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What Are Spiral Conveyors?

Spiral conveyors pack a long distance into a small footprint. These types of changing elevation conveyors have been used for many decades to cool bakery products as they exit the baking process, as well as other food production applications. The old way of driving these conveyors uses a large, powered drum in the center. The conveyor chain is wrapped around the drum and, through friction between the chain and the drum, the chain is pushed forward. While there is an end drive separate from the drum drive that provides pull tension to the chain, the chain can still slip as the drum rotates.

In a typical drum spiral design, the chain runs against vertical cage bars that are spaced evenly to form a cylindrical shape. These bars have a slip-on plastic cover that protects the system from wear. Unfortunately, the major weakness of all drum-driven spirals is sanitation. Since the conveyor runs on a support system that is fabricated around the drum, the chain must be removed to clean the drum’s cage bars. In fact, some spiral conveyors have thousands of feet of chain, which makes the cleaning process a very long and impractical process. That’s why sanitation engineers typically look in the spirals first during an outbreak of bacteria.

In the case of the technology present in the OutRunner Spiral conveyor, however, this new system changes how these spirals are driven. Let’s look further into this solution and break down the benefits of the OutRunner Spiral machinery.

About the OutRunner Spiral Conveyor System

The OutRunner Spiral conveyor system was developed to eliminate the drum drive system altogether. Instead of wrapping the chain around a moving cylinder, this design drives the chain along its outside edge by an external sprocket. OutRunner Spirals use a vertical drive shaft with a sprocket on each tier, and the drum is eliminated in this design. Depending on the diameter and width of the chain, there can be more than one drive shaft with sprockets. These shafts are all tied together on a common mechanical connection with no electronic synchronization used, making this one of the biggest advantages to the OutRunner Spiral.

The second weakness of classical drum drives is getting products off the conveyor chain itself. Drum drive systems use long pitch chains which are usually 2” (50mm). Any product that has an unused 4” in length can have difficulty transferring product off the end of the system. Additionally, transferring smaller items can become even more challenging. One of the benefits of the OutRunner Spiral, though, is that it combats this issue by using a “Pillow Top” chain. This chain has a rounded top which forms a perfect cylindrical shape at the end drive. A knife edge plate is fitted close to the chain, making product transfer successful, even for small items.

What Are Some Other Benefits of the OutRunner Spiral?

One of the biggest advantages to the OutRunner Spiral machine is the very low horsepower required to power the system. Because there are no frictional losses between the chain and a drum, the overall power required to drive the chain is much lower. Also, because there is no massive central drum to turn, the power required to get the system started and stopped is greatly reduced. Here is an example of just what this means:

Principles for Tackling Customer Demand with Conveyance

Your situation is unique, especially as it relates to your high demand products. Business models, warehouse facilities, industry demands, existing technology, and many other factors make your circumstances one of a kind. Before discussing specific solutions for optimizing standard and specialty conveyor systems, here are some basic principles that hopefully apply to your situation regardless of your individual circumstances:

Stick With What You Know

Since goods-to-person order fulfillment runs on automation, it allows your warehouse to run at a greater level of efficiency. Through the use of state-of-the-art technology, your staff will have the ability to meet peak demands and fulfill orders seamlessly.

Scalable Resources & Technology

Supply and demand will fluctuate for any given industry. When you experience rapid changes in customer demand, scalable resources and technology can be extremely helpful in keeping up with demand that is either increasing or decreasing. Whether it is working with temp agencies or third-party logistics, the ability to scale your resources and technology to your needs.

Prepare for High Demand When Business Slows Down

In addition to scalable resources and technology, which allows your warehouse to quickly respond to changes in demand and supply, it is important to prepare for times of increased demand. You never want to find yourself in a position where there are not enough goods to sell to your customers. If you are able to identify when your business commonly experiences times of high demand, such as seasons and holidays, you can anticipate the fluctuations of demand and supply to start preparing during slow periods.

