As a business dealing with packaging and distribution of goods, you want the processing and delivery of goods to be done correctly and on time. One way to achieve this, is to ensure handling of goods and processing is done efficiently within your facility. If you are a production company, you need to ensure raw materials are shifted efficiently from one phase to another so that you keep the production schedules. Without a quick, efficient and accurate packing and distribution of goods, you will be late on your production targets and delivery. This is where conveyors come in handy.
Modern conveyors can automate and streamline practically every aspect of packaging and distribution. The systems can also weigh and monitor loads to ensure a smoother packaging flow. This leads to higher efficiency and productivity. Below are some of the top ways conveyors improve productivity and efficiency in a business.
Reduced unloading times
Every production or distribution operation begins with the unloading of raw materials of finished products from the freight delivery. No activity can happen until this step is completed. Without the raw materials, you can’t pick orders neither can you begin production of goods.
Conveyor belts are key in reducing the time you take unloading good and raw materials. They speed up the process by automating the movement of products and raw materials from truck into the facility and vice versa. This ensures production begins on time. In addition, it reduces labor cost involved in manual unloading operations leading to higher productivity even for companies with a small workforce. With high productivity, the more efficient the process becomes.
Improved handling of products between different work stations
In a production facility, raw products and goods move from one workstation to another before the product is fully finished. If this inter-work station movement is inefficient, it will result in additional production and handling time resulting in longer lead times for delivery of goods to the end user. This affects your business efficiency and reputation. Conveyor belt systems help speed up the handling of good between different work stations.
For instance, after washing and disinfecting water bottles, the conveyor belt transports them to the next stage of production where the bottles are filled with purified water. This improves business efficiency and productivity in the facility.
Reduced energy consumption
As a business, you should work towards energy conservation and protection of the environment. By automating movement of raw materials from one station to another, conveyor systems ensure production processes are more energy efficient. The systems have customizable settings that you can use to control and monitor the system, you can set up so that only specific sections run at a specific time, reducing energy. The systems also reduce your carbon footprint, thereby having an impact in environment conservation.
Reduced risks of workplace accidents
Workplace safety is a vital element of a successful business. Your employees need to feel safe in order to get the best out of them. Workers are more productive when they are sure they work in a safe and comfortable environment, but manual movement of raw materials and products have high security risks. Conveyor systems get rid of a huge percentage of security risk for your workers, by reducing exposure to risky machinery, handling of heavy loads and other health hazards that they might be exposed to in the facility. Additionally, increased automation lowers the workloads and increases productivity, making both employees and the business happy.
Streamlined quality assurance process
Quality assurance for production and distribution facility means products are produced without defects and shipping is done correctly. Quality assurance process prevents you from shipping a wrong item or producing a defective product. However, it can be daunting to inspect every product and package for defects. It might result to overworking the employees which can result to some staff overlooking items due to fatigue or when rushing to meet a deadline.
Conveyor belts are a great help in this type of situations. A conveyor belt helps your quality assurance team to inspect packaging and production in an automated manner that is more efficient and faster with high level of accuracy. For instance, the conveyors can be integrated with the warehouse management systems for data collection and analysis. This helps with the sorting, weighing and tracking of every stage of production.
Faster processing of orders
Every business’ goal is to deliver orders in full and on time. To achieve this, processing of orders must be streamlined to ensure the goods are packed and picked efficiently. Slow packing and production affects delivery time. Conveyor belts help make order processing faster. The picked orders are placed on a conveyer belt while workers place the items into the packaging box before sending the orders to the loading area for transportation.
Maximize floor space
For distribution, packing and processing business facility, space tends to be a major commodity. You need space to move goods and store the goods before they are shipped to the end user. Conveyor belt systems help maximize the available roof space and can be customized to fit any facility size. The allow you to use overhead space and move products around any obstacle allowing for a larger workspace on the floor for other business operations and processes.
Longer working periods
If you are a large company, you will definitely have a lot of goods that need loading and unloading. Using manual labour is not reliable because human beings get tired and can only carry a certain amount of weight at a time. With conveyors, you can load and unload raw material and products continuously without having to stop. For instance, if you require five people to transport 140 heavy items in on hours, the conveyor can take the same amount of time to transport 500 or even more. This ensures that you produce more products under a short period of time.
Conclusion
Conveyors form a major part in business operations. They enable you perform tasks faster and easier. The systems are ideal for business that require continuous movement of materials and products. If you have this type of business, then implementing conveyor systems would be huge stem in improving business efficiency and productivity as mentioned above.
