Best practices -- Conveyor system

Manufacturing industry

Conveyor system eliminates need for manual material handling

A manufacturer of stand-assist devices installed a gravity roller-conveyor system to transport product from the assembly department to the shipping area.

Prior to the installation of the conveyor, material was manually transferred across the facility from assembly to shipping. Forklifts were later used to transport material, but, because of facility size constraints, forklifts were not considered a safe and efficient option.

With the conveyor system, product can easily be transported across the facility, eliminating forklift traffic within the production areas of the facility. The system has also reduced the manual material-handling requirements for employees.

The conveyor system has eliminated the associated risk of accidents and property damage caused by forklift use in a confined area. It has helped minimize injuries associated with manual material handling and has reduced the amount of time employees spend transporting product through the facility, improving work efficiency. Now product is set on the conveyor and it is automatically transported to shipping without further employee assistance.

A gravity roller-conveyor system transports product from assembly to shipping at a stand-assist devices manufacturer, eliminating forklift use in a confined area.

Disclaimer:  Photographs of commercially available products posted on this site are for reference purposes only and do not imply any endorsement by the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. The best-practices ideas have been reviewed and posted solely at the discretion of the department and should only be considered as possible examples for reducing risk factors, based on existing ergonomics guidelines. Employers and employees need to work together to identify and control ergonomics risk factors within the workplace to better ensure changes made to a work process will be effective in reducing risk-factors and maintaining work efficiency.