Avoid Warehouse Overload

While a warehouse with not enough goods to sell is a bad position to be in during times of increased demand, you also do not want to overload your warehouse. You have a variety of options to avoid warehouse overload and balance changing supply and demand:

Look to Invest in Superior Conveyance Technology

Upgrading your existing standard conveyor system with the latest and greatest innovations can help you maximize your efficiency and uptime to compensate for high warehouse demand. Our experts are constantly working to improve even the current conveyor solutions in anticipation of the new and growing conveyance demands in a variety of industries. If you are looking for a superior conveyor system to overcome growing customer demand, Span Tech can help you find a custom convey solution for you and your industry.

Find a Custom Conveyance Solution for High Demand Products & Industries

Beyond adhering to the general principles for tackling warehouse demand above, optimizing or restructuring your current mode of operations will often demand a customized solution for your specific business, infrastructure and industry. Span Tech and our in-house team of experts can work with you to craft a unique conveyor system. We can help you:

Innovation for Keeping Up with Demand

If you have a material handling problem that no one has been able to solve, let us try our hand at it. We thrive on the opportunity for new innovations! Our engineers enjoy a challenge and constantly create conveyance inventions and component solutions that can help your specific situation and other businesses facing similar issues.

Conveyor Testing to Supply High Demand Products Long-Term

We design, invent, manufacture, install and maintain our conveyor systems. It only makes sense that we also thoroughly test our conveyor systems, especially when it comes to your specific high demand products. We can test all of our conveyor solutions, including:

Addressing Customer Demand in Your Industry

Our customizable technical solutions for processing applications can be adapted to your industry-specific needs in high demand markets. Span Tech has vast amounts of experience creating tailored conveyor systems for food production, packaging, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, cosmetics and much more. We will work with you to develop an industry-specific solution for warehouse demand.

Defining the Material Staging Process Flow

Before we explain how Span Tech incorporates a material staging process flow, it’s important to understand what the concept is and how it works. What is staging in manufacturing? Simply put, material staging is transferring the items needed from different work centers to the assembly location. Materials are staged for production at a certain time, in a particular quantity, and at a designated staging area.

In warehouse manufacturing (WM), the flow of this process must be strategically planned and assessed for the best possible business structure. This form of production planning (PP) is a crucial part of your brand’s success and, when executed correctly, the process can help employees work more efficiently in the long run.

How Do You Do Material Staging in SAP?

Systems, applications and products (SAP) create a centralized system for manufacturers that enables the team to access and share data to create a better work environment for each employee on staff. Material staging in SAP requires gathering production items to be ready at a certain time and in a particular quantity. Using an SAP PP WM material staging system helps ensure all the required materials are in the designated production spot.

Once a production order is created, the SAP determines the necessary actions for material staging. In doing this, it examines the control cycle and determines the production storage bins in which the materials should be staged. Once this is complete, automatic material staging is activated in the SAP, and goods are transported to the correct production locations.

Integrating material staging in SAP WM helps production plants operate in an organized, effective manner that keeps business right on track.

Adopting a Material Staging Process Flow at Span Tech

Now that we’ve gone over all the essentials, we can get back to Span Tech’s experience with material staging in SAP. Before implementing this process, we realized our team often spent a great deal of time away from production to do the following:

The solution was to come up with a way that allowed production to continue without losing valuable time looking for parts. As Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage.” Span Tech has taken that and put it into action with our material staging in SAP WM.

How Span Tech’s Material Staging Process Flow Works

Our material staging process flow is carried out with attention to detail and the utmost organization. It takes place in the following steps:

This process is proving to be quite successful and extremely beneficial. Our awesome assembly team has been able to complete many jobs ahead of schedule and keep overtime to a minimum. Our goal is to eventually move this staging process to all of Span Tech’s work centers.

What is Goods-to-Person Order Fulfillment?

Goods-to-person order fulfillment in a warehouse involves the automatic transportation of products directly to operators as needed. This method combines computerized storage with strategic, ergonomic item picking processes. When a new order must be fulfilled, automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) and mobile robots collect goods from their places of storage and deliver them to the appropriate workstation. Depending on the item’s size, that workstation can be a pallet or tote-based system and include horizontal or vertical carousels.

