TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS

City of Talisay , Negros Occidental

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

A Research Paper

Presented to

The Faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department

Technological University of the Philippines Visayas

City of Talisay

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Course

BACHELOR IN SCIENCE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

by

ELTON JOHN CARTEL

RYAN MARK CUBILLAN

ACE ALTER DILAG

JERAHMEL REMO JAN LOVINO

JEADEL FAITH MONTON

December 2017
 TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS
City of Talisay , Negros Occidental

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The proponents express their warmest gratitude to the Heavenly Father who

always been a provider and served them as a guide in completing the research paper.

Dr. Melinda Arquio-Sisles, their adviser, to acknowledge her research expertise,

her relentless efforts and support in making this research paper into reality.

The Members of the Panel, especially the Chairperson

for their conducive comments, encouragement recommendations and helpful questions

which gives the proponents room of ideas for improvement of the research project.

The respondents of the study for providing the proponents a reliable and honest

survey results and also their time and patience alloted in answering survey

questionnaires.

Our primary mentors, our parents, and other family members which supported us

emotionally and financially all throughout until the completion of the research paper.

TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS

City of Talisay , Negros Occidental

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

 DEDICATION

The proponents dedicate this research study to the Heavenly Father for giving

them the strength and wisdom to apply their skills and widen their knowledge for

improvement of His creation.

The families of the proponents which this work might be a fruit of their

hardwork, sense of responsibility, professional competence and patience.

To the Alma Mater, Technological University of the Philippines Visayas, where

competent engineers came from and source of knowledge of the students aiming to

become a successful engineer.

TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS

City of Talisay , Negros Occidental

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

 Intended for table of contents

( ongoing editing)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

 According to Merriam Webster Dictionary: “Automation is the technique of

making any apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically”. It also takes place the

human labor.

Nowadays, automation was found to be useful for manufacturing processes. Fpr,

modernazation, most industrial companes rely on automated machines depending on their

needs and purposes. There are several reason why most industrial companies implement

methods of automation for increase in profitability and productivity, decrease of labor cost,

minimize process errors, produce high-quality and as well as safety.

However, There are certain considerations to have satisfactory and serviceable

automation system. Specifically, the area where the automated machines are to be installed,

the product and also the extent of the automation application.

Material Handling System is considered as one of the examples for automation

system. It refers to the process of moving, transporting and as well as the loading and

unloading of materials for manufacture, disposal, distribution or any other processes.

In this study, Automated Guided Vehicle System (AGV) as one of the component

of marterial handling system, defined as a automatic transport using unmanned vehicles.

Automatic Guided Vehicles are used for horizontal movement of materials without an

onboard operator or driver. Moreover, its movement is controlled by a host computer and

directed by a combination of software and sensors.

The first Automated Guided Vehicle was brought to market in the year one

thousand fifty, by Barett Electoronics of Northbook, Illinois, and at the time it was simply

a few truck that followed a wire in the floor instead of a rail. It was developed and came a
new type of Automated Guided Vehicle, where invisible UV markers are installed on the

floor instead of pulled by a chain. Over the years, this technology is rapidly improving,

more sophisticated and more flexible wherein todays have automated vehicles that are

mainly laser managed (Laser Guided Vehicle). Today, the Automated Guided Vehicle

provide safe movement of loads..

Today in the Twenty First century, the said equipment are becomingly used by

manufacturing industries especially those large manufacturing companies. The

implementation of automated guided vehicles are preferred than the old material handling

system to ease the manufacturing companies in handling materials especially on the

production lines, warehouses and etc. Also, A useful equipment for multi-tasking purposes.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study primarily aims to determine the effeciency of the material handling

system through on the introduction of automated guided vehicle in NIDEC,PHILS., one

of the electronic companies located in Laguna, as basis in determining the efficient and

most preferred material handling system in manufacturing industries.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Can material handling system lessen the production cost?

 2. Is introduction of automated guided vehicles in material handlng be a factor for

bigger productivity, time-saving and high quality production?

3. Does a good material handling system provides convenience to production

operators and can minimize their mistakes in material handling?

