How will COVID 19 affect the Conveyor Systems market?

The conveyor systems market is nearly always on a growth curve. And even with the current COVID 19 crisis, expectations for future growth are still high. Ultimation President, Richard Canny, explains the reasons that conveyor manufacturers are looking ahead. The material handling segment will see some changes.
 
“The most obvious factor is the rapid shift to e-commerce purchasing channels. The shift away from bricks and mortar stores to online stores was already fast. But in the conveyor systems market we are seeing B2B buyers adopt the same shift rapidly. Online sales of quick-ship conveyors like belt conveyors and roller conveyors is strong”.
 
Many Ultimation customers are companies that are growing fast through e-commerce channels themselves. “They need smart and lean supply chains. This is driving continued investment in conveyors and automation. This is happening with companies of all sizes. But in the floor conveyor segment, we are seeing very fast growth in motor driven roller systems. These conveyors have built in lean-logic. It enables automatic buffer movement of product” said Canny.
 

Micro distribution centers coming to your neighborhood?

Ultimation predicts that some of the present enormous scale distribution facilities will change. Some facilities like those used by Amazon will transition to smaller micro distribution centers. Micro distribution centers will be smaller. They will also be closer to the end user customer locations. Using predictive logic for which items to stock reduces space. They will also customize items in stock to the real time demand in that geographic area.
 
The conveyors utilized in micro distribution centers will be more flexible and lower speed. They will be designed for interaction with both humans and robots. Cobots will share the same compact spaces and assist team members with their work.
 
Oversize parcel handling is also changing the conveyor systems market. This is also true for the Fedex and UPS delivery systems that move them to customer locations. Fedex recently announced rate increases for oversize, difficult to handle packages. This is due to a surge in these type of shipments. Ultimation’s motor-driven roller conveyor systems are ready to handle these. Using pre-engineered modules, zones can range up to ten feet. E-commerce delivery of large, perishable products like garden plants represents a huge challenge. Yet this is also an opportunity for conveyor systems and parcel delivery companies.
 
Conveyor manufacturers are wary of the risks of a second wave of COVID 19 infections. According to Canny, “We are seeing customers focus on quick solutions rather than projects that might take 12+ months to install. Everyone wants to be as cautious as possible right now”.

New Video: How to Build an Overhead Conveyor

How to Build an Overhead Conveyor

Overhead conveyors are great for many plants because they use the space above the production floor. Ultimation’s Amanda Hill shows how companies can design and install their own Overhead Conveyor using the modular Unibilt System.

“The Ultimation and Jervis Webb Unibilt modular conveyor range is kind of like a LEGO set for overhead conveyors” says Ultimation Marketing Specialist, Amanda Hill. “There is a huge range of pre-engineered components that can be joined together in a multitude of ways. Sometimes it’s easier to show this in a video, so we made this three minute segment to show you how.”

Hill says that many of her customers are able to design and install their own system once they have a good understanding of the components that are necessary and what is required to install them. “The Unibilt system is limited only by the imagination of the team working out the plan. So in addition to the layout that might come from the customer, we normally have some of our Ultimation specialists add some of their ideas as well” she said.

Once a customer has an idea on paper of the path that the conveyor will take, the Ultimation team will assist by creating a Bill of Material (BOM). The BOM for a Unibilt system is basically a parts list for everything that will be required to install the conveyor. Many companies then have their own maintenance team do the installation. Others hire a local contractor, or Ultimation can assist with installation or supervise the company’s own contracted team.