Processing Q&A: Talking conveyors with Bosch Rexroth experts

Amidst constant advancements in assembly solutions, conveyors remain a trusted and established solution that are empowering OEMs to deliver on throughput goals and adapt to meet shifting consumer needs. Their applications remain extensive and operators that can recognize their value and maximize their implementation are positioned to respond effectively to current and future needs. Bosch Rexroth’s Krupa Ravichandraan and Dan Barrera explore the diverse use cases of these workhouses of factory automation and explain how they will continue to play a role in the Factory of the Future.

What are the typical uses of conveyors in process application industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical?

KR: Conveyors are typically used to transport products between processes and, depending on the machine design, sometimes through the process. 

DB: Conveyors facilitate the efficient and safe transfer of products through various stages on a production or process line. Some of their typical uses are:

1. Conveyors transport bulk of raw and/or packed materials to different processing areas.
2. They move products through various processing stages such as washing, cutting, cooking, cooling, mixing, granulation, drying, coating, etc.
3. Conveyors are used to transport products to packaging machines, ensuring a continuous flow of items for wrapping, boxing, bottling, and filling.
4. Products are conveyed through inspection stations where they are checked for quality and consistency.
5. Conveyors help in sorting products based on size, weight, or type and distribute them to different packaging lines or storage areas.

Does a particular customer in those fields come to mind where an upgrade/implementation of conveyors made a significant difference in throughput or overall efficiency?

KR: Yes, there is one customer in particular who built a line using our conveyors and we were able to save them floor space as well as reduce the energy consumption due to the long runs possible with our conveyors and the use of high efficiency gear motors.

How have you seen conveyors evolve/expand in their application in those fields?

KR: The conveyors themselves haven’t changed much. Of course, there are incremental improvements and innovations over the years, but overall, they haven’t changed much. The biggest evolution I’ve seen is the implementation of add-on accessories and supplementary devices, particularly those in vision and sensing, to obtain a more real-time view of the manufacturing process and status of production.

DB: Absolutely, conveyors have evolved and expanded their applications in those fields. This expansion comes from new technology in the market which drives efficiency and flexibility in the manufacturing shop floor. For example:

1. Improved hygienic designs for easier to clean conveyor to prevent contamination.
2. Integration of controls and additional sensors for IOT functions: data gathering, real-time monitoring, conditioning monitoring, predictive maintenance, etc.
3. Modular conveyor designs to add further flexibility in the manufacturing shopfloor.
4. Integration of energy efficient motors and drives to reduce power consumption.

What are the benefits to utilizing traditional conveyors?

KR: The main benefits as I see them are:

Familiarity — technology that you already know and are familiar with its capabilities, limits, use of application, maintenance requirements, etc. Traditional conveyors are relatively simple in nature and therefore are simpler to build, operate and maintain

Ability to “upgrade” with add-ons — many conveyors today are designed with add-ons in mind by way of offering optional accessories from the manufacturer, compatibility with other complimentary product lines they may offer or with special pieces/kits to allow attachment of third-party items. The best have these features built-in to the design rather than requiring a specially designed piece/part that allows a third-party item to be added.

Cost — Traditional conveyors typically have lower cost entry points due to their simpler (by comparison) design and decades of research and development and real-life experiences to drive efficiencies at every turn, whether it is selection of materials, manufacturing processes, conveyor design, method of assembly, ease of maintenance or another aspect not immediately considered here.

DB: They are:

1. Cost effective.
2. Easy to maintain.
3. Easy to integrate.
4. Easy to use.
5. They can handle a wide variety of material handling applications because the can be easily adapted to different production lines.
6. Energy efficient.

What are the benefits to utilizing high-speed smart conveyance?

DB: High speed conveyance adds several befits over traditional conveyance. Their main advantage is around production throughput. Here are some examples:

1. They offer higher production throughputs due to their higher speeds and optimize material flow.
2. They provide higher throughput than traditional conveyance while reducing the footprint in the manufacturing shopfloor.
3. Higher precision and accuracy.
4. They offer advance automated safety features that minimizes the risk for worker injuries.
5. Since high-speed conveyors are integrated with motion controllers, they can gather data that can be used to make real-time decisions around product flow and for predictive maintenance purposes. Additionally, these conveyors offer full transparency in product tracking and traceability.