The goods-to-person system is fairly new in the manufacturing and distribution industry compared to the person-to-goods system. As a more traditional approach, person-to-goods order fulfillment consists of employees taking the most efficient paths to manually retrieve necessary items.

Before the days of eCommerce, it was more acceptable for pickers to utilize the goods-to-person system. They would spend a majority of their time traveling throughout a warehouse to locate products and the rest of their time selecting them. In modern times, however, warehouses are storing much more inventory and must meet rising demands for fast deliveries. Goods-to-person systems are proving effective in helping distribution centers address their needs.

Benefits of Goods-to-Person Systems

The goods-to-person process offers a great deal of perks to warehouses and helps give companies a competitive advantage in their industry. Adopting automated picking systems like this can provide the following advantages:

Greater Levels of Productivity

Since goods-to-person order fulfillment runs on automation, it allows your warehouse to run at a greater level of efficiency. Through the use of state-of-the-art technology, your staff will have the ability to meet peak demands and fulfill orders seamlessly.

Improved Accuracy

Automated picking systems help eliminate the risk of errors like selecting the wrong item or sending a product to the wrong location. You’ll avoid spending extra time and money that are required when errors are made, like having to resend products or search for inventory a second time. The fewer mistakes your distribution center makes, the more satisfied your customers will be.

Reduced Labor Needs

In the traditional person-to-goods system, warehouse workers must undergo a great deal of physical labor. From pushing heavy carts to running back and forth with retrieved items, these actions can lead to injuries and worker’s compensation claims. Automated picking systems like goods-to-person help alleviate these demands and can reduce the risk of work injuries as a result.

Increased Sanitation

In the age of social distancing and contactless delivery, a sanitized item picking process is more important than ever. Since the goods-to-person method involves minimal human contact with products, order fulfillment is as germ-free as possible.

Effect of COVID-19 on Production & Consumer Behavior

COVID-19 introduced a great deal of change to the economy and affected businesses throughout the world. Along with this, consumer behavior has been influenced in the following ways:

The Impact of COVID-19 on Global Manufacturing Sectors

Among every industry affected by COVID-19, the manufacturing world was among those hit the hardest. The virus originated in China, which is also the location of many factories that supply important materials to manufacturing units worldwide. When lockdown ensued, the pandemic’s impact on the manufacturing industry took a great toll. The following global manufacturing sectors have been most affected:

Pharmaceuticals

Typically, the USA and many other nations source materials for pharmaceuticals directly and indirectly from China. When the virus began to spread, however, it limited operational capacity in China and caused supply shortages.

Additionally, the pandemic outbreak made the need for items like sanitizer and PPE more important than ever. As a result, pharma manufacturers have had to invest a great deal of time and resources into increasing production levels of these products.

Food & Beverage

When COVID-19 first began to spread, so did the general public’s panic. As consumers went to grocery stores to stock up on food, it caused various supply chain issues. With scarce shelves, stores have experienced significantly increased consumption, and companies have needed to boost production to keep up with demand.

Cosmetics

As a result of offline stores closing worldwide, the cosmetics industry has experienced a decrease in sales. Additionally, when many countries were under complete lockdown, it was challenging to find markets where these goods could be exported. Labor shortage and reduced demand have caused manufacturers to shut down their production units.

Responding to the Pandemic’s Impact on the Manufacturing Industry

Problems in the manufacturing industry due to COVID-19 have led to reduced demand and disrupted supply chains. But they’ve also presented opportunities for growth, innovation and competitive advantage in the industry. To bounce back from the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing industries, we recommend your facility does the following:

Implement Increased Sanitation & Safety Procedures

Taking proactive measures can help keep your team safe and prevent the spread of harmful germs and bacteria. From banning visitors on factory floors to increasing the amount of distance between your staff, there are numerous procedures you can implement. Doing this will give your team peace of mind and help create a more hygienic workplace.

