Material Handling in KIZAD, UAE - Article Example

Material Handling in KIZAD, UAE Abstract Khalifa Industrial Zone, Abu Dhabi is a zone with the various industries that hold the United Arab Emirates economy. KIZAD has been earmarked by the government of Abu Dhabi as an area that plays an important long-term role in the growth and development of UAE's economy. There was the launch of the Khalifa Port last year and finishing of the modern warehouses this year will make Khalifa an area of admiration for business people. KIZAD has a significant role to play in ensuring Abu Dhabi’s vision 2030 comes to completion. Material handling occurs after the finished product is packaged and ready for transportation. Receiving of raw materials to the factory is also part of material handling. It is to ensure the correct goods come to the organization and also leave the organization to the customer. The essay will expand on the role and benefits of KIZAD. The primary focus will be on material handling in KIZAD. Introduction The Middle East is a world-class logistics hub due to its geographical location. This region has had significant developments in terms of material handling and warehousing. There has been much development in the logistic infrastructure part of UAE. Countries like Abu Dhabi have significant economic development due to the number of businesses that go through the country. There are materials that go through Abu Dhabi before they move to other regions in the world. It is a central point of moving goods across the world. It is, therefore, important that Abu Dhabi develops world class warehouses where the materials being transported are in safe hands. The warehousing business is now a significant part of the economy that has always been dominated by oil and gas. The material handling business in KIZAD has helped the economy grow by 6% every year thus making it enable vision 2030. Reasoning behind the choice of Project Abu Dhabi has a fast growth pace and the manufacturing industries at KIZAD are growing. The need to have warehouses where the materials have a safe handle is increasing on a daily basis. There is not enough knowledge concerning the fast growth of the economy, hence the need for more warehouses in Abu Dhabi. There have however been many warehouses cropping up due to the increase in demand and opening of the port last year. Lessons on how to handle this business are in need so as the goods remain protected and not get damaged during storage. It is important to understand the kind of goods one is handling, as different products require different attention. The warehouse designs have different inner designs for the products. For example, the stores that handle the shipment of vehicles from Abu Dhabi to other regions in the world need to have a plan. It ensures the cars have an arrangement in a way that it is easy to remove them during shipping. The warehouses that handle perishable goods require special freezers where they ensure the products are fresh by the time they get to the desired customer. It is also important to put the warehouses near the port for easy access to the perishable goods. Logistics and warehousing will get a significant boost in the UAE because Dubai won the 2020 bid to host Expo. There would be investments worth twenty billion dollars in the UAE due to the expo. It is important, therefore, to know about material handling and the statistics behind the nature of the business. The goods being in good health mean no losses will be encountered thus maximizing the profit of the business. The plan for Abu Dhabi to move from their reliance on oil and gas for economic stability has led to a lot of manufacturing companies to come up in the region. The increase in the number of manufacturing companies means the increase in the need for warehouses and knowledge in material handling. KIZAD is the center of manufacturing businesses in Abu Dhabi hence it has a lot of materials that require handling, thus my interest in the region and the topic of my research project. Literature Review The flow of production is made possible through material handling. The act gives dynamism to different things such as the products, materials, equipment, human resources and the layout of warehouses. Asef-Vaziri and Laporte (2), experts in the topic highlight that material handling is not given enough attention despite it being important in most of the manufacturing companies. Toyota Company is one of the major businesses that understand the importance of material handling in the production of their vehicles. The production of the vehicles increases due to the organized way they handle their materials. Toyota ranks as one of the companies with a perfect organization and production when it comes to material handling. Initially, in the Western countries, production was treated as a series of processes in the factory (Ioannou 460). There is a process analysis that observes production flow, but does not offer information about handling of the material (Ali and Khan 55). It is important now to have material handling as one of the flows in the production process in any company. It is important to know the profit that the company makes from selling the final product from the place that offers storage of the material. Manual material handling in KIZAD has contributed to the level of profits they are getting in the manufacturing companies. There are advanced technologies. However, that ensure that material handling takes place in a fast and efficient way using machines to make the work easy (Chakravorty 92). It is important to site and note the importance of storage facilities in any industry. Organizations nowadays