• For assembly process, high-speed conveyor helps to simplify the complexity around the process station since you can have individual motion profiles for each pallet or mover. For example, in a dispensing station, we can program the pallets to move back and forth while dispensing material. This results in a simpler motion for the dispensing station (less complexity) and it does not affect the product flow in the rest of the track since the pallets or mover are programmed individually.

What role do conveyors play in communicating with control software and what sort of data points are typically monitored for maintenance purposes?

KR: Traditional conveyors are the skeleton of the system, often providing a mounting point that these controls packages mount to (as well as the actual movement of the product from A to B). They offer a way for these pieces of equipment to monitor or interact with the product, whether it’s via vision, parts presence sensing, RFID reading/writing, merging/diverting of products or a combination of these.

DB: Conveyors play a fundamental role in manufacturing by integrating with controls to enhance operational efficiency, safety and maintenance.

These are some of the typical data points that we can capture from conveyors:

• Operation parameter: run time, cycle count, speed and load.
• Motor and drive data: Temperature, vibration and current.
• Belt or chain data: Tension and wear, alignment and belt or chain tracking.
• Shop-floor conditions: Temperature and humidity.

There’s a general shift away from pneumatic/hydraulic solutions to electromechanical in some smaller manufacturing processes. How does this affect conveyor applications?

KR: Traditionally, many of the traffic control devices found on conveyors were, and still are, pneumatically actuated. However, there is a growing trend to move away from pneumatics/hydraulics and towards more energy efficient solutions using electromechanical devices instead wherever possible.

In general, these solutions cost more upfront, but save money on the back end with their energy efficiency. They do not require the installation of pneumatic/hydraulic lines, no additional pumps or compressors are needed that take up precious space or add noise, and require less maintenance (no leaks to fix). They also provide the benefit of greater control of the device, particularly where short strokes are concerned due to the higher accuracy and repeatability of many electromechanical solutions. With pneumatics specifically, a switch to an electromechanical solution also allows for intermediate strokes between the min and max. For example, an application that may have needed three different pneumatic cylinders with similar but different strokes can now be fulfilled with one electromechanical cylinder and programmed for each of the three strokes.

How are conveyors leveraged in cleanroom and ISO-sensitive applications in pharma and chemical processes? Can they help OEMs stay within compliance?

KR: Clean room applications are where you will see newer technology implemented the most. Conveyors that utilize materials with low friction coefficients to minimize particulate creation or even linear motor technology provide the cleanest solutions; this is particularly important as the clean room requirements get more strict.

DB: Conveyors are offered with features such as smooth surfaces, non-contaminating materials such as stainless steel and sealed components to prevent particle generation. This allows OEM and integrators to meet the ISO class rating requirements from the market. This also helps to stay in compliance with industry standards such as GMP and FDA.

It is also important to mention that cleanroom conveyors help to minimize the human contact and risk of contamination.

What are some of the common misconceptions manufacturers have about conveyors?

KR: When considering specific types of conveyors (belt, roller, plastic chain, linear motor, etc.), many manufacturers think that “a conveyor is a conveyor” and that they are all the same. From the outside looking in, the various brands with competing products might have components that look similar, or operate in a similar way. But I would strongly encourage them to dig a little deeper and find the nuance that separates brands and their offerings from one another to find the best fit for their application.

DB: Some of the misconceptions from the market are:

1. Conveyors are on size fit all.
2. Conveyors are maintenance-free.
3. Conveyors are only for horizontal material flow.
4. Conveyors are noisy and inefficient.

Where do you see advancements in conveyors going to mirror the transition to the Factory of the Future?

KR: We will continue to see advancements on all fronts but the primary driver will be on the technology side of things with conveyors. The desire for access to all different types of data points from a conveyance system or manufacturing process will drive these innovations. I think the next phase will be a “trickle down” of some of the features found on newer style conveyors being integrated into new products/product lines of older style belt, roller or plastic chain conveyors.

DB: Conveyors are evolving to meet the current and future demands for more automation, connectivity and efficiency. Some of the key advancements are:

• Integration of controls system for real-time monitoring and data analytics (IoT integration). Additionally, this allows for more transparency for product tracking and traceability.
• Integration of controls system for conditioning monitoring, predictive maintenance, machine learning and adaptive control.
• Integration of energy-efficient motors and drives. Also, the use of eco-friendly materials.
• Enhanced safety features by adding additional sensors, safety controls and intelligent drives.