Nobody has time to waste redoing work simply because they had the wrong tools. Integrator design engineers creating CAD solid models and designing conveyor layouts for customers’ automated conveyor systems are no different. But in our industry, it’s common for design engineers to spend hours re-creating models and layouts or adjusting their master assembly when a change is requested or when a customer changes the project scope. Why? Because until Glide-Line, no one had provided a better way to do things.

Automated conveyor system design engineers are consistently telling us one thing: change management is a struggle to do efficiently. It’s why we created a solution: a configurator that allows you to bridge your design in SOLIDWORKS using Excel, save it on your own computer, and make changes to the model in your master assembly instead of re-downloading every time. It’s also smart enough to help you make those changes and serve as a back-up calculator for modifications.

Throughout the entire conveyor design process, changes are inevitably required or requested, updates need implementing, and rework of the master assembly is needed. Using better conveyor design software from Glide-Line, with just a few clicks, you’re able to reconfigure the conveyor applications in your master assembly and have instantly updated models, part numbers, and pricing using an in-context configurator. The best part? It’s free to use.

IMPACT! is the most advanced, yet simplest, automation conveyor design software available. It combines the five elements every conveyor system design integration needs: CAD blocks Snap-to (magnetic) pairing/mating in SOLIDWORKS Firm, pricing Application calculations Part number generation

Does the conveyor portion of your automation project scope ever change? It does?!? (We thought so.) We all know that with fast-moving projects there are a lot of changes in a system scope or design through the life of the project. Reducing conveyor lead time while still accommodating scope changes for automated conveyor systems is a priority for the design engineers we work with. Even seemingly small changes can have big design implications, so minimizing the design time needed for these changes is has a huge impact (almost no pun intended).

We’re taking it a bit far with the Tinder reference, but what IMPACT! does for conveyor solid modeling is what Tinder did for the dating scene: it's added efficiency and specificity.

Designing conveyor applications shouldn’t be a complicated, unpredictable, tedious part of your automation system design process. But for many design engineers, that’s what it’s become. Maybe your applications engineering and/or sales team has already started the process with a concept model, and you’re taking over the fine details to ensure the conveyor applications fit where you need them. Or maybe you were involved from the beginning on the design process, but constant changes to your conveyor design are taking up valuable time and resources you could be dedicating elsewhere.

A visionary design engineer should be able to analyze proposed applications for a client’s intended purpose as well as recommend unique solutions when changes are needed. To do that effectively, you’ll need detailed conveyor CAD models and drawings and, when you’re done, an accurate bill of materials. Both can be accomplished easily with an in-context configurator, a proprietary software from Glide-Line.

Quick conveyor lead times are often a driving factor behind an application engineer’s choice in conveyor system manufacturer. If you’re sick and tired of dealing with seemingly endless lead times, frustratingly long revision processes, and the challenges of a manufacturer who doesn’t put your needs – and those of your client – first, then look no further than Glide-Line. Here’s how you can shorten those lead times.

Your customers may need a faster lead time for their automation for any number of reasons, and conveyor lead times are an important factor. From securing the necessary budget to selecting an engineering partner and identifying the project scope, the lead time shortens for the final pieces of the project as each week goes by.