Conveyor systems are essentially mechanical handling equipment designed to move things around. They are typically found at wrecking yards, airports and similar environments. They come useful when items have to be moved and fed from one area to another, making the process more efficient and convenient.
Industrial conveyors are more or less the same, except they are intended for more massive workloads, unpredictable weather conditions and unusual movements. If not for conveyors, manual feeding of items would be necessary, increasing labor costs and creating new human resources challenges.
It is a fact that human labor is less efficient and more expensive in the long term. These issues cease to exist with the use of commercial conveyors, which have become a necessity in a wide range of industries, such as transportation, food manufacturing, and more.
Types of Conveyors
Depending on the industry they are made for and the work they need to do, conveyors can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the common types are chain belt, steel belt, slider bed and MRF sorting lines, each one having its own specific purpose and capacity.
We have said that conveyors are a great option to manual labor, but besides that, there are other advantages as described below:
* Conveyors are made with inclination so that materials of any size can be moved from one elevation to another, thereby saving time.
* Conveyors do not have human limitations, hence they can keep loading and unloading items incessantly over long stretches of time.
* In large factories, items may have to be transported across different floors or levels in a building. Conveyors can be custom-made for this purpose with generally no restrictions in height.
* Conveyors with automated inclined belts can unload materials automatically without human assistance. Again, this saves time that would otherwise be spent monitoring the unloads.
* Conveyors allow users to control the speed of moving items. This reduces the possibility of materials getting damaged because of problems with handling.
* Conveyors are able to move in multiple directions, which means items can be brought across opposite sides of a manufacturing unit.
Industries that Rely on Conveyors
A lot of industries depend considerably on conveyors, including bottling, recycling, and a lot more. In fact, any industry whose processes require movement of items repetitively can benefit from this equipment.
The main advantage of conveyor systems is the automation of several human tasks needed in the manufacture and transportation of materials, such as loading and unloading, feeding, and the like. If any of these tasks form part of your company’s processes, you should consider investing in conveyors. With their combined savings of cost, time and labor, it will be easy to observe a positive difference in your results.