Find Back-Up Suppliers

When countries went into lockdown, many manufacturers experienced a lack of access to suppliers. This pandemic impact on the manufacturing industry caused many production processes to cease. To avoid this happening in the future, revisit your factory’s sourcing strategies. Consider where you get the supplies to create your company’s products. If another disaster were to strike, would you still have access to them? Even if the answer is “yes,” it’s a good idea to seek alternative suppliers and have back-up options, just in case. This could ultimately help you avoid having to pause production and/or shut down in the future.

Examine Your Supply Chain for Areas of Improvement

With or without problems in the manufacturing industry due to COVID-19, it’s always smart to look for ways to improve your production process. Spend some time evaluating your supply chain’s agility and determine opportunities to make it more resilient. Focus on the automation of repetitive tasks and predictive maintenance to help your production process run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

B2B vs. B2C: A Brief Overview

How do B2B and B2C compare and differ? In this section, we define each warehouse category and examine the challenges they face.

What is a B2B Warehouse?

A warehouse that specializes in business to business (“B2B”) orders typically sends products in bulk on a recurring basis. Simply put, the warehouse is sending items from its manufacturing business to another business.

For example, if a company needs supplies for the coming year, a B2B warehouse can deliver a large quantity of products for employees to have on hand. That way, team members will have essential items in stock to run their business.

Since B2B fulfillment consists of frequent, bulk orders, accuracy plays a key role. Additionally, shipments sent via sea freight, air freight or ground can be expensive and require longer delivery lead times. Along with that, longer lead times and overseas suppliers need to be considered during the receiving process in a B2B warehouse. With all of this at stake, order errors can be costly and result in a loss of company time.

It’s also important to note that a business may also have compliance restrictions, and B2B warehouses need to prove they can meet those requirements. Examples include tax rules, barcodes, parcel labels and invoices.

What is a B2C Warehouse?

Business to consumer (the “B2C” meaning) involves a company offering products for individual customers rather than other businesses. As a result, a B2C warehouse oversees large volumes of orders with smaller quantities of product in each order. This is different from B2B orders which tend to contain mass quantities of items.

In our fast paced world, many consumers expect their delivery within the same day or soon after. When it comes to the receiving process in a B2C warehouse, it’s important to note that customers have less tolerance for delays. With this in mind, B2C fulfillment requires a great deal of accuracy and speed. Additionally, a B2C warehouse is more likely to have to handle returns than a B2B warehouse. As a result, B2C warehouses need the latest technology and foolproof management systems to monitor shipments.

Since B2C warehouses take customer experience into consideration, they may also offer special packaging features, like tissue paper, gift wrapping or personalized greeting cards.

Responding to the Pandemic’s Impact on the Manufacturing Industry

Problems in the manufacturing industry due to COVID-19 have led to reduced demand and disrupted supply chains. But they’ve also presented opportunities for growth, innovation and competitive advantage in the industry. To bounce back from the impact of COVID-19 on manufacturing industries, we recommend your facility does the following:

B2B Fulfillment vs. B2C Fulfillment

Now that you know the basics of B2B vs. B2C, let’s examine how they differ when it comes to fulfilling and delivering orders.

Pre-Purchase Stage

When it comes to the pre-purchasing stage, B2B and B2C warehouses differ in the following ways:

Purchase Stage

During the point of purchase, B2B and B2C warehouses face differences when it comes to the:

Post-Purchase Stage

After a purchase is made, it’s up to B2B and B2C warehouses to gather and ship the product. While both must work to fulfill their orders, they handle the following things differently:

Paving the Way Through Effective Mentorship

As with everything else we do at Span Tech, our leadership development program was created with care and precision. While reflecting on past success is important, we realized it’s even more crucial to look to the future of the industry. This inspired us to examine our team and develop our process of succession planning.

Span Tech’s organization is made up of innovative leaders who excel in thinking outside of the box. Our mission is to educate, inspire and help them perform their duties at their absolute best. The new Span Tech leadership development program is intended to do just that.

Through expert training and guidance, this program helps develop excellent leadership and management skills. That way, when it’s time for one of our valued employees to retire and pass the torch, the transition will be easy and without error.

