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Benefits of Upgrading Your Food Conveyor System
Your conveyor system is the backbone of your food-processing operation, connecting separate OEM equipment on your line into a single seamless system. Upgrading your conveyor system may seem like a big step right now, but it might be unavoidable if you want to keep up.
The food processing industry is changing. Looming tariffs mean ingredient prices are likely to rise, while serious labor shortages persist and food safety standards continue to rise. And, Americans’ eating habits are changing. It all means your existing equipment may no longer be pulling its weight.
In this blog, we’ll explore the many benefits of upgrading your food conveyor system. We’ll also consider how specific advantages can help you increase efficiency, streamline operations, and reduce costs.
WHY UPGRADE YOUR CONVEYOR SYSTEM NOW?
You know your food processing system and you know what it is capable of. Why shake things up by upgrading your conveyor system now? Because modern food conveyor systems offer benefits that influence productivity, safety, and profitability. Quality upgraded conveyor equipment lets you:
Increase Efficiency and Performance
Expect more from your equipment. Today’s leading conveyor systems deliver faster line speeds and a choice of conveyor widths and lanes to right-size throughput to your needs. Get more done with value-added conveying that sorts, grades, merges, separates, or reorientates products on the move between processes, all while reducing spillage and waste. Upgraded equipment will have fewer maintenance issues, reducing downtime and increasing the overall production.
Customized solutions to specific challenges are easier and more effective than ever. Work with an experienced supplier to get the precise, tailored solutions you need. It’s no longer a case of what is possible but simply what upgrades are best for your process.
Ensure Food Safety and Compliance
Recent food recalls have highlighted the critical need for equipment that prevents contamination and ensures the safety of consumers. Updated sanitary conveyor systems help combat recalls by minimizing the risk of bacterial growth and cross-contamination, making them essential for maintaining the integrity of your production process. Advanced safety features such as easy-to-clean surfaces, reduced food contact points, and open frame construction let you save time and money on sanitation and ensure consumers are safer than ever.
Regulators are also raising the bar with stricter standards. They demand safer product designs, and industry leaders are stepping up to exceed requirements to protect their customers and their reputations. Make sure your equipment is up to date with the latest HACCP, GMP, and AAMP regulations. You’ll avoid fines and potential plant closures, and, just as importantly, you’ll have full confidence in the quality of every product you ship
Boost Product Quality
Send better stuff out the door with equipment that respects your product’s integrity. Choosing the right equipment for the job rather than an off-the-shelf solution limits product loss, reduces crushing or breakage of delicate foods, and prevents product degradation between processes.
The best equipment features smart modular design, flexible handling options, and customizable alternatives that integrate with OEM machinery and connect perfectly with other pieces of conveying equipment.
Modern conveyor systems can also utilize automation technologies like vision systems, inspection tools and integrated data analytics to streamline operations and enhance consistency. It all adds up to smarter handling solutions that treat your product right.
Deliver More Uptime
Repairs, readjustments, failures, retrofits, and even time-consuming maintenance and sanitation procedures on older equipment all cut into production time. Newer, upgraded equipment is designed with fewer moving parts, high-quality components, and streamlined designs that require less frequent maintenance, reducing downtime and ensuring your production line operates more efficiently.
Prioritize Worker Safety
New equipment from leading suppliers puts your people first with both passive and active safety measures, including comprehensive guarding, catwalks, platforms, open-access frames, and emergency stop buttons. Automation and sensors further enhance safety by reducing direct interaction with moving parts, minimizing risks while improving efficiency. These features create a safer, more productive environment and ensure compliance with the latest worker safety standards.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership
What’s the bottom line? Investing in the best available conveying equipment may raise your upfront costs, but more cost-efficient, reliable equipment helps to boost production and productivity. It also helps limit lifetime maintenance and parts costs, not to mention costly unplanned downtime.
It all adds up to lower total costs of ownership and quicker returns on investment than your existing conveying equipment.
5 INNOVATIONS FOR IMPROVED CONVEYOR PERFORMANCE
So, what sets today’s conveyor systems apart from legacy systems of the past? Here are five areas of innovation that are changing what modern conveyor solutions can do.
