By Katrina C. Arabe
Choosing the best conveyor system for your application and making sure it delivers can get tricky. Here's how to select a system and maximize its uptime and flexibility.
Conveyors provide the solution to the most basic material handling concern: transporting products from point A to point B in the warehouse or distribution center. Maximizing the efficiency of these systems can get complicated, however, as the list of considerations can be daunting. Several questions have to be answered: what type of conveyor is the best fit for your application and once you have decided on a basic type, what other factors should be part of your final selection process?
Furthermore, once you have purchased the conveyor—how do you make sure it will run as designed?
The following will guide you through the process of conveyor selection and operation:
The first step is to determine what basic type of conveyor will deliver the best balance of throughput, return on investment and handling ease to your operation. Your selection process should start with a look at five of the most common conveyors: skatewheel, belt, sliding bed, live roller and accumulation. Each has its own distinct advantages and is particularly suited for certain applications.
The selection process does not end once you've chosen the type of conveyor that fits your application. Other factors should influence your final decision. For example, the type of controls must still be determined, with two common choices being programmable logic controllers and PC-based controls. In addition, the conveyor's noise level and energy consumption should affect your decision. Many companies have already invested in conveyors with high precision bearings that more than fulfill OSHA requirements for noise.
Although this option may increase the cost by 5%, it decreases worker fatigue. Energy efficient motors can also be a wise investment, given the instability of energy prices.
Another important option is modularity. Will your operation benefit more from a heavy-duty fixed conveyor system or a more recent alternative—the modular system? While fixed conveyor systems are reliable, they lack the flexibility of modular units. This shortcoming has become a more serious concern as many processes today call for frequent reconfiguration—sometimes even annual readjustments.
Modular systems directly address this requirement. They consist of self-contained modules—each section with its own power, drives and controls—which can be positioned to adapt to production flow needs. They are so versatile they can be set up around obstacles, move parts underwater and maintain production flow from fixed metal systems. Re-routing and relocation are a snap. Thus, if your application requires frequent changes in production runs, modularity should be one of the top selection criteria.
Once you have purchased and installed a new conveyor system, the next step is testing the machine. Most end users are in such an urgency to get beneficial use that formal testing is set aside. This is a big mistake because adjustments are often necessary to ensure optimal performance.
Testing is a four-step process that begins with a visual inspection. By looking over the entire system, all safety concerns can be checked off—such as the presence of machine guards, the accessibility of pull stops and the visibility of safety stickers.
Second, the examiners should run the conveyor and place a few items on it from the various in-feed points to make sure there are no glaring flaws in the system's basic function. Third, the system should be fully loaded to evaluate its performance at peak. In some parts, the conveyor should even be overloaded to examine how it handles high throughput. The final step is an evaluation of the system controls. Testers should push different buttons to simulate possible operator errors such as pressing two buttons at once or pushing the wrong button and then pushing the right one to correct the mistake.
Through evaluation, the system's short-term and long-term operation can be ensured. Testing the system's fitness today will spare you from future headaches. This evaluation process, preceded by a careful conveyor selection process, will allow your application to maximize the benefits provided by conveyor systems