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New conveyor sorting systems can not only accommodate additional product lines or promote your current operations. Carefully planned conveyor system design can provide extensive auxiliary advantages, such as:
Improved transportation accuracy
Increased shipping frequency
Enhanced productivity
Reduced labor costs
Simplified facility processes
Reducing production costs, minimizing product damage, and reducing waste. A good conveyor system should not only meet existing goals but also adapt to future growth. Designing scalability from the project start ensures that adding features and components in the future will be easier and more cost-effective, preparing for continuous success.
Consider your conveyor sorting system's actual throughput requirements to create a technical solution that meets your needs. Decide on the most meaningful trade-offs for your facility. For example, faster throughput typically limits your design options while increasing costs.
You should consider throughput requirements per shift, per hour, and per day. You also need to consider how many hours per day and days per week to operate, as well as expected cycle times. Frequent stops and starts need to be considered in your conveyor system design, as they may require more powerful motors.
Design flexibility is essential. You need to be able to adapt conveyors to the entire production process with optimal efficiency. Flow and speed control are key elements of any good conveyor design.
Product specifications affect your conveyor system design in multiple ways. At minimum, you need to know the maximum, minimum, and average quantities of products to be handled. Other important considerations include:
Product dimensions
Product weight
Load distribution, packaging direction. You also need to consider product characteristics such as fragility and temperature sensitivity, as well as product shape. Products with hard, flat bottoms (like beer cases) have different conveying requirements than soft items (like soft bags).
Another factor in designing belt sorting systems is whether problematic items that increase project complexity exist, such as oversized or slow-moving products.
Plant layout directly affects conveyor design. You need an accurate, documented facility floor plan, such as:
Electrical panels
Racking space clearances
Equipment aisles
Walkways
Other layout limitations include logistics, such as where products enter the system and where they need to be transported. For example, conveyor sorting systems that go directly to truck trailers have different requirements than systems going to separate dock areas.
You also need to consider whether the conveyor operates indoors or outdoors. If the belt is outside, is the ground stable enough to support the structure?
Other factors include whether products need to be conveyed to different heights, and whether vertical conveyors work best. Your conveyor system design also needs to account for adequate drainage for leaking products and proper ventilation for products that emit smoke. Appropriate lighting is needed when manual operations are used.
The environment where conveyors operate is another consideration. Environmental factors such as temperature, dust, and humidity—what if the belt must move through multiple environments? For example, bakery conveyor sorting systems may need to transport products through ovens and freezers, among other complex conditions.
Assuming you need a new conveyor sorting system, whether you're expanding product lines or upgrading existing operations, automated conveyors and sorters will play an important role in your project's success.
