Conveyor belts are an essential part of any business. They help to carry goods from one area to another. These belts are often used in large warehouses and factory environments. One of the main reasons conveyor belts need cleaning is that they transport products on them regularly. Products such as sand and coal will get caught up in the belt, and this can cause damage to it over time if not removed. This is where it becomes necessary to have your conveyor belt cleaned regularly to continue to function correctly.
In most industries, safety is a primary concern. In the bulk material handling industry, it’s essential. Broken conveyors can cause serious accidents and injuries that result in costly litigation for your company. Here are just a few ways broken conveyors can put your business at risk:
Worker Injury.
Broken conveyors can result in serious injury to people standing nearby. A worker could slip and fall or be struck by the moving parts of a broken conveyor. It only takes a piece of moving equipment to cause serious injury to a worker on the floor below.
Many accidents occur when parts become loose during operation or while they are being serviced. When you see a piece of equipment that is moving slower than usual, stop using it immediately and report it to your supervisor or maintenance team. Never attempt to repair it yourself, and never climb onto equipment to try to fix it—it’s not worth risking your safety for!
The best way to prevent these accidents is to provide your employees with proper training to respond to equipment failure. It would be best if you also had an emergency preparedness plan in place, so everyone knows what to do in case of a problem with a piece of equipment. This includes how to shut down the equipment safely and how to get people out of harm’s way until you can repair or replace it. Ensure to address any conveyor problems right away and If you’re looking online for replacement conveyor belts fluentconveyors.com is your best option.
Property Damage.
Even if an accident doesn’t involve personal injury, it could still damage property. A broken conveyor could easily kick up debris that damages machinery or other property located on the line. If that debris strikes another worker, there could be severe personal injury as well as property damage.
The simplest way to keep your conveyors from breaking is to maintain them properly. The best preventative maintenance is routine inspections for damage or signs of wear and tear. If you find a problem, get it fixed right away. If a minor problem isn’t addressed quickly, it could become a major problem.
Worker Productivity.
Even if no one is injured or suffers property damage, a broken conveyor can make it difficult for workers to move materials efficiently. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you factor in the time wasted waiting for a repair crew to fix the problem, it becomes clear how much money your business can lose if you don’t address this issue promptly.
Production Delays.
The production process becomes slow when a conveyor belt breaks down. The products that were being conveyed then have to wait in line until the conveyor belt is fixed or replaced. This can cause huge losses of time and money for your company. If the line has been stopped, it will also lead to complete chaos.
With an equipment-related downtime, you could end up losing a large chunk of time that could have been used for completing orders or producing items for new orders. The loss of revenue caused by a broken conveyor system can be pretty significant, so it’s essential to keep them running smoothly at all times.
Costs Of Maintenance.
A broken conveyor has to face repair or replacement, which costs a lot of money. Even if you have a budget for maintaining your conveyors, it will still be difficult for you to maintain all of them at once. If a particular conveyor stops working, then there is no option left other than replacing it with a new one, which costs money for sure.
Top 3 Reasons For A Conveyor Malfunction.
- Improperly Adjusted Conveyor
A conveyor is an intricate system. Many variables come into play when designing and building a line that requires conveyors, including the conveyor speed, spacing of the lines, the direction of product travel and switching points, type of material being handled, and so on. All these variables must be considered when constructing a conveyor line to ensure efficiency while using the smallest amount of energy possible. For example, if you run two separate lines side-by-side at the same speed with only inches between them, they will both need twice the horsepower to operate as they would if they were spaced evenly apart. In addition to horsepower requirements being cut in half, you’ll save on belt maintenance and life because there will be half as many belts in service.
- Stuck or Broken Conveyor Components
When conveyors are not working as they should, they can affect other machines or components. Conveyors lift and transport objects from one place to another. They may be found in a manufacturing plant, warehouse, or retail store, according to American Machinist and Automated Manufacturing Association (ASME). Most conveyors are made up of many smaller parts that work together to accomplish a specific task. When these parts break down, the entire conveyor will not run at an acceptable speed or stop altogether. This will cause other components in the process to break down as well because they are dependent on the conveyors. For example, if an assembly line is dependent on a conveyor belt to move parts from one station to another, then conveyor breakdown will affect the entire operation. The same goes with warehouses, where items are moved from one area to another after picking up a rack. If the conveyor breaks down, all other processes in that area will also break down.
- Poor Maintenance of Conveyor System
Poor maintenance of conveyor belts is one of the top reasons for conveyor system breakdown. It is imperative that conveyor systems are well maintained to ensure no debris or foreign objects on the belt and that there are no cracks or damages to the belts. Conveyors play a vital role in warehouses, factories, and other facilities where equipment, goods, or materials are moved from one place to another.
Conveyors are vital because they reduce labor costs and increase efficiency. Most of the time, conveyors have moving parts such as gears, pulleys, rollers, and belts. When these parts break down due to poor maintenance, it causes a serious loss of production time and money.
Takeaway.
In the end, conveyors play a vital role in the smooth running of any business. That’s why it is so important to keep them well maintained and running at total capacity. Is there any aspect of your business supply chain where you could benefit from more exact guidelines? If so, then this should be the first step in developing your industry best practices. In the meantime, conduct an audit of your conveyors, make sure they are in top shape before they break down, and bring your business to a screeching halt.
