4. Conveyor design

Many manufacturers offer step-by-step design processes which, in principle, should lead to the final solution.

We prefer to think of these methods as a checklist of points to consider, without locking ourselves into the order of the process to be followed.

There is such a difference between the design of a simple conveyor and that of a Power and Free system that we cannot speak of a common method. Generally speaking, we need to find the best compromise between the imperatives of an ideal layout and the limits of the most technically and economically suitable equipment. This compromise can only be achieved through close collaboration between the methods and layout managers, and the conveyor technician. They will pay particular attention to the following points:

• the choice of the unit load and...