(Courtesy: Bill Haslam at flickr.com)
When you imagine a factory, one of the most common images that come to mind is a conveyor belt.
Conveyor belts, ball transfer tables, and other conveyance devices have been a part of industrial manufacturing since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century. And they have been burned into the public consciousness in popular media, such as when Lucy and Ethel try to keep up with production at the chocolate factory by stuffing candy into her mouth on “I Love Lucy”.
But laughs aside, conveyance devices are critical to most factory, warehouse, and dock operations for a very simple reason: They make it easier to move boxes, products, and other objects from one place to another.
Manual vs Automated Conveyors
Requiring workers to lift heavy loads from one place to another just isn’t good business. Not only is it inefficient, but it can lead to workplace injuries, increased employee turnover, and a lot of bad feelings towards management.
Commercial conveyors, on the other hand, are typically inexpensive, highly efficient, and can boost productivity and profits by double digits practically overnight in many cases.
Common Conveyor Types
Conveyors are a common site at airports, in scrap yards, and in many factories. But there are nearly as many types of conveyors as there are uses for them.
Chain belt conveyors are designed to carry a high volume of objects very quickly. Also known as chain edge conveyors, they are typically found on work floors and are used to transport waste materials out of the way. Examples include sorting feed lines, mixed lines, and feed side ejector balers.
Steel belt conveyors can carry very heavy weights, up to 20 to 50 tons, every hour. They come in two main types: Piano hinge and steel apron conveyors. They are found mostly in compactors, heavy-duty waste lines, and heavy industrial 2 RAM scrap balers.
Slider bed conveyors are used for operations that don’t need the speed of a chain belt nor the capacity of a steel belt conveyor. Slider bed conveyors generally can carry from 1 to 15 tons per hour and often have variable speeds.
Of course, there are many systems that use a combination of two or more different types of conveyors. Known as MRF sorting lines, these conveyor systems more different weight items at different speeds during separate stages of the industrial process.
Benefits of Conveyors
In addition to saving labor, reducing injuries, and making workplaces more productive, conveyors also can speed up processes, move materials up and down inclines quickly and safely, and automate operations to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.