ASSESSMENT OF THE ROLE OF EFFICIENT MATERIALS HANDLING IN A MANUFACTURING FIRM

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 
Material handling is an important part of factory and industrial process. It covers the entire spectrum of function such as waste handling, assembly line management, storage and material transport. Material handling system includes several smaller components that work side by side, to make the every day business more efficient and cost effective. Material handling is a costly operation and therefore the methods and equipment employed should be efficient at all times. As in many other aspect of store keeping the approach depends on nature of the business concerned, the type of materials flocked and the size of the store house. Efficient materials handling is very important in the storehouse and also throughout the production process.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS 
The firms are fast springing up in a high rate in Nigerian and the difference in distance and location due to the vast nature of the country. The teething problem of material handling in Unilever Nigeria plc Aba is as follows:
1. Lack OF Finance: Handling of materials in any organization is very expensive in terms of material handling equipment, plant and labour. Therefore it was noticed that in the firm Unilever Nigeria plc Aba. That due to lack of finance the organization cannot handle their material efficiently.
2. Lack OF Material Handling Equipment: The size of wrong materials handling equipment which resulted to double handling of material is a problem in the company due to the lack of a material handling equipment.
3. Lack of Skill and Experience Operator: It was noticed in Unilever that the operators of the various materials handling equipment that are used in the firm are not well trained and they lack the required skill to operate the machines which result to high damage of materials handling equipment.
4. Poor Surface and Road Network: In the Unilever Company, the floor surface and the road network were not properly constructed thereby resulting to water logging in the whole area in the stockyard in the firm. On the other hand, the road network to the storehouse were not properly constructed which cause the double handling of materials from the storehouse to the production center.
5. Poor Maintenance Culture: There are a lot of machines and equipment breakdown in the firm due to the poor maintenance culture in the firm. This is cause by the lack of skill operators that can maintain the equipment and machines.