Installing a conveyor system at a business facility generally involves significant costs.
It can also be costly to change an existing conveyor system. With FlexSim, you can
experiment risk-free until you find the ideal way to configure your conveyor system and
maximize its throughput.
FlexSim's conveyor objects have several useful features:
Slug Building and Merge Control - You can create
conveyors that will accumulate a slug of items on a conveyor and then release it once
the slug is ready. Using this feature in conjunction with the merge controller object
and/or the Process Flow tool, you can easily implement sawtooth merges without writing
any custom code.
Range-Based Transfer Points - Operators can pick up
or drop off items from a range of possible transfer points along the conveyor rather
than a single fixed point, making it easier to simulate picking operations. When picking
items from a conveyor, operators will automatically predict a proper pick up point on
the conveyor based on item speed, operator speed, and distance.
Improved Photo Eyes - You can build more
sophisticated logic into photo eyes, such as programming them to trigger certain events
or logic if they are blocked or if they are clear for a specific amount of time. You can
also make more precise adjustments to the height and angle of the photo eye on the
conveyor.
Decision Points and Stations - Decision points and
stations can be used to build complex logic into a conveyor system. You can place
decision point objects and stations on a conveyor to act as a sensor, processing
station, or a communication point for other objects, such as the merge controller.
Improved Movement Controls - FlexSim's conveyor
system has many possible options for controlling how items transfer between the
conveyors, including speed, delay time, and pop-up distance. You can also adjust a
roller skew angle on a conveyor, so that items will accumulate on one side of the
conveyor if needed. You can also tilt, translate, and rotate items while moving along
the conveyor.
Item Orientation - You can define any orientation
for items on a conveyor. This orientation will automatically persist across multiple
sections, and will update its calculations to match the object's orientation when the
item transfers through side transfers.
Power and Free - With the conveyor system you can
simulate power and free systems and easily define the chain's dog gap.
Conveyor System Settings
The Conveyor System properties window can be used to set the default properties for all
conveyor objects in your simulation model. For example, you can create custom conveyor types
and then use the conveyor system tool to ensure that each new conveyor you create is
automatically assigned that type. You can also use the Conveyor System properties to change
the visual settings for the conveyor system. See
Reference
- Conveyor System for more information.