{"id":1173,"date":"2010-12-17T09:07:22","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T15:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cisco-eagle.com\/blog\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2024-07-10T08:39:50","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T13:39:50","slug":"5-ways-to-avoid-costly-conveyor-breakdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cisco-eagle.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/17\/5-ways-to-avoid-costly-conveyor-breakdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Avoid Costly Conveyor Breakdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\":Power<\/p>\n

Conveyors<\/a> are exceptional in their productivity enhancement for manufacturing and distribution operations, but they need attention – and not just from your maintenance group. Everyone involved with them should be aware of the safety and performance issues involved. Here are five practices for happy conveying…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"ConveyorInspect the conveyor often <\/strong><\/h3>\n

In manufacturing, conveyor is often an afterthought to production machinery, but this mindset can sabotage the entire operation as production equipment is left idle when it\u2019s done. Even if a manual materials movement process is possible, it\u2019s typically slow, error-prone, and cumbersome.<\/p>\n

In distribution centers, conveyor tends to get more attention from maintenance staffs, but often that attention is focused at the end-of-line areas where it\u2019s interfacing with packing stations<\/a> or palletizers<\/a>.\u00a0 In both cases, inspect the conveyor at regular intervals.<\/p>\n

Pay particular attention to those hard-to-reach areas, where people are more likely to ignore or skip maintenance<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These can disproportionately produce expensive and time-consuming repairs. \u00a0Conveyor manuals will almost always provide the recommended inspection intervals. Inspections also help your workers understand conveyors better, and also familiarize them with its potential safety issues. Inspections are a win-win.<\/p>\n

Keep a maintenance log<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No, really. Understanding what has been done \u2013 and when \u2013 is a key to conveyor performance. Again, conveyors are as important as production machinery. It\u2019s just that they are sometimes treated as an \u201caccessory\u201d and don\u2019t get the focus. This is a particularly good practice in multi-shift operations.<\/p>\n

Do the recommended preventative maintenance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Your conveyor manuals (and probably, your conveyor provider) will tell you what is needed and when. Make it happen. Or, schedule an independent maintenance group<\/a> to come do it. You can use and abuse conveyor for long periods of times and it will run. But will it run when you need it most, during your rush times? Maintaining it means that it will be rolling at critical times.<\/p>\n