CONVEYORS
materialhandlingupdate
How to keep your
conveyors up to speed
Anything from age to “carton dust” can cause conveyor
performance to decline. We asked some experts for tips
on keeping the equipment running at top efficiency.
IT CAN HAPPEN ALMOST IMPERCEPTIBLY. THROUGHput slows or jams become more frequent, but the change
happens so gradually that managers may find themselves
scratching their heads over why order fill rates have fallen.
Or it can happen suddenly. A part fails and whole sections
of the conveyor system come to a halt, leaving workers idle,
maintenance personnel scrambling, and costs escalating.
Although today’s conveyor systems are engineered for
reliability with uptime rates that flirt with 100 percent,
things still can and do go wrong in day-to-day operations.
So it behooves managers to keep tabs on conveyor performance. While this might entail some costs, it’s money
well spent if it prevents a catastrophic shutdown. And this
is particularly worth keeping in mind heading into peak
shipping season, when managers could be tempted to keep
systems running at full speed and ignore warning signs.
We asked several experts in the industry for some tips on
preventing problems and keeping conveyors running as efficiently and productively as possible. Here’s what they told us:
▪ Invest in training. Mechanical failures aren’t always to
blame for conveyor jams and breakdowns. Often, these
problems are caused by operators and maintenance personnel who haven’t been fully trained in how systems operate,
says Diane Blair, director of field operations for
Intelligrated. She says taking the time to educate workers on
the dos and don’ts of conveyor operation can go a long way
toward preventing problems. “Trained operators will see
stuff that can cause stress on a system,” she says. “Investing
in training is well worth the effort and time.”
▪ Don’t skimp on maintenance. It can be tempting to let
maintenance slide, particularly during peak periods when
pressure is greatest to get product out the door. But that
could be a serious mistake, warns Boyce Bonham, director
of integrator services for Hytrol. He says that skipping routine servicing can cause efficiency and productivity to deteriorate over time.
With today’s sophisticated conveyor systems, even the
smallest problems, left unattended, can cascade into big
issues, Bonham adds. He cites the example of a photo sensor that’s not working properly. “Resolving the problem
could be as simple as adjusting or replacing the sensor, or
just cleaning a reflector,” he says. But if left unaddressed, it
could cause cartons to be routed incorrectly or trigger frequent carton jams. Jams can then lead to other more serious conditions, like product or conveyor damage.
Blair too stresses the importance of having the equipment checked out on a regular basis. “The biggest thing you
can do to ensure you are running efficiently and running all
the time is to allow your maintenance team to have access
to the equipment,” she says.
