Multi-station conveyor
Multi-station conveyors are often installed to simplify the design of conveyors and the installation of drives. Problems can arise if the system operation requires the full utilization of all spaces for transport or buffering (e.g. for storage lines to a storage and retrieval machine).
As long as the section of the multi-station conveyor can be supplied faster than it can discharge, every slot is occupied. However, as soon as the supply is slower, either a wait or a gap must be created. In this case of low-load operation, this is not a problem. However, if a high-load phase occurs again, the gap can no longer be closed and the buffer or conveying capacity remains unused, which is of course undesirable. Even the best software can no longer close a gap. For this reason, multi-station conveyors are only suitable for routes where a high occupancy density is not required or where the loss of time to form a block is compensated for by a sufficiently long journey.
You can find more information on the “Transportation” section under Transportation in material flow control.
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