, J.J. (1992). Management of Business Logistics. Mason, OH: South-Western. p. 308.
  2. ^ "Material handling". MHI. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  3. ^ Apple, J.M. (1972). Material Handling System Design. New York: Ronald.