University of Twente Student Theses
The redesign of manual container moving equipment
Winter, T.H. de (2024) The redesign of manual container moving equipment.
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| Full Text Status: | Access to this publication is restricted |
| Embargo date: | 4 November 2025 |
| Abstract: | This project describes the redesign of the DHI wheel for Universal Storage Containers (USC). USC manufactures unique storage containers called “the Z-box”. The Z-box is unique due to the fact that it can be preassembled as a flat package making the containers very efficient for transport. The company not only sells the storage containers, entire storage parks are sold to customers. This includes transport, building the containers and placing them in the correct position all over Europe. Recently, a company called DHI storage introduced USC to a new product. This product is capable of attaching to and mechanically lifting storage containers when four instances are used. After the containers are lifted using the jacking mechanism, the boxes can be pushed around with some effort. The wheels are interesting for USC as they are very small and could, to some extent, replace the forklift currently used in the assembly process. However, the DHI wheel had two main issues. As they are designed for American containers, they did not fit the Z-box. Additionally, the wheels only attached to the short sides of a container making accurate positioning impossible. This project therefore aimed to redesign the product. However, the goal was not to only resolve the two aforementioned flaws, it was to design a solution maximizing the efficiency while balancing this with the production costs. To achieve this goal a lot of additional information was required. To start with, all the involved components were analysed on dimensions, structure and functions. This included, the Z-box, the DHI wheel and general forklifts. Additionally, the assembly process was completely mapped focussed on the steps, time and equipment used. After gaining an understanding of environment, the research aimed to define “efficiency”. To achieve this the DHI was tested and the required pushing forces were calculated. Additionally, 22 existing container parks were analysed. In this analysis the aspects looked at were length, width, area and the amount of containers. From this analysis the difference in time of the forklift and the DHI wheel was determined. Additionally, common occurring container configurations were determined. Then the forklift and DHI wheel were again compared on how each would place the container configurations. Finally, a specific situation was chosen where the space to manoeuvre the Z-box was very limited. By comparing the DHI wheel and the forklift the important requirements for accurate placement were determined. From each piece of research requirements were concluded. These requirements were divided among six determined important criteria. These six criteria included general performance, positioning, production, speed, transport and safety. To ideate on these criteria they were first separated into two categories. Mandatory criteria included general performance and safety. And optional criteria which included the other four. After ideating on both categories concepts directions were generated by combining ideas of the mandatory aspects with as many as possible optional aspects. Three concepts were created, one focussed on positioning the Z-boxes, one focussed on the production aspect and one focussed on the speed of the solution. The second concept was chosen after MCDA was performed with weighting factors derived from three parties within USC and myself. This concept was further developed based on structural safety and extra components were researched. The final design evaluated on both the six criteria and all the requirements. The final design passed most requirements except positioning, where some extra space is required. The amount of steps during operation was reduced from 14 to 10. In conclusions the redesign of the DHI wheel maximizing efficiency while managing the costs is achieved by implementing only small changes. By solving the main issues of the DHI wheels the production process is altered only slightly resulting in the most efficiency per production cost. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | ET: Engineering Technology |
| Programme: | Industrial Design BSc (56955) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/104521 |
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