A Closer Look at the Program

A key factor of this program involves committed mentors who are capable and willing to see it through. Our mentors have an altruistic mindset and focus on what’s best for Span Tech as a whole. With the utmost dedication to quality and customer service, they’ll apply core values and critical thinking to the future of Span Tech and plan for generations to come.

Will we allow something we invested so much blood, sweat and tears in to flourish under amazing leadership or collapse under the lack thereof? The leadership development program is here to help ensure the latter won’t occur.

Span Tech’s leaders are those who step up to serve as mentors with a vision. They have invested themselves in creating something amazing, and they want to see that creation grow and thrive for future generations. Though the employees stepping out to take on the responsibility of personal growth may be doing it for a future position or promotion, they are gaining so much more. They will have the opportunity to work with subject matter experts the likes of which most companies struggle to find.

Our mentors possess a collective wealth of knowledge, so every mentee will exit the program ready to take on any challenging project with success. Additionally, they’ll understand what it takes to be an effective leader in a competitive industry.

The Future of Manufacturing in 2021

The year 2020 introduced a new decade with unprecedented obstacles for warehouse facilities.
The industry learned that every challenge presents an opportunity for manufacturing
advancements. You can bet that future manufacturing technology will reflect how assembly lines
and warehouses are responding to COVID-19. What else can you expect from 2021 trends in
the manufacturing process? We’re looking ahead to see how manufacturing in 2021 will
continue to be impacted by COVID-19 and what exciting trends are just around the corner

1. Manufacturers Plan Their COVID-19 Exit Strategy

From health to economy, COVID-19 impacted the world on a variety of levels. While many
businesses have shut down, there are those fortunate ones that have stayed open.
Manufacturers that managed to survive were forced to nix their pre-pandemic strategies and
adapt accordingly. With 2021 hopefully bringing an end to COVID-19, it’s important to have a
pandemic exit plan for your company.

Since the manufacturing industry is so diverse, it’s safe to say that no two companies’ exit strategies will look the same. We’ve identified the following possible pathways businesses can take to reset, depending on how they’ve been affected by the pandemic:

2. The Internet of Things Continues to Grow

As a manufacturing trend in 2020, the internet of things (IoT) isn’t going anywhere anytime
soon. Predicted to become even more popular in 2021, the IoT consists of the interconnection
of unique devices with an existing internet infrastructure. By utilizing smart devices,
manufacturers can make informed, strategic decisions with real-time data. Future manufacturing
technology like this will help with cost reduction, enhanced efficiency, improved safety and
product innovation. Manufacturers can expect new opportunities for connecting operations and
transforming business processes.

3. Employee Safety Becomes More Important Than Ever

When it comes to the 2021 trends in the manufacturing process, safety will be at the forefront.
While workplace safety has always been essential, it will be even more crucial as our COVID-19
world unfolds. From maintaining a sanitary work environment to practicing conveyor safety,
manufacturing companies can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and avoid life-threatening
injuries. Additionally, manufacturers will demand greater transparency from suppliers in attempts to track issues and claims throughout the assembly process. As one of the latest trends in manufacturing, increased safety levels will have a direct effect on supply chain visibility.

4. Touchless Service with Virtual and Augmented Reality

COVID-19 has presented major obstacles in the manufacturing industry, but augmented reality
(AR) and virtual reality (VR) are here to help. These manufacturing advancements in technology
will make it easier than ever for technicians to provide remote assistance. By sending your
customers AR- and VR-enabled devices, you can walk them through troubleshooting, repairs
and more.

Expect AR and VR to present exciting opportunities for manufacturers. Before the pandemic hit, consumers had been hesitant to explore touchless service and preferred having a technician onsite for a job. In 2021, however, customers will value the touchless service AR and VR can provide. Why? Using AR and VR will help promote social distancing and reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Doing this will also give manufacturers the chance to explore new lines of business and stay ahead of the game in the industry

5. Manufacturers Reevaluate Shoring & Sourcing

In the wake up COVID-19, Americans realized how very dependent the U.S. was on offshore
manufacturing. As the pandemic showed, we can find ourselves without access to enough
critical supplies. Expect to see reshoring play a big role in manufacturing in 2021 as more
businesses value domestic production.

