How Roller Tracks Improve Material Handling in Industrial Settings
There are many devices and pieces of equipment used to keep your assembly line humming in a manufacturing environment, and they’re all important. Some get short shrift, though, and that’s particularly true of roller tracks.
But roller tracks don’t just keep your process moving up and down the line. They’re also essential for effective material handling, particularly in those industrial applications where hazardous materials are part of the process and medical scenarios where perishable drugs have to be delivered in time.
Given their significance, it’s important to know what roller tracks do, how they work and the benefits they offer. With all of that in mind, let’s do a breakdown of the basics and then some when it comes to roller tracks, a roller track system or a roller track conveyor in an industrial setting.
Roller Tracks: Definition and Overview
To some extent, the definition of roller tracks is obvious and recursive. While there are some different basics in how they’re put together, roller tracks usually consist of a series of circular metal casings connected by metal rods, and they use ball bearings to perform the function of rolling.
There are two types of roller tracks, a track roller and a carrier roller. Track rollers are used for motor transmission, usually in a conveyor belt, and they typically move boxes, cartons and other bulky items down the assembly line on a factor floor.
How Do Roller Track Conveyors Work for Material Handling?
Roller track conveyors are an essential part of the material moving process in many manufacturing processes. The main part in the conveyor is the roller assembly, which is normally made of cylindrical rollers mounted on shafts or axles.
The size of these rollers varies according to the industry and the materials being handled and moved. The entire assembly is supported by a frame structure made of steel or aluminum that is specifically designed to handle the forces generated by the weight of the materials and the momentum that comes with moving them.
How Roller Track Conveyors Operate to Increase the Flow of Materials
in most applications, there are two ways to power the roller track conveyor.
- Gravity. To use the power supplied by gravity, rollers can be set at a slight incline. This particular solution is especially cost effective, as it eliminates the need for external power sources. The items do need to be set in motion manually or pushed by some kind of automated force, however, to start the process.
- Power conveyors. In these kinds of conveyors, the rollers are motorized and connected to a power source. That source is also part of a central control system, and this kind of setup and system is typically used to handle heavier loads. It’s also used in automated processes where a high level of precision is essential.
Automation Software for Material Handling with Roller Tracks
There are many advantage to using automated software for materials handling. When this software is uploaded, implemented and monitored, it provides live, real-time monitoring of system performance.
This kind of automated software setup also allows a high level of integration with other automated manufacturing functions. Here are some examples of the system elements that can be linked and automated:
- Robotic arms or entire robotic systems
- Barcode scanners for product labeling and identification
- Sensors throughout the assembly line that perform or assist specific manufacturing functions
- Warehouse management systems
Routing Speed Control, Tracking and Tracing
When automated software is used with roller conveyors throughout an entire manufacturing set up, it can help optimize the entire journey of materials as they make their way through the manufacturing process.
How? The software can be used to analyze the size, weight and composition of the materials to be moved, then adjust the routing to provide the most efficient path through the system.
Precise speed control can also be integrated as part of this movement. This kind of control can be necessary for any number of reasons—the volume of materials, specific handling or safety requirements, downstream availability of parts, and so on.
Finally, this software provides extensive tracking and tracking capabilities. This can be done with barcodes and sensors, and one side benefit is that it improves inventory management as a whole.
It also facilitates quality control, detects errors in the material handling process, and generate an impressive array of data to help analyze performance and improve efficiency.
Handling Materials With Roller Conveyors Increases Efficiency and Safety in Industrial Applications
Because of the degree of control they allow, roller conveyors are an essential element in most continuous flow manufacturing scenarios. This smooth flow increases throughput, and it also increases speed by reducing the manual labor that has to be performed at any point in the manufacturing line.
They also make it possible to utilize space more effectively within a manufacturing facility. This lowers ongoing leasing coasts, and streamlining or reducing the space helps optimize and smooth the flow of materials.
But these benefits aren’t just available in a manufacturing setting. Continuous flow is also implemented in a warehouse environment, and roller conveyors are often an essential part of the layout. They’re a valuable tool for warehouse managers, and they’re just as valued there, if not more so.
Increasing Industry Safety
In many materials handling applications, workers are typically exposed to significant risks. Some of these risks are related to the size, weight and bulk of the materials being moved, while other risks are related to the materials themselves.
Fortunately, with roller tracks, extra safety features can easily be employed to keep workers safe. These include physical guards, sensors that detect the presence of a problem with the roller conveyors themselves, and the ability to generate emergency stops in a matter of seconds to prevent accidents.
Finally, roller tracks lend themselves to ergonomic design. Given the efficiency level they provide, it makes sense to set up the space around them so that workers can do their jobs easily and effectively.
WorkSmart Can Help You Use Roller Tracks to Enhance and Improve Your Assembly Line
At WorkSmart Systems, we’ve helped many manufacturing companies use roller tracks to increase the efficiency of their assembly lines and processes. We can help you define your overall approach, pinpoint the equipment you need, and use roller tracks to improve performance and make your assembly line more efficient.
You can find out more about us at www.worksmartsystems.com, and we also have a separate but related website, www.quixxsmart.com, that will help you with the specific equipment. You can also reach us by phone at (978) 356-5000, and you can email us at sales@worksmartsystems.com.
