Design improvements and the better use of data are helping conveyors become more advanced.

“The landscape of conveyor design is witnessing a surge of novel innovations, with a plethora of advancements emerging in areas such as robotics and the integration of electrical components with pneumatics, showcasing remarkable capabilities,” said John Diver, engineer, Eaglestone Equipment. “Concurrently, belting companies are introducing a spectrum of new belt types and materials, contributing to the dynamic evolution of conveyor technology.”

Some advances are reducing extensive maintenance, said Frank Achterberg, president, CBF Bakery Systems.

“We believe the integration of data analytics and real-time monitoring exemplifies a significant stride toward predictive maintenance, minimizing downtime and optimizing overall efficiency,” he said. 

Dan Regan, president, Custom Cut Metals, said he’s seeing more versatility in bakery equipment these days.

“I think they’re starting to run smaller batches of products, and therefore in any 24-hour period, they might only need to use that line for four hours for this product, six hours for the next product, so their lines are becoming more versatile to be able to run more things,” he said. “But then they also may need to run different conveyors that are able to do that as well.”

This article is an excerpt from the April 2024 issue of Baking & Snack. To read the entire feature on Conveyors, click here.