Planning for growth means getting the warehouse equipment in place to support your stock through receiving, putaway, packing, and shipping. Conveyor systems are the circulatory system of the warehouse and as such need to be kept in tip-top shape whether they are gravity systems or use powered rollers to move items over longer and flatter distances. The first guide that a conveyor operator should keep handy is OSHA’s standards for conveyor systems. If your conveyors do not meet the standards, it’s time for a refurbishment, refitting, or even replacement.
How to Care for Your Conveyor Systems
Taking care of a conveyor system is a matter of simple preventative maintenance practices that take at most a few minutes out of each shift.
1. Keep the area around the conveyor clean. If your place is a mess, you might not see what’s going wrong. Clues to early problems include leaking lubricant from sealed joints and metal dust or shavings from a steel conveyor roller that is wearing out.
2. Clean the conveyor. Weekly cleaning would be ideal for a conveyor in everyday use. Get rid of dust and dirt that conceal problems with the belt and rollers, and then restart the system. Yes, it’s downtime, but so is replacing a while section of rollers instead of one or two.
3. Listen up! There might not be any other indication of trouble aside from a rattle, a squeal, or a screech to indicate an oncoming failure of a steel conveyor roller in your conveyor system.
4. Have inspections every year or six months. Have a professional come and inspect the conveyor system from top to bottom a couple of times per year. An experienced servicing company can often spot problems before they can cause more damage.
Finally, when seeking out parts to keep your system rolling smoothly, look for companies with a reputation for professionalism and service. After all, the heart of your warehouse is going to be in their hands.