rely on information systems that are helpful to determine the storage system in the warehouses. It enables the workers to know exactly the kind of materials that are available in the storage facilities for their customers (Machline 25). Coming up with a functional system is part of material handling that plays a significant role in keeping track of all the materials and goods that are in stock. Asef-Vaziri & Laporte (3) suggests that a large amount of manufacturing expenses is in material handling. The authors also suggest that the most critical decisions regarding material handling are the design and arrangements of material flow patterns. The design of material handling system is a crucial decision as MHS integrates the whole production process. The storage of goods and processing of the products is essential to any logistics goals of any company (Kulak 310). A proper design of Material Handling System offsets the costs of the business in the range of 12% to 40% of the expenses they would have used without the system. 20% - 25% of all the total cost of a product/material along the production chain has attribution to material handling (Hassan 247). Efficient and organized material handling can handle the reduction in the manufacturing system operations cost by 15–30%. An excellent material handling system is one that formulates a master program in the timely provision of the needed materials, its components, and work in progress during manufacturing (Laudon K and Laudon J 10). Material handling primarily takes up all the work of the logistics department in any organization. Description of the Project The amounts of industries that are rising in Abu Dhabi require several elements to be looked at to ensure they maximize their profits and improve the economy. Material handling at the industries is one of the essential factors the manufacturers should consider and take seriously for the success of their business. Material handling involves many items, and there should be a design system to serve the purpose of the different industries. Each organization has a different system that ensures the materials have a handling in the best possible way. The experts should analysis the system and decide the best kind of design that would be appropriate for each of the organizations (Asef-Vaziri and Laporte 5). The first step has a handling system project. It covers activities in the logistics department that include sequencing, velocity, routing and layout of the whole system. The completion of the analysis requires the organization to have an analysis of the material itself that is being handled. The analysis of the material that should have transportation include; its physical state, weight, size, height, width, length, condition, the risk of damage and the safety hazards that involve the material. The other factor is how to handle the material. The moving of the equipment from one area to another should adopt different methods depending on the type of good or material that is moved. There are several different ways of moving a material from and to its storage space. The different ways include hoisting, use of chain and belts, forklifts, trucks, ramps, and stents. The different ways are in use for the different material. Forklifts are commonly used to move boxes to various parts of the industries or to the waiting trucks that take the products to the clients (Chakravorty 96). Conveyors and belts are appropriate for moving small products before they have a package in one large box ready for transportation to the customers. The products should have great care when handling during the process, especially the products that break easily or the products that are flammable or a safety hazard (Ioannou 472). Containers from ships are off lifted into the trucks that take them to the warehouses through the cranes. The cranes are appropriate in handling the 20feet and 40feet containers that are too big to handle using a forklift. Experts suggest that a critical factor in the design process of the material handling system is the configuration and selection of the equipment used for material transport. The fact has a direct relation to what I am studying about material handling. The right kind of equipment will be very helpful and efficient during transport of the materials. The equipment selection should have its basis on preliminary conditions. For example, the factory floors utilization and its load capacity. The dimensions of the doors and corridors should have an examination before one decides to reserve a storage space for the equipment. Equipment that takes up large space should not be put in an enclosed area with narrow corridors to save the time that is in use in the movement. An appropriate ceiling height is one that is very high and can accommodate many materials. The right choice of location and equipment of work-in-process is necessary for optimizing a company’s manufacturing capacity. Experts suggest that a critical factor in putting stocks in the process is a balance between convenience and consolidation that creates efficiencies to the capital flows along the value chain (Machline 30). The layout is the placement of equipment and thus restricting movement of the materials from one place to another is an important part of material handling. There are analyzed in the relation to material handling and layout that suggests the order of which the materials are in storage can either save time or cause many delays if they are far from reach. The studies, however, do not put much attention to the layout when they are talking about material handling. The information and system technology that an organization decides