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The Automated Guided Vehicle is a perfect example in material handling

technology. It played a vital role for more than fifty years. In a year nineteen fifty three,

the automated guided vehicle was first built and introduced. It is a modified vehicle with

rope or chain used to pull a trailer in a grocery warehouse. The technology was

introduced in many types of factories and warehouses in the late nineteen fifty to early

nineteen sixty. In the following years, it gains acceptance in the market where widely

used by manufacturing companies wherein it has several functions that is very helpful to

many companies. It evolves also into complex material handling system which later used

a laser and navigation technologies.

This study is anchored on the theories of efficiency of machines and theories

related to efficiency, automated guided vehicle and material handling system.

Efficiency of Machines

Simple machines are evaluated on the basis of efficiency and mechanical advantage. While
it is possible to obtain a larger force from a machine than the force exerted upon it, this
refers only to force and not energy; according to the law of conservation of energy, “more
work cannot be obtained from a machine than the energy supplied to it”.
Because Work = Force * Distance, for a machine to exert a larger force than its initiating
force or operator, that larger force must be exerted through a correspondingly shorter
distance. As a result of friction in all moving machinery, the energy produced by a machine
is less than that applied to it. Consequently, by interpreting the law of conservation of
energy, it follows that:

Input Energy = output energy + wasted energy

This statement is true over any period of time, so it applies to any unit of time; because
power is work or energy per unit of time, the following statement is also true:

Input Power = output power + wasted power

The efficiency of a machine is the ratio of its output to its input, if both input and output
are expressed in the same units of energy or power. This ratio is always less than unity, and
it is usually expressed in percent by multiplying the ratio by 100.
Percent Efficiency = (output energy / input energy) * 100
Percent Efficiency = (output power / input power) * 100

Brute force approach is a universal algorithm which is considers every possible answer in

solving difficult computational problems. Bruth Force could be inefficient in other ways

for example representing otherwise compressible text strings by specifying every symbol.

In Complexity theory, efficiency is defined as the property of solving problems which is

the size of the problem is considered in determining the bounding function. and also require

memory locations bounded by some polynomial funtion. The size of the problem instance

is considered in determining the bounding function. Typically efficiency of an algorithm

could be improved at the cost of solution quality. This often happens in cases where

approximate solutions are acceptable. We also interpret efficiency to mean shorter

representations of redundant data string. Essentially, effieciency measures how far can we

get away from the Brute Force in terms of finding quick algorithms for difficult problems

studied in Complexity Theory (Leonid Levin , Stephen Cook ,Richard M. Karp , etc.) as

well as towards discovering succinct string encodings (Claude Shannon , Kolmogorov ,

Solomonoff , Chaitin ). Many fundamental notions related to information and computation

could be naturally formalized in terms of their relevance to Brute Force or efficiency.

CONCEPTUAL SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

 Industrial Efficiency
Supervisors
a. Input
a) Experience
1. Human labor
b) Skills
2. Equipment
c) Expertise
3. Facilities
 Production
Technician b. Output

a) Experience  Quantity Using

b) Skills 1. Amount of Output Automated

c) Expertise 2. Volume/ Number Guided

of Output
 Production Vehicle
Operators  Quality

a) Experience 1. Realibility

b) Skills 2. Safety

c) Expertise 3. Accuracy
` 4. Timeliness
5. Service courtesy
c. Productivity
1. Cost
2. Unit of Output
`

Material Handling System

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study are of value to the following institutions and

individuals:

Manufacturing Companies Owners. This study may serve as their reference for

the planning of improved material handling system to meet the company goals and

objectives.

Production Supervisors. This research could benefit the supervisors of

manufacturing companies in improving and modifying supervisory plans to improve the

company productivity in terms of quality and quantity.

Production Technicians. This study could become an additional information for

production technicians concerning the machine’s maintenance and troubleshooting.

Production Operators. This study can improve the production operators’ safety

and minimize operator’s errors in assembly lines.

