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We wrote previously in this blog about the space that an overhead conveyor can open up in a warehouse and factory.

While we talked mainly about freeing up floor space for new machinery and processes. We didn’t really emphasize one of the most precious commodities of all in any factory or warehouse: Storage Space

If yours is like the vast majority of plants, you are always looking for space to store something. Whether it’s the raw materials for your processes, parts or finished product. It seems like you’re always on the hunt for an open spot.

While some operations will try to find temporary storage space, rent trailers or even do a renovation of their facility to add storage, few would think of using an overhead conveyor system to solve the problem.

But look up. Look up at all that space you have overhead. When you design and install an overhead conveyor, all that space, almost every cubic foot, becomes usable for storage.

How Overhead Conveyors Work to Maximize Your Storage

With the ability to adopt any configuration. Change elevations and go around any obstacle, overhead conveyors can take up your product into space you’re not using until you need it.

Here are three examples of what we mean:

1. Domtar Packaging

The company stores leather dies, each one needed on demand to print shipping labels for a variety of destinations. Instead of using up valuable floor space, Domtar chose an overhead conveyor system that lets them automatically retrieve whichever die they need, and return it to storage, without the operator leaving the floor.

2. Automotive Parts Storage

Irregularly-shaped automotive parts coming off a manufacturing line are carried along an extended overhead conveyor system so that an “inventory” of parts can be built up before they reach the next stage in the manufacturing process.

3. Packing Boxes

Cardboard boxes used in pick-and-pack and co-packing processes are assembled and sent aloft on an overhead conveyor. Whether a single box or hundreds are needed, they can be removed from the system as required.

If your plant is suffering from a chronic lack of storage space, think about a conveyor system – the answer might just be overhead.