---
title: "Material handling system and its usefulness"
subject: "Construction Management"
chapter: 6
key: "semester_8/construction_management:material-handling-system"
source: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/construction_management/material-handling-system
site: BCT Engineering
---

# Material handling system and its usefulness

Construction Management · Chapter 6: Construction Process

- Asked in: 2074 Bhadra, 4 marks; 2073 Bhadra, 4 marks; 2072 Asoj; 2065 Baisakh (old course) (asked 4 times)
- Video: [Principles of Material Handling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkSEDFYKY2c) — Lets Understand Business
- Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) on 2026-10-14
- Page: https://www.bctengineer.com/q/semester_8/construction_management/material-handling-system
- Whole chapter: https://www.bctengineer.com/md/semester_8/construction_management/chapter-6

## Question

What is a material handling system and why is it useful in construction work?

## Short answer

A material handling system is the planned set of methods, equipment, and labour to move, store, protect, and control materials from delivery to point of use. It saves cost and time, reduces wastage and damage, improves safety and productivity, and enables better site use and quality control.

## Answer

A **material handling system** is the planned set of methods, equipment and labour used to move, store, protect and control construction materials from the point of delivery to the point of use on site, with minimum cost, delay, damage and wastage.

Typical elements: manual carrying, wheelbarrows and trolleys, forklifts, cranes and hoists, tower cranes, conveyors, concrete pumps and transit mixers, chutes, and storage yards or stores.

#### Usefulness in construction
- **Saves cost:** moving materials takes a large share of site labour time and cost; a good system reduces labour and double handling.
- **Saves time:** materials reach the work front when needed, so activities are not delayed and the schedule is kept.
- **Reduces wastage and damage:** bricks, cement, glass, tiles and steel are less often broken, spoiled or lost.
- **Improves safety:** less manual lifting reduces back injuries and accidents.
- **Better productivity:** workers and equipment spend more time on productive work than on searching for or carrying materials.
- **Better site use:** controlled stacking and short haul routes keep the site tidy and access roads free.
- **Better quality:** materials stored and moved correctly (cement off the floor, aggregates kept separate) keep their quality.
- **Easier control:** with fixed routes and stores, quantities received and issued are easy to record.

Example: a tower crane lifting rebar bundles and concrete buckets to the upper floors of a multistorey building saves many labour-hours compared with carrying them by hand up the staircase.

## Check yourself

The answer's key points as multiple-choice questions, with the correct option and why.

1. A material handling system is:
   A. Only a crane
   B. Only storing cement
   C. Only purchasing
   D. Planned methods and equipment to move, store, protect and control materials with minimum cost, delay, damage
   Answer: D. From delivery to point of use. (Key point: Definition)

2. Why does it save cost?
   A. Handling is a big share of item cost; good system cuts labour and double handling
   B. It removes need for materials
   C. It raises wastage
   D. It increases manual lifting
   Answer: A. 30-50% of cost of many items. (Key point: Cost)

3. Safety benefit:
   A. More manual carrying
   B. Less manual lifting, fewer back injuries
   C. No benefit
   D. More stacking
   Answer: B. Also fewer accidents. (Key point: Safety)

4. Quality benefit:
   A. Cement on wet floor
   B. Mixed aggregates
   C. Materials stored and moved correctly keep quality, e.g. cement off the floor
   D. No benefit
   Answer: C. Also easy record control. (Key point: Quality)

## Related in Construction Management

- [Material handling and factors to consider](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Amaterial-handling-factors) — Construction Management, chapter 6
- [Material classification, EOQ, GiT and re-order level](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aclassification-eoq-gitt-2079) — Construction Management, chapter 3
- [Material productivity control](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Amaterial-productivity-control) — Construction Management, chapter 7, asked 5×
- [Material provisioning (procurement) process](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Amaterial-provisioning-process) — Construction Management, chapter 3, asked 4×
- [ABC classification and material management](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Aabc-importance-material-mgmt) — Construction Management, chapter 3, asked 2×
- [Material wastage standard and value engineering](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fconstruction_management%3Awastage-standard-ve) — Construction Management, chapter 3

## Related in other subjects

- [Material handling objectives and principles](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_6%2Findustrial_engineering_and_management%3Amaterial-handling-principles-and-equipment) — Industrial Engineering and Management, chapter 2
- [Queuing system usefulness and types](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_8%2Fsimulation_and_modeling%3Aqueuing-types-usefulness) — Simulation and Modeling, chapter 4
- [File system handling of kernel](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_6%2Fembedded_system%3Akernel-file-system-handling) — Embedded System, chapter 6
- [Define reserve and estimate construction material](https://www.bctengineer.com/question.md?key=semester_4%2Fengineering_geology_ii%3Adefine-reserve-estimation) — Engineering Geology II, chapter 7, asked 10×