 Researchers. This study could be useful to researchers in improving the existing

research into a more comprehensive relative to material handling system by introduction

of automated guided vehicle. It may equip them with valuable knowledge and practical

experiences and also they may be motivated to contribute more in the world that could

possibly change the world.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The study had the following scope and limitations:

It focused on the efficiency of material handling system through introduction of

automated guided vehicle. The respondents are from NIDEC Philippines, Inc., an

electronic company in Laguna Technopark Economic Zone, Biñan, Laguna which main

company product is spindle motor in hard disk drives. It only limits to selected

employees from the said company which is two production/industrial supervisors, five

production technicians and five production operators limiting only on two specific

departments which are Parts and Components Departments and Die-Cast Deaprtments.

The automated guided vehicles used in this study are intended only for

1. The study limits only to the electronic company in Laguna

2. The respondents are from NIDEC, Phils, an electronic company in laguna, specifically,

two industrial supervisors, the five production and five technicians, and the five

production operators only because of the resources and time.

3. The automated guided vehicles used in this study are intended only for small capacity.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

 Automated Guided Vehicles. A materials handling system that uses automated

vehiclessuch as carts, pallets or trays which are programmed to move between

different manufacturing and warehouse stations without a driver. These systems are

used to increase efficiency, decrease damage to goods and reduce overhead by limiting

the number of employees required to complete the job. ( Business Dictionary

)Operationally the term means a set of cooperative driverless vehicle used on

manufacturing floor and coordinated by a centralized or distributed computer-based

control system.

 Efficiency. The word means the ability to do something or produce without wasting

materials, time, or energy. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) Efficiency relating to

machines indicates how well its input energy is converted into useful output energy or

work.

 Handling System. The term is used similarly with the conceptual definition as the

system of transporting, moving, loading and unloading of any type of a material within
 or out the manufacturing cells such as warehouses, production lines and machines.

Material handlimg system as used in the study the system which involves the

movement, protection, storage and control of materials and products throughout

manufacturing warehousing,distribution, consumption and disposal. Material handling

system incorporates a wide range of manual, semi-automated and automated

equipment and systems and supports logistics and make the supply chain work.

 Industrial supervisor. The term means a person in the first-line management in

industries or production who monitors and regulates employees in their performance

of assigned or delegated tasks. Supervisors are usually authorized to recommend

and/or effect hiring, disciplining, promoting, punishing, rewarding, and other

associated activities regarding the employees in their departments. This term as used

in this study refers to the person responsible for establishing production standards

through implementation of quality control programs. He/she is tasked in reviewing the

process to determine the main problem and solutions when there are issues

encountered.

 Input. The word refers to Item external to a system (such as a process) that is

transformed by the system (usually together with one or more other items) to become

an output. As used in this study, input refers to the resources used to produced outputs.

 Material. The matter from which something can be made. Material can include but is

not limited to raw and processed material, components, parts, assemblies, sub-

assemblies, fuels, lubricants, coolants, cleaning agents, and small tools and accessories

that may be consumed directly or indirectly. Materials as used in this study are used in
 the production and manufacturing processes. They are maybe a raw material,

unprocessed or processed before being used in more advanced production processes.

 Output- the term means the amount something produced by a person, machine, or

industry. Operationally, the term is used as goods and services to meet customer’s

needs including the quantity ( amount, volume or number of outputs produced) and

quality outputs( various attributes such as reliability, accuracy, safety, comfort, service

courtesy and timeliness).

 Production Operator. The word means person that works in the manufacturing industry

where they set up and control equipment used in the manufacturing process. Although

these operators are often based in specific workstations along an assembly line, they

focus on ensuring production equipment works efficiently. Production operators can

work in factories manufacturing products such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals,

electronics and shoes. Operationally, this term refers to person that can work for a wide

variety of companies, the job itself usually involves some aspect of the manufacturing

process. Whether working in construction or packaging, a production operator

maintains the machinery necessary to perform a specialized task. Additionally, a

production operator must have an understanding of industry standards and regulations

in order to safely and efficiently operate the machinery. A production operator may

also be asked to keep records of their output and compare it with a production schedule.

 Production Technician. Refers to the professionals who are involved in both the

assembly and the testing of various goods or services before they are implemented for

internal use or marketed to the general public. Their is to make sure the product is

working exactly as it was envisioned, and is free of any defects or other factors that
 could cause distress for any consumer purchasing the finished product. Production

technicians are likely to work as part of a team, and may also interact

with personnel who are involved in the manufacturing and Quality Assurance (QA)

processes within the company.

