Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Transfer (material handling)
Also known as: Transfer system, Workpiece transfer
German: Transfer
In manufacturing automation, transfer is the movement of workpieces or workpiece carriers between stations of a machine or production line, performed by transfer systems such as conveyors, pallet systems, rotary tables, walking beams or robots.
- Automation components
In one sentence
Transfer is the movement of workpieces or carriers between stations, using conveyors, pallet systems, rotary tables or robots.
Example
A pallet transfer system carries engine blocks through twelve machining stations and returns the empty pallets underneath.
How it applies
- Engineering: Transfer systems link stations and define the flow and the cycle of the line. Buffers between stations decouple them; tracking assigns production data to each workpiece carrier.
- Safety: Transfer movements create crushing and drawing-in points between carriers, conveyors and stations. Access for clearing jams must be covered by the risk assessment.
- Documentation: Describe how to clear jams safely, how workpiece tracking is restored after an intervention and what happens to parts in transfer after an emergency stop. Layout diagrams with station numbers help all readers.
Material transfer vs. data transfer
The word "transfer" is also used for data (file transfer, parameter transfer to a drive). In documentation, add the qualifier when both appear in the same context.