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Choosing the Right Conveyor
Maximizing the performance of your business requires a choosing a conveyor system that is the smartest option for your industry.
Whether investing a few hundred thousand dollars or millions, there are some things you want to know before starting down that path.
First of all, start with the end in mind. The initial phase involves data analysis of order profiles, volumes, volume fluctuations, product mix (in terms of handling attributes), and trending based on the historical data. An important step is to identify key growth factors and assumptions that impact how much volume the conveyor system is expected to handle.
Once you have a handle on how much volume the conveyor system is expected to handle, pay special attention to peak volume. The seasonal peak must be established, translated into weekly peaks, and, ultimately, the daily peak. This is determined by historical patterns and customer service level requirements. Finally, the peak demand and operational hours available generate the cartons per hour requirement.
The final step, which is a science unto itself, is translating the design requirements into cartons per minute through each process flow of the system. Visio schematic is an excellent tool creating representations of the cartons per minute. The cartons per minute are used to determine conveyor speeds and also dictate the appropriate type of sorter, wherever cartons need to be diverted to one of the multiple destinations.
