Conveyor Total Maintenance Strategies for Modern Manufacturing Environments

by Sheron Tymm I am a writer.

conveyor parts

While maintaining optimum conveyor operation and longevity starts with the right choice of manufacturer, it is equally a product of a total maintenance strategy. This approach ensures that the operational parameters ranging from the environment, (flow rate and load) to total system and conveyor parts monitoring and management.

Adhering to the manufacture’s recommendations for operational parameters (cleaning and lubrication) and recommended inspection intervals for all components are just a start. This is just one component of a total maintenance strategy that is built on predictive and preventive maintenance.

Maintenance strategies such as Preventive Maintenance (PM) and Predictive Maintenance (PdM) are about maintaining the conveyor as close as possible to a new condition that adheres to manufacturer specifications. PM and PdM is the crucial link to helping you meet that standard. Employing both maintenance strategies keeps your maintenance team out of a reactive mode with unscheduled downtimes for equipment failures or replacement of belt conveyor parts.

While you carry out PM when you shut down the conveyor, you will often carry out PdM while the conveyor is running. You must complete both of them on a regular schedule where you fulfill the PdM according to the run-time of the conveyor, while PM occurs on a predetermined interval irrespective of run time.

PdM often requires diagnostic testing and equipment, whereas PM depends on skilled maintenance personnel with the right tools and belt conveyor parts in reserve. Manufacturer recommendations and skilled maintenance personnel are the source of determining which conveyor parts are the most cost effective to keep in stock, but the ongoing PM and PdM will provide even more granular accuracy and ongoing insights on this matter. The many factors affecting conveyor and conveyor component life cycle include:

· Initial conveyor installation

· Complexity, design, and materials that make up the conveyor system

· Manufacturing environment air quality

· The duty-cycle of the conveyor

· Ambient temperature and humidity conditions

The ideal conveyor manufacturer will go to great lengths to work with each manufacturer and its operational and manufacturing management to design a conveyor system customized to the expected parameters and environment. This ensures that the initial installation includes accurate inspection and calibration of all conveyor components.

The installation process and the ongoing PdM schedule provide vital clues to what to expect over time, along with the environmental assessment that can also reveal things that will affect conveyor operation. PdM processes like vibration analysis can reveal root causes that when corrected can preempt potential failure of conveyor parts and throughput slowdowns.

You will build your preventive maintenance strategy around the standard life expectancy of various conveyor parts such as belts, bearings and gear motors. Drive train inspections and analysis for component wear and oil analysis can inform lubrication schedules, so it’s important to have the right belt conveyor parts on hand based on their potential for failure. Many manufactures choose plastic modular conveyor designs to make it simpler to replace and even change their conveyor system.

The success of a total maintenance strategy will depend on the people that implement it and adhere to it, so skilled maintenance personnel are vital whether they are on staff or part of a contracted team. Many conveyor companies and integrators can provide these services at a fee, and many can also offer training. The right conveyor manufacturer will be a lifelong partner to each manufacturer by helping them make the right conveyor choices based on their specific needs from design to maintenance and upgrades.