Conveyor systems installed twenty or thirty years ago are reaching the end of their working lives, leaving companies to foot the bill. Although retention conveyors up to date and running efficiently is critical to most parcel handlers, funds to replace worn tool can be difficult to source due to the current economic climate.
For businesses finding to sell out costs, there are other options. Old conveyor systems that have come to be inefficient may be eligible for refurbishment. With the allowable engineering, refurbished conveyors run just as well as new ones, and come with extended guarantees to prove it. Compared to buying new equipment, refurbishing conveyor systems is cost effective and leads to substantial time savings. However, companies should carry out an assessment first to ascertain viability.
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Refurbishment viability assessment
First, it must be established either the existing conveyor layout will meet time to come needs. thinkable, company growth may growth throughput requirements and necessitate a bigger system. companies should also eye existing tool to check its health and operation potential.
What constitutes a refurbishment?
If a refurbishment is viable, there are a small number of reputable can also contribute brand new control panels and completely rewire tool to ensure it meets current legislation. In the case of telescopic boom conveyors, they will replace all internal components, clean the machines down to bear metal and respray them to look as new.
Replacing control systems
Although the mechanical components of conveyors are easy to refurbish or upgrade, control devices and systems are different. Manufacturers used to fit units with binary flags, photocells and self adhesive reflectors - dated technologies that no longer meet the requirements of a busy parcel handler.
Companies should think fitting refurbished conveyors with contemporary control systems, which use lasers, absolute encoders, and frequency inverters to detect the position of every item on the line. They route and divert parcels automatically, and conduct the whole operation at high speed. Fitting contemporary control systems to refurbished conveyors can greatly heighten their performance.
Modern software for effective running
Businesses refurbishing conveyors may also need to replace the operating software. Operating software is highly complex and performs a wide range of functions. These include matching orders to pallet loads, controlling pallets' storehouse location, and retention detailed records on the shelf lives of products and how long they have been in storage.
In the 1980's and 1990's, operating software for conveying systems was highly bespoke, time-consuming to develop, and cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds. It has industrialized radically over the last ten years.
Today's software features improved functionality at a lower cost - companies can buy standardised off the shelf packages for as wee as £100,000. Plus, off-site commissioning leads to critical time savings. Using contemporary operating software to run refurbished conveyors helps ensure their efficient, level operation.
How protection legislation affects refurbishment
Health and protection at work has come to be increasingly foremost over the last thirty years. There are now wide regulations and employers have a legal duty to safe their staff. They are also liable for accidents that occur.
Indeed, if person dies as a consequent of an urgency at work in the Uk, companies can face criminal prosecution under the new Corporate Manslaughter Act (introduced in April 2008). This is punishable by an unlimited fine, which could potentially bankrupt a business. In the Uk, conveyors fall under the Provision & Use of Work tool Regulations 1998. These specify work tool must be convenient for use, maintained in a safe health and regularly inspected to ensure it stays this way.
Conveying systems built in the 1980's and 1990's may not comply with this legislation, so companies carrying out refurbishments must bring the tool up to date. This includes production controls accessible and marking them clearly to allow operators to switch off a motor if an urgency occurs, adding urgency stop buttons, and outside perilous areas (e.g. The areas where the sections retract on a telescopic boom conveyor) with guard plates.
To conclude
The current economic atmosphere is forcing businesses to eye their budgets and sell out costs. Refurbishing conveyors is a viable, realistic option, and companies would be wise to think it before scrapping old systems.
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