Modular conveyors support manufacturer’s recycling program
November 10, 2010
By
Mary Del
MasterTag is a producer of horticultural care tags and merchandising solutions inserted into potted plants and flowers sold at greenhouses and big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes. Since purchasing its first reconfigurable modular conveyor, manufactured by Muskegon, Mich.-based Dynamic Conveyor, MasterTag has installed five DynaCon conveyor systems to address an array of material handling challenges, including ergonomics, process extensions, tight space tolerances and most recently a system to increase recycling and reuse of plastic scrap.
Although MasterTag recycles much of the scrap plastic from its production line, the company’s commitment to environmental issues and sustainability led it to search for a solution to recover the scrap from a newer machine they built. The challenge was getting a conveyor system to fit within the tight space and still have enough room for a bin to collect the scrap.
"Because DynaCon conveyor systems are modular, we were able to build the conveyor around some very tight tolerances," says Greg Stapel, an engineer assistant at MasterTag. "We give them exact dimensions of what we need and they can follow it where others cannot. They seem to be able to match anything that we give them."
Custom modular conveyors are built from common components and accessories designed to meet individual needs, including multiple angle or 45, 90 or 180 degree radius turns. Dynamic Conveyor’s new Low Profile Conveyors use the same reconfigurable conveyor technology as standard DynaCon modular conveyors and come in widths from four to 60 inches. Constructed from lightweight, high-impact polycarbonate in lengths as short as six inches, the conveyors are easily reconfigured by removing, inserting or exchanging modules.
For the recycling application, Dynamic Conveyor provided MasterTag with "a skinny conveyor system, capable of conveying at angles up to 60 degrees that integrated easily into our existing system," says Stapel.
"The DynaCon conveyor systems are so universal, that we just hook the new systems right into our existing conveyor, purchased five or six years ago," he says. "I couldn’t find another conveyor that could do that without spending two or three times the amount of money."
He continues: "Once we got the machine to where we wanted it, and because we are able to slow down or speed up the conveyors based on our processes, we are actually exceeding what we projected and the conveyor is keeping up with that."
In line with MasterTag’s commitment to environmental issues and sustainability, the conveyors offer a sustainable eco-friendly conveying solution by reducing, reconfiguring and reusing, as well as utilizing the most energy efficient motors, ranging from 1/30 to one horsepower.
All DynaCon products offer reconfigurable conveyor technology and come in a variety of widths, lengths and accessory options.