Manufacturers will also re-evaluate sourcing — the process by which a business brings
operations closer to where its finished product is sold. By sourcing raw materials from domestic suppliers, manufacturers will help reduce dependency on foreign countries.

These 2021 trends in the manufacturing process will help businesses remain resilient to any culture COVID-19 disruption. Should countries shut down again due to COVID-19, these manufacturing advancements will help businesses remain resilient and protect the U.S. economy

Span Tech’s Cutting Edge Design Technology

From manufacturing trends to the latest in innovation testing, Span Tech is continuously leading the way in the plastic chain conveyor industry. Another way our team strives to produce exceptional products is with our in-house design technology. We’re taking a look at the cutting edge software and tools Span Tech uses to create conveyor design layouts that satisfy our customers and outperform our competition.

Navigator Software

Span Tech’s Designer System launched in 1988, and that was the beginning of our Navigator Software. We utilize this high-tech platform to create a 3D WireFrame layout of our customers’ requirements. Our team can provide designs in just a few days based on the size and complexity of the job. With the customer provided layout, product information and environment conditions, a Navigator generated layout will be presented to the customer for design approval. Below is a layout example:

Torque Master

Along with Navigator software, we also use Torque Master. This runs inside Navigator and provides the torque that’s required based on the conveyor layout and product specifications. Torque Master also provides color coded cells informing the designer that the conveyor will be in normal operating limits. This program ensures that every conveyor we design will be functional and convey our customers’ specified products.

Transfer Technology

Based on the product our customer wants, a transfer may be required to provide a smooth transition on and off of the conveyor. To do this, our team implements our specialized Transfer Technology program. Utilizing real time product testing, this platform provides the lowest cost transfer for the product being conveyed. Below is an example of a low cost application of a Gravity Transfer Roller System.

Solid Works 3D Modeling Software

Now and then, we’re required to provide special automation in addition to our conveyor layout. When this happens, we use Solid Works 3D Modeling Software. Below is a Span Tech Lift Gate that can be raised manually to provide a walk through access.

So, Who Invented the Conveyor Belt?

If this industrial staple had a single inventor, his or her name has sadly been lost to time. Many people throughout history can claim a bit of responsibility in helping the conveyor evolve and become more efficient, however.

For example, the world has American manufacturer and inventor Thomas Robbins to thank for a conveyor belt system that transported coal and ore for Thomas Edison’s Ore-Milling Company. His invention won the grand prize at the Paris Exposition World Fair and went on to revolutionize the mining industry.

Another noteworthy pioneer in the conveyor belt’s history is none other than automobile
manufacturer Henry Ford. He introduced the idea of a conveyor belt assembly line to his Michigan factory and continuously improved upon its technology. In doing this, Ford made conveyor systems mainstream, and their popularity only grew.

The Conveyor System Timeline

When was the conveyor belt invented? Since the name of the conveyor’s exact inventor is unknown, it’s hard to say for sure. Long before Robbins and Ford, however, the first conveyor systems are thought to have been used as early as 1795. They were made of a leather or canvas belt that traveled over a flat wooden bed. Years later, Robbins developed the modern conveyor belt’s direct precursor in 1892, while Ford began using and improving upon it in 1913.

To give you a better understanding of monumental moments in conveyor belt history, we created the following timeline:

Conveyor Systems at Span Tech

As the leader in the plastic chain conveyors industry, Span Tech specializes in developing unique, customizable technical solutions for processing applications in a variety of industries. Quite like conveyor systems, we have our own bit of history. Since our launch in 1988, we’ve spent years continuously growing and innovating our process to help better every business we assist. In 2002, we released the SuperTight chain which produced a tighter conveyor turning radius. Four years later, Span Tech created the OutRunner Spiral — a more efficient conveyor that’s easy to clean. In 2015, we developed the 4-Rod Twist conveyor which allows for 90 degrees of product rotation in 60 inches.