Expanding Production: Spiral Conveyor Solutions for Food Manufacturers

The food manufacturing industry continues to grow steadily as consumers prefer greater convenience from producers. The latest results from The State of Food Manufacturing Survey show that over half of the Top 100 food manufacturers reported an increase in throughput for the last year. Higher demand, new product lines and customers, and updated equipment, were some of the top reasons listed for the increased throughput. 

Keeping production costs down while increasing throughput is the shortest path to improved profitability. Below, we look at how an edge-driven spiral conveyor from SideDrive Conveyor can assist facilities that want to expand production capacity and capitalize on increased demand. 

7 Ways an Edge-Driven Spiral Conveyor Helps Expand Production Capacity

Our edge-driven spiral conveyors utilize the latest food-safe belting technology to provide safe and sanitary production operations. With multiple configurations available to suit food manufacturing applications, you can develop a spiral conveyor solution that maximizes throughput, reduces downtime, and ensures product quality throughout your production cycles. 

Increased Production Capacity

A spiral conveyor allows for the continuous flow of products through the facility with limited transfers that could lead to product loss. In frozen food applications, the gentle and smooth movement of items to the packaging area will reduce the risk of material loss compared to standard incline or decline conveyors. 

Similarly, for cooling, curing, and proofing applications, a spiral conveyor eliminates manual handling of trays while providing the exact dwell time required. 

Better Space Utilization

Space constraints in some facilities will make expanding production a challenge. The utilization of vertical space with a spiral conveyor overcomes these constraints by elevating or lowerating products within the smallest footprint possible. Spiral conveyors can also travel in different directions in the same footprint, allowing more products to flow continuously between production stages. 

With configurations like alpines and p-loops, products can travel up and over certain areas, enabling manufacturers to utilize vertical space for increased throughput without increasing the plant's floor space.

Flexible Scalability

SideDrive Conveyor’s spirals are modular designs with a tighter turning radius compared to other solutions. When your production needs change, you can expand operations by adding new sections or creating multi-directional product flows within the same frame construction. 

Along with integrating long-run, transferless conveyors with your processing equipment, putting two belts on the same structure allows for intake and discharge from two separate production lines. 

Integration with Existing Systems

Due to the modularity and flexibility of our edge-driven spiral designs, manufacturers can integrate our solutions with their existing systems and machines. 

Adding a spiral to an existing system can reduce manual handling, limit labor dependency, and maximize the possible throughput of the facility.

Sanitation and Cleanability

The open-frame construction helps speed up the cleaning and sanitation regimes. Combined with a sanitary design that eliminates harborage areas, an edge-driven spiral is the most hygienic solution available on the market. 

The Intralox plastic belting reduces the amount of residues remaining after a washdown, making our spiral solution a safer option when handling products directly on the belt. 

Reliability and Overall Equipment Effectiveness

Along with the open and accessible construction, belt tension can lead to wear on components that increases maintenance requirements. At SideDrive, the drive locations are placed where they maintain the belt tension and reduce wear while being accessible to maintenance personnel for quicker servicing and repair. 

Additionally, we can integrate sensors to capture deviations in tension and alert maintenance staff to make the necessary adjustments. 

Reduced Total Cost of Ownership

The increased efficiency and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of a SideDrive Conveyor spiral will reduce the TCO and speed up the ROI of your system. Faster cleaning, safer operations, and an accessible design make a SideDrive spiral conveyor an economical investment when you need to ramp up production capacity. 

With our CAD drawings also available for download on the site, you can start laying a spiral solution for your food manufacturing application today. 

Ramp Up Your Production Capacity with a SideDrive Spiral Conveyor

Expanding your production throughput and maximizing the use of space in your facility is possible with a SideDrive Conveyor spiral. Our solutions are versatile, reliable, and sanitary by design to help you get more out of your production facilities. 

If you need to increase your capacity to meet demand and reduce your cost of ownership, speak to SideDrive Conveyor today.