to use constitutes a major factor in the efficiency of the whole material handling system. Most of the organizations in KIZAD have adapted to the latest technological advancement that ensures the materials have handled in the best way possible. There are software’s and computer applications that are majorly in use in the design and organization of an organization to material handling. The experts in the field support the studies done to the general principles and fundamentals of the information systems in use (Laudon and Laudon 12). For an organization to improve the performance in terms of distribution, both the human and the technological factor must be put into consideration. The internal customers’ suggestions regarding an organization must be brought into account for the company to have improved productivity. For example, a business in KIZAD that involves themselves in the manufacture of soap or natural juices, should take into consideration the response of the internal customer that buys the product direct from them. The company should allow the client to bring suggestions to the table regarding the best way to handle their materials for increased efficiency. The equipment that is put to use when handling the materials is also critical in such a way that it ensures the materials are in good condition throughout the freight process. Available data and information including figures and pictures A case study of a company like EMAL was put into consideration when collecting data in regards to material handling in KIZAD. EMAL, Emirates Aluminum, is the world largest single aluminum smelters in the world. The company began in 2009 and the demand for their product has been growing both locally and internationally over time. The owners of the built warehouse had to hand over some of their warehouses to EMAL, due to the mass production of their product. The first phase of building the plant was through in December 2010 and has a whole berth at the Khalifa Port dedicated to its works (Ali and Khan 60). Taking the birth makes it easier for the aluminum to be exported to other countries after the final product is finished. Warehouses, ancillary facilities and storage buildings are available in the plant. The warehouses are the state of the art type of warehouses built specifically for the purpose of aluminum storage. A dedicated port facility receives raw materials from the plant. Room and order of material handling are a big part of the whole process that ensures efficiency of the company. The materials that involve with EMAL are of sensitive manner and should be in warehouses specially designed for the project. There are fuel tanks allocated to help with the storage. Environmental policies are important when it comes to material handling in KIZAD. A person must attain an environmental permit that ensures safe disposal of waste materials that do not get to be stored. There was a collection of data on the activities that take place during material handling. The respondents include supervisors, warehouse operators, and forklift drivers. They handle handling of the materials, and it is easier to talk to them concerning the subject. There was an open-ended survey carried out at the sites where EMAL and other industries operate in KIZAD. The respondents that had an involvement in the act got questions about their responses concerning the dynamic changes in the way materials get handled in KIZAD. The data collection had an emphasis on the improvement and the problems that come from handling materials in a busy environment like KIZAD. The criteria used in the collection of data included the factors and sub-factors (Ali and Khan 64). The factors were from the direct respondents that include supervisors and the workers in the material handling department. The factors that affect the process include cost, safety in service, service reliability, and agility. Cost as a factor is the monetary value that is available for performing the activity and maintaining the operations. The process can be affected by electrical and mechanical shutdowns. Most of the industries visited, including EMAL were well organized in terms of costs, and there were funds allocated to the department by the various organizations. Safety factors in material handling were also put into consideration as it is the major factor concerning the human beings doing the job (Hassan 254). The safety rules and regulations are very clear when it comes to handling the equipment. The new ways and technology in the handling of the materials means that the workers have to train to ensure they follow the right procedures for their safety. The workers have insurance cover in case of any injuries resulting from handling the materials. The table shows the percentage of injuries and the amount of money they are claiming for the injuries in the majority of the industries in KIZAD. Nature of injury % MMH claims costs % MMH claims Strain 62.1 51.3 Rupture 7.2 0.4 Sprain 6.4 5.7 All other 5.1 4.8 Contusion 5.0 11.6 Fracture 3.6 1.8 Laceration 2.7 12.8 Hernia 1.7 1.0 Burn 1.0 2.4 Table 1: The nature of different injury categories with highest percentages of MMH claims costs. Performance improvements from the new technological methods were also measured using a different method. The scale that was in use is the following: 1=Much worse, 2=Worse, 3=Average, 4=Better, and 5=Much better. The employees at EMAL had the following question, and the answer to the question is in the table below. “How do you access the cost of mechanical downtime comparing the previous process to the present procedure in terms of material handling?” ATTRIBUTE Average S Sat.>=4 Sat.=3 Sat. Read More