Are you affiliated with or working for the top industrial warehouses in Thailand? Is a Thai warehouse your earner of income? Maybe, maybe not. Alternatively, your passion could be in warehouse processes, and you look forward to a near future when you run industrial processes in the warehouse. If that’s the case, you need a grasp of one of the warehouse’s critical elements: the conveyor. This is a fast and efficient component of the warehouse used worldwide (including Thailand) to move goods from one location to another; with conveyor systems, companies in Thailand make their industrial processes quite efficient and save time while transporting goods. This article takes you through the working system of a conveyor, its importance, and the various types of conveyor systems available in the market that can be appropriate for a warehouse.
How does a conveyor system work?
Typical conveyors are made up of a belt attached around two or more pulleys. The pulleys vary in number depending on the industrial process and the standard weight of the goods shipped by the system. Among the various pulleys available, one serves as the drive pulley. It acts as the driver of the entire system, driving or towing the belt and moving goods from one location to another. The other pulleys are known as idle pulleys and provide essential support systems to the conveyor system. As the system works, both the idler pulley(s) and the driver pulley must move in the same direction, either anticlockwise or clockwise.
How is the conveyor beneficial?
Are you wondering how beneficial the conveyors can be? Well, you are right since in Thailand and other locations worldwide, conveyors are used for facilitating the movement of goods at the airport, at the grocery stores, and of course, at the warehouses. Therefore, it is such a crucial element for the industrial process, making it necessary to know how beneficial it is and then appreciate it. The primary benefit of the conveyor is its efficiency. In the warehouse, goods are packed and moved as whole packages. These are usually heavy or bulky and would take people a lot of time to move them. So it increases engineer’s job productivity and efficiency. However, when using the conveyor systems, the process is made efficient. No matter how heavy or bulky goods are, the system easily transports them.
Consequently, it translates to effectiveness. This is because it takes seconds to move goods from one point to another, a process that would otherwise cost occupants a lot of time. Therefore, the company saves on time. Secondly, money is also saved. The warehouses would need to hire more employees to facilitate the movement of goods, a process that attracts financial expenditure. With the conveyor systems, the company does not need much human power as the conveyors move the goods easily from one point to the next. Lastly, with the conveyors, occupational safety is taken care of. While lifting heavy and bulky goods, occupants are exposed to occupational hazards. This is unlike most of the warehouses in Thailand that are using conveyor systems. Such companies have reduced occupational risks and are protecting their employees.
Common types of conveyor systems
Several conveyors are appropriate for industrial processes and warehouse activities in Thailand. The various types are grouped into the following two classes;
- Powered warehouse conveyors
This is the most common class of conveyor systems used in warehouses. Powered warehouse conveyors are basically used to handle relatively smaller packages than the other warehouse conveyors. They come either as a belt-driven system or a roller driven-system. To choose the belt-driven or the roller-driven system, you must know the purpose of installing the system. If you want a conveyor that will transport goods, the belt-driven warehouse conveyor will be ideal. On the other hand, if your goal is to accumulate goods, the roller-driven powered warehouse conveyor will be the best fit. Remember to determine the size and the type of the goods you intend to transport first before installing any warehouse conveyors. In case of a need for a powered conveyor that works on a stable surface to handle various products, belted systems will be more ideal, especially because they run on both inclines and declines.
- Non-powered warehouse conveyors
This is the second class of warehouse conveyor systems. These are quite different from powered warehouse conveyors as they do not need power to facilitate the movement of goods in industrial processes. Instead, they depend on the laws of Physics to move goods. They are common, and you likely have seen them being used to move products to trucks, get gods from sorters, or pick modules.
Sub-classes of warehouse conveyors
For the powered and non-powered warehouse conveyors, they can still be classified further into other categories. See the list below;
- Gravity roller conveyors
They are called so because of their roller wheels. The rollers are cylindrical in nature. Built on a slight decline, the gravity roller conveyor parts move downwards on their own.
- Bucket conveyors
These systems are useful in moving materials perpendicularly by shifting them with a sequence of buckets fixed to a chain, belt, or cable. Furthermore, the conveyor shifts the buckets uprightly prior to depositing it. Granular conveyors are a good example of bucket conveyors.
- Ball transfer conveyors
This type of conveyor is made up of a chain of mounted ball casters to allow for unpowered, multi-directional conveyance of the product.
- Slat conveyors
This is a chain conveyor made of slats linked to the chain and a slat controlling system. Essentially, the system offers a smooth surface from where fixtures can be fixed to hold parts as required.
- Magnetic conveyors
This type of conveyor has a magnet underneath, which makes it possible to move ferrous objects on it.
- Chain conveyors
Just as the name suggests, these are made of chains instead of rollers or belts. They are made nearer the ground and move heavy objects.
- Vibrating conveyors
These are either a flat top, tube, or troughs that put objects in a vibrating motion to keep them moving along.
As seen in the preceding, conveyors are a crucial element of a warehouse. If you want efficiency and effectiveness, invest in the right conveyor system and save money and time in industrial processes. The article has also explained the types of conveyor systems and their working. Now it’s your time to choose the right conveyor for you.