 Productivity. A measure of the efficiency of a person, machine, factory, system, etc.,

in converting inputs into useful outputs. Productivity is computed by dividing average

output per period by the total costs incurred or resources (capital, energy, material,

personnel) consumed in that period. Productivity is a critical determinant of cost

efficiency.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The Automated Guided Vehicle is a perfect example in material handling

technology. It played a vital role for more than fifty years. In a year nineteen fifty three,

the automated guided vehicle was first built and introduced. It is a modified vehicle with

rope or chain used to pull a trailer in a grocery warehouse. The technology was

introduced in many types of factories and warehouses in the late nineteen fifty to early

nineteen sixty. In the following years, it gains acceptance in the market where widely

used by manufacturing companies wherein it has several functions that is very helpful to

many companies. It evolves also into complex material handling system which later used

a laser and navigation technologies.

The development of automated guided vehicle is bounded to the development of

scheduling, algorithm and steering methods. However, in the continuous development of

automated guided vehicle encountered some issues regarding the scheduling. Due to this,

Basnet and Mize and Rachamadugu and Stecke are currently providing the latest

comprehensive reviews in this area. Schriber and Stecke shown additional considerations

and limited buffers affects the performance of the material handling system; Han and

McGinnis introduced the development of real time algorithm in which transportation

system is considered. Sabuncuoglu and Hommertzheim have highlighted the importance

of material handling and they compared several automated guided vehicle dispatching

rules. They have also shown how the buffer capacity can affect the performance of the

system. Routing flexibility (i.e., alternative machines and processing routes) has been

considered by Wilhelm and Shin , Chen and Chung , and Khoshnevis and Chen. These

studies have indicated that dynamic routing (i.e., a path determined dynamically during

schedule generation) performs better than a preplanned routing. Rachamadugu et al. have

proposed a quantitative measure of sequence flexibility and have shown that perfect

sequence Flexibility improves system performance. Similar observations have been made

by Lin and Solberg . In most work to date, tools, pallets/fixtures and their availability are

not modeled adequately. A static allocation of tools is usually assumed in these studies.

Efficiency Concepts and Theories

Brute force approach is a universal algorithm which is considers every possible answer in

solving difficult computational problems. Bruth Force could be inefficient in other ways

for example representing otherwise compressible text strings by specifying every symbol.

In Complexity theory, efficiency is defined as the property of solving problems which is

the size of the problem is considered in determining the bounding function. and also require

memory locations bounded by some polynomial funtion.

Efficiency concepts. Efficiency indicates the proper use of resources to produce goods and

services. Thus, focuses in the following:

1. Inputs- the resources used to produced outputs ( for example: human, equipment,

facilities, information, financial, energy and land)

2. Outputs- are goods and services to meet customer’s needs including the quantity (

amount, volume or number of outputs produced) and quality outputs( various attributes

such as reliability, accuracy, safety, comfort, service courtesy and timeliness)

3. Productivity- is expressed in the form of ratio such as cost or time per unit of output

 Material Handling System

Based on the Rule One Thousand One Hundred Fifty ( Materials handling and

storage)

1.Use of Mechanial Equipment. Where mechanical handling equipment is used, sufficient

safe clearance shall be allowed for aisles, at loading docks, through doorways and wherever

turns a passage must be made. Aisles and passageways shall be kept clear and in good

repair, with no obstruction across or in aisles that could create a hazard. Permanent aisles

and passageways shall be appropriately marked.

There are ten principles of material handling as compiled by the College-Industry

Council on Material Handling Education (CIC-MHE) in cooperation with the Material

Handling Institute (MHI). The principles are the following :

1. Planning - establishing of goals which includes the strategies, desirable alternatives

and planning for contingencies by a planning team with the use of data gathered from
consultants, suppliers and from the consideration of different sections such as the

engineering, finance, information systems, management and operations.

2. Standardization - simply refers to bringing of material handling methods,

equipment, controls, and software into conformity with a standard and able to perform a

range of tasks in a variety of operating conditions.

3. Work- simplifying material handling process by reducing, converting,combining,

multi-tasking or removing unnecessary movement that interfere with the progress of

productivity.