1. Design for Sanitation
Modern conveyor systems from PFI are designed from the ground up with sanitation in mind. This includes:
- End-to-end stainless steel construction
- Open frame and modular designs allow easy access to all parts of the conveyors
- Angled surfaces to prevent liquids from accumulating on surfaces
- Reducing or eliminating seals, joints, and contact points where bacteria can build up
- Toolless maintenance and parts replacement to prevent scratching or denting
Conveyors can also be built with IP69K-certified parts for the highest sanitation requirements, with tighter tolerances and solid-steel tubular parts capable of withstanding repeated high-temperature washdowns.
Optional features like belt scrapers and other “clean-in-place” technologies work to prevent potentially dangerous food buildup and help to reduce waste.
2. Energy-Efficient Technologies
Many older conveyor systems still rely on hydraulics and belt-driven models to move products from one place to the next. These technologies are being replaced by servos and high-efficiency electric motors that run the conveyor directly without the aid of hydraulics.
This is achieved by rethinking how conveyors move products:
- Horizontal motion conveyors, pioneered by PFI, use a controlled, energy-efficient in-line “gliding” motion to move a range of foods to where they are needed next.
- Vibratory conveyors, vibrate at the right frequency to gently “lift and bump” loose materials to the next processing point.
These technologies also replace less-efficient belt-drive systems for many applications, reducing energy demand, while also making conveyors easier to clean, test, and repair.
3. Better Integration
Integration problems are common with older or mismatched conveyor systems. Connection issues may cause serious production disruptions and, in some cases, may even permanently limit your line’s capacity.
Leading manufacturers are now adopting modular conveyor designs that ease integration to allow seamless connections with both infeed and outfeed equipment. This may include equipment that transfers products to move smoothly from a wide machine to a narrower one or merges and separates multiple lines.
For ultimate efficiency and seamless integration, consider upgrading to a complete system designed to work together, ensuring every component aligns perfectly to optimize your production process.
4. Increased Automation
Legacy conveyor systems generally require more human oversight and assistance, especially at critical transition points. That’s a problem in an industry with a serious labor shortage. Increased automation helps limit your labor bill and enables you to make better use of the people you have.
Conveyor automation includes real-time monitoring and adjustment of your overall line speed, and better connections that reduce the need for manual handling of foods.
5. Value-Added Conveying
Conveyor systems can be designed to not just transfer products, but also prepare food for the next stage in your production process. Among other actions, this can include:
- Flipping or turning
- Merging and sorting
- Grading and separating
- Aligning
- Compressing
Conveyors are now far more than just “passive” transfer devices for moving products from one line station to the next. They can be an active part of your food preparation process.
UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMIZATION
One of the biggest reasons to consider upgrading your conveyor system is the almost unlimited ability to customize equipment for your specific needs. With advanced manufacturing techniques and control capabilities, it’s now possible to create almost any conveyor setup you can imagine.
For conveyor manufacturing specialists like PFI, it’s now possible to build equipment with:
- Tailored dimensions to match your specific production requirements.
- Layouts optimized for space, including horizontal, incline, and vertical designs.
- Floor-, wall- and ceiling-mounted conveyors
- Food-specific features for handling temperature, texture, and product type
- Add-ons for value-added processes during transport
TRANSITIONING TO AN UPGRADED SYSTEM
Looking to reap the benefits of upgrading your food conveyor system, including improved throughput, more efficient production, and long-term return on your investment? Here are some tips for getting the most out of your transition.
Work With An Experienced Supplier
At PFI, we’ve been building some of the world’s best conveying equipment for almost 60 years. We work as much as consultants as manufacturers, taking the time to understand your conveying needs and implementation challenges before starting our design process.
Test, Test, Test
Choose a supplier with the ability to factory-test your equipment during design and before installation. PFI is equipped to run partial and full-scale factory acceptance tests (FATs) of your equipment to make sure it meets your needs as required.
Installation and Support
Not all conveyor equipment manufacturers install their own equipment. At PFI, we do. Our skilled technicians not only design and build your equipment but help to install and commission it too. And we back it up with full-service parts and post-installation support throughout your equipment’s lifespan.
TRUST PFI FOR CONVEYOR UPGRADES
PFI is a global leader in creating safe and sanitary conveying equipment for the most demanding food processing applications. We’re known for producing high-quality durable equipment that boosts efficiency and throughput, delivering long-term returns on your investment while protecting the quality and integrity of your product.
Ready to embrace the benefits of the world’s best sanitary food conveying equipment? Contact us, or click below to learn more about our flexible, customizable conveying solutions.
