Within your shipping department, the space between your permanent conveyor system and the back of the trucks you're loading is more than just a gap; It's often the place where productivity drops and safety risks rise. This is where powered flexible conveyor systems such as those manufactured by Bestflex come into play, transforming a logistical bottleneck into a streamlined, efficient component of your operation.

In this article, we'll explore the benefits you could realize from adding flexible conveyor to your facility, as well as taking a look at PowerTrax Conveyor Handlers, a must-have accessory for any fast-moving logistics operation.

Core Benefits of Flex Conveyor: Why Flexibility is the Key to an Efficient Shipping Dock

The fast-paced, ever-changing world of your shipping and receiving dock doesn't lend itself very well to permanent runs of powered or gravity conveyor. Even when you can end your conveyor runs close to your dock doors, you still have to address loading or unloading the truck, which could be feet away. Travel time between the end of your run into the trailer adds up over the course of loading an entire trailer. Flexible conveyor's adaptable design is here to relieve all of your issues:

• Boosted Productivity & Efficiency: A Flexible Conveyor system easily maneuvers tight corners and cramped spaces, seamlessly bridging the gap into and out of trucks from up to dozens of feet away. With packages continuously moving into or out of the trailer automatically, accelerating load/unload times and saving your team valuable time and energy for more important tasks.
• Enhanced Ergonomics & Safety: With less manual lifting and transport, your team enjoys reduced fatigue & potential for injury. Designed to be easily moved into position by two operators with the help of ergonomic side handles and the optional PowerTrax Conveyor Handler Accessory, positioning & setup is quick, easy, and straightforward.
• Superior Flow Control: With optional photo-eye sensors available with power flex conveyor, you can bring zero-pressure accumulation all the way into the trailer. By dividing the conveyor system into discrete photo eye zones, packages can queue without touching one another. Additionally, the system can act as an automatic stop, preventing package overloading and bringing packages gently to the discharge point without impact.
• Stows Away Neatly: When the job is done, Flex Conveyor neatly retracts to up to just 60% of its extended length and rolls away to a convenient storage location. This high compaction ratio frees up valuable floor space in front of dock doors for other equipment and floor traffic, a crucial factor in space-constrained facilities.

Flex Conveyor In Action: Common Shipping & Receiving Applications

Flexible Conveyor is designed to be a helpful asset for several critical dock operations, including:

• Direct Truck Loading & Unloading: The most common use for flex conveyor, seamlessly extending your logistics systm into trailers.
• Multi-Door Service: One flexible conveyor can be moved and reconfigured to several dock doors based on daily needs, maximizing equipment ROI
• Portable Assembly & Pacing: Flex conveyor is useful in many areas around your facility. In receiving, it can serve as a paced breakdown line for incoming packages. In shipping, it can feed sortation or packing stations. In assembly or manufacturing, flex conveyor can function as a paced line between assembly stages.
• Augmenting Existing Systems: Flex conveyor can be the perfect first or last mile connection to fixed conveyor systems, especially in situations where a permanent installation isn't practical.

Flex Conveyor Technical Specifications At A Glance

BestFlex systems are built for heavy-duty, daily use in commercial and industrial environments. Here's a snapshot of their key capabilities:

• Load Capacity: Most flexible conveyors are designed to support up to 100 lbs. per linear foot.
• Roller Diameters: 1.5" or 1.9" heavy-duty steel rollers are commonplace in most powered conveyor systems. With gravity flexible conveyor, skatewheels are also an option.
• Conveyor Widths: 18", 24", 30", & 36" wide models are the most common. Manufacturers can often custom fabricate flex conveyor to wider or narrower widths based on your needs.
• Extended Lengths: Most flex conveyor range between 12' and 48' long when fully extended. Multiple units of flex conveyor can be spliced together with a splice kit to achieve a customized length, but keep in mind longer runs of flex conveyor are more unwieldy than shorter ones.
• Power & Speed: 120V AC Motors provide line speeds up to 120 feet per minute in some models of conveyor.
• Mobility: Heavy-duty rotating, lockable casters offer both smooth movement and stabilization when needed.

PowerTrax: The Must-Have BestFlex Accessory That Positions Your Conveyor Faster

Flex conveyor by itself may be a productity multiplier within your shipping department, but even the thought of positioning your longest lines of Flex Conveyor can be exhausting to imagine. This is where the PowerTrax Conveyor Handler comes into play!

Equipped with its own AC motor and simply installed to the end of your existing flex conveyor, the PowerTrax Conveyor Handler assists your operators in positioning the conveyor with the help of a motorized boost at the push of a button. Pneumatic slick wheels provide positive traction to travel easily over dock levelers and other inclines. An optional electric brake is available from the manufacturer to hold the PowerTrax on larger inclines. Adjustable height capabilities meet your operators at an ergonomic working height. Available photo-eye packages from the manufacturer allow for additional zones directly on top of the PowerTrax, providing just a little more space for operators to load onto your accumulation-style flex conveyor.

All in all, PowerTrax Powered Assist Conveyor Handlers are a nearly essential accessory for any high-throughput shipping operation, almost as important as the flexible conveyor it's mounted to!