Conveyor Health – The Care and Maintenance of Your Conveyor ...

We see it all around us. In nature organisms begin to breakdown as they age. The human body is no exception – our organs and systems are negatively impacted by the passage of time. Even facing that harsh reality, we humans continually strive to improve the care and maintenance of our bodies. Some of us are motivated to do it for strictly outside appearances, while others are on a quest to improve their overall health and longevity. Whatever the motivation, the concept at the centre remains the same.

Preventive measures to preserve health are aimed at trying to maximize our assets for the long term. Like the human body, conveyors are complex systems that are subject to both harms that originate outside the system, as well as internal failings. And like the human body, conveyor systems must be well cared for and maintained if we expect them to continue to operate well for a long period of time. By understanding the steps needed to maintain your conveyor along with some basic knowledge of the most common problems associated with conveyor systems, we can then recognize and correct many of our conveyor production problems.

As we decide how to implement a proper conveyor maintenance system there are certain considerations we should take into account. We should always be conducting frequent inspections. Experts, mechanics and regulatory bodies should constantly be checking the conveyor products to ensure they are up to standards and functioning properly. Proactive sustainability is a key in the conveyor industry.

The monetary cost of downtime can be incredible, and so another main point in a successful conveyor operation centers on having both a back up plan and back up parts. Should your conveyor, or a part of your system go down you have to be ready to either fix the problem quickly or implement a work-around contingency until the problem can be resolved.

Last we can vastly improve our conveyor efficiency by having the right personnel and training procedures. Having a strong team of savvy and capable minds combined with a properly educated workforce will allow for the proper care and overseeing that these complex conveyor environments need. If we have the right conveyor type, design and maintenance team correcting and handling some of the more standard conveyor problems should be relatively easy.

Despite there being a wide range of conveyor types, specialty customizations and a vast amount of uses across organizational departments, some of the same issues routinely pop up. Lack of lubrication or fluids is one universal problem most conveyor operators face. Machines need oils and greases to run properly and as much stress as there is put on conveyors this is especially the case in this industry.

Contamination is another issue that needs to be confronted by almost every conveyor connoisseur. Not only, more often then not, are we battling all types of dust and grime in factory conveyor settings, but the units are also repetitively bombarded with products, moistures and temperature changes. A good cleaning can go a long way with prevention of future problems.

Lastly we should always be monitoring the tracking and timing of our conveyor components and movements. If certain parts become off-schedule or off-track it can cause serious delays and interruptions to the normal cycles and functions. Regardless of how we go about fixing and accounting for the conveyor concerns we will face, we must always be doing everything in our power to assure we are doing the best job we possibly can.

Although it can be seen as a daunting task, conveyor maintenance, when taken seriously, can result in significant rewards and benefits for a company. But, if we clearly identify the issues we need to concentrate on in our conveyor plan, it will go a good way toward the goal of keeping our conveyors working effectively. Both in life and on the conveyor floor the challenge of good health can be a goal that only the greatest attention to detail can help us maintain. Conveyors, these expensive and sensitive work horses of industry will only be sustained in a durable manner in proportion to our ability to give them proper care and maintenance.

Visit Wilkie Brothers Coveyors for more information on conveyors or to order Midwest Chain, Daifuku Pusher Dogs or any other related replacement parts.