In December of 2021, Kevin Mauger and Jenna Orrock were featured on a Design World Webinar called The Future of Manufacturing: Next Generation Multi-Strand Conveyor Design. In this blog, you can read through the main transcription, what was covered in the webinar, and/or watch clips directly from the webinar.

Problems tend to stack up quickly in the OEM world. With the COVID disruptions, labor shortages, and increased demand for automated conveying solutions, everyone is scrambling to find a workaround for the current VFD drive shortages.

So you have a manufacturing process that produces large assemblies. You need a conveyor system that will increase your throughput and enable you to optimize the orientation, access, and presentation of your products. And to automate your material handling, you need to have innovative devices and solutions that integrate seamlessly with your existing setup.

Fabricators and manufacturers of sheet metal assemblies who want to increase production efficiency and throughput can benefit from an integrated “direct product handling” conveyor system (we use the term “direct” to indicate that it is not on a pallet). For each process stage, special considerations may apply that require optimum orientation, presentation, and access while indexing products on the conveying line.

The life of an application engineer is never boring. Along with all the daily challenges that come with keeping the production line running, engineers searching for suitable solutions that can automate assembly operations when manufacturing complex products is just as entertaining as watching Tommy Boy – if you’re into that kind of thing.

When designing a solution for the safe and efficient transfer of large glass products, engineers need to overcome a host of different challenges. For each item coming down the line, product safety and expert control remain the biggest concerns. When handling glass products of various sizes, innovative solutions are required for their gentle transfer, orientation, presentation, access, and exposure on the production line.

Happy Holidays from the team at Glide-Line! Now we are well aware that you probably don’t still believe in Santa Claus, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get into the holiday spirit and make some merry metaphors. So, just for fun, we tried to think of the top three innovations that the jolly ol’ guy would take advantage of in our catalog of conveyor system solutions.

Very often your customer’s precision products require special handling to ensure proper assembly without breaking, scuffing, sticking, or jarring in the conveying process. Well, our flexible conveyor systems allow you to ditch these five things in your conveying process to better protect those precision products.

Metal fabricators need material handling conveyor systems that enable them to cut, shape, and mold products accurately at different stages in the process. Conveying products directly may be one of the biggest challenges for fabricators and manufacturers concerned about the efficient handling and manipulation of wider products.

Moving photovoltaic solar panels through an assembly line today is a delicate process that involves intricate movements, transfers, and rotations. Traditional systems may suffice when the product doesn’t rely on multiple assembly stages, or when it doesn’t require exact control during every step of the process. However, for relatively delicate wide products like solar panels, many manufacturing facilities are looking for a more economical conveyance solution that provides precise control and maximum configurability to help automate the processes for increased throughput – without compromising product quality.