4. Ergonomics- simply concerned with the proper arrangement of the certain working

area or conditions that should be adapted by the worker to minimize repetitive work and it

emphasizes safety of the workers.

5. Unit load- to lessen the effort and work (transporting items one at time) unit loads

such as pallets, forklifts, and containers are used to move many individual items that be

grouped as a single load.

6. Space Utilization- to utilize the space in the workplace for example in the

production line, it is important to have organized work areas and free from scattered or

disordered things without compromising accessibility and flexibility.Space utilization

refers to maximizing the use of space efficiently.

7. System- The product or the material movement processes should be systematic,

coordinated, organized and monitored all through out the process from the initial to the

final process.
8. Environment- when designing such a system, always consider environmental

impact with the reduce, reuse and recycle process implemented when possible and safe

practices are considered for handling hazardous materials.

9. Automation- To improve operational efficiency of a certain equipment for material

handling, manual operation is substituted by automation technologies to achieve

consistency, efficiency, flexibility and predictability.

10. Life Cycle Cost- introduction of equipments should undergone analysis of life cycle

cost which includes the set up costs, maintenance, investment, system testing, reuse value

, programming, training, operation and disposal.

A Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) is a manufacturing system in which

there is a certain degree of flexibility that allows the system to react in the case of

changes, whether predicted or unpredicted. According to Maleki , flexibility is the speed

at which a system can react to and accommodate change. To be considered flexible, the

flexibility must exist during the entire life cycle of a product, from design to

manufacturing to distribution. Flexible Manufacturing System is a computer-controlled

system that can produce a variety of parts or products in any order, without the time-

consuming task of changing machine setups. The flexible manufacturing system can be

broadly classified into two types, depending on the nature of flexibility present in the

process, Machine Flexibility and Routing Flexibility.A key feature is the automated flow

of materials to the cell and the automated removal of the finish item. Several cells are

linked together by means of an automated materials-handling system, and the flow of

goods is controlled by a computer. In this manner a computer-integrated manufacturing

process is initiated.

A. SYNTHESIZING

Generally, efficiency refers to the extent of time, space, energy or other resources

are well used intended for the task or purpose. Thus, efficiency is interpreted to mean

shorter representations of redundant data string. Essentially, efficiency theory measures

how far can it get away from the Brute force approach in terms of finding quick algorithms

for difficult problems studied in Complexity Theory.

Efficiency is a relative concept. It is measured by comparing achieved productivity,

output quantity, output quality and level service with the target or standard to determine

the changes in efficiency.

As stated above, There are ten principles in material handling which is used as basis

in our studies that concerns effeciency of the system. Under this, there are specific

governmental law which supports the material handling system which serves also as basis

in this research.

The entire concept of AGVs is based on the system of Flexible Manufacturing

Systems (FMS). The most important advantage of the system is that it provides for

flexibility by way of change or alteration in the operational activities in case of any

unprecedented problems and issues.

2. RELATED STUDIES

 Automated Guided Vehicles

From journal titled Research on the AGV( automated guided vehicle)Based Robot

System Used in Substation Inspection, written by Shengfang. It was stated that they used

laser to guide the automated guided vehicle. For efficient and accurate operation, they used

monitoring devices instead of manual inspection and operation. But, this automated guided

vehicle requires established exact standards of accuracy into the ground. For the equipment

security measures, barrier detection, emergency stop protection and alarm are installed on

the automated guided vehicles but it encounters some problems like weight issues which

affects the operation, maneuverability and flexibility of the automated guided vehicle. The

equipment requires wireless connection to answer limited range issues and the automated

guided vehicles allows for development of decentralized coordination scheme. However,

coordination problems existed due to gains in terms of scalability.

Kim et al. proposed a deadlock detection and prevention algorithms for automated

guided vehicle. It was assumed that vehicles reserve grid blocks in advance to prevent

collisions and deadlocks among automated guided vehicles. A graphic representation

method, called the "reservation graph," was proposed to express a reservation schedule in
such a form that the possibility of a deadlock can be easily detected. A method to detect

possible deadlocks by using the reservation graph was suggested.

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