Manufacturing Industry Conveyor Systems
Custom Conveyor & Equipment Corporation has been engineering material handling solutions for the manufacturing sector since 1984. Our Cedar Rapids, Iowa facility combines advanced fabrication capabilities with four decades of manufacturing expertise to deliver conveyor systems that improve production efficiency across diverse manufacturing environments.
Fabrication Capabilities Designed for Manufacturing Demands
Manufacturing facilities require conveyor systems built to exacting standards with materials and construction techniques that ensure long-term reliability under continuous operation. Custom Conveyor’s in-house fabrication capabilities enable us to engineer and build these precision systems from the ground up.
Precision Cutting and Forming
Our 3kW fiber laser system processes steel sheets up to 6 feet by 12 feet, allowing us to create complex conveyor components with tight tolerances. This cutting technology ensures consistent part geometry across production runs, critical for manufacturing conveyors where alignment and fit determine system performance.
The 300-ton press brake with a 12-foot bed capacity enables us to form heavy-gauge materials into structural components that withstand the rigors of manufacturing environments. From roller bed frames to belt conveyor structures, our forming capabilities support conveyor designs ranging from lightweight transfer systems to heavy-duty industrial applications.
Multi-Material Welding Proficiency
Manufacturing conveyor systems often require specific material selections based on the products being handled, environmental conditions, or cleanliness requirements. Our welding capabilities span carbon steel for general manufacturing applications, stainless steel for food processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aluminum for applications requiring corrosion resistance or weight reduction.
This multi-material expertise allows us to engineer conveyor systems optimized for each manufacturing environment. Whether supporting heavy machined parts on carbon steel roller conveyors or transporting delicate components on aluminum belt systems, we select and fabricate with materials appropriate to the application.
Conveyor Solutions Across Manufacturing Disciplines
Manufacturing encompasses an extraordinarily diverse range of processes, materials, and production methods. Custom Conveyor has developed expertise across this spectrum, engineering material handling solutions for manufacturing operations from high-volume consumer goods production to custom heavy equipment fabrication.
General Manufacturing Operations
Day-to-day manufacturing floor operations require conveyors that move work-in-process between stations, feed machines with raw materials or components, and transfer finished products to packaging or shipping areas. These systems must integrate seamlessly with existing production layouts, accommodate varying product sizes and weights, and provide reliable performance shift after shift.
Custom Conveyor engineers general manufacturing conveyors based on detailed understanding of production flows, cycle times, and material characteristics. We consider factors like product orientation requirements, accumulation needs during production pauses, and integration with automated systems or manual workstations.
Precision Machining Environments
Machine shops and precision manufacturing facilities present specific conveyor requirements. Chip conveyors must remove metal swarf from CNC machines while recovering valuable coolant. Part transfer systems need to move machined components between operations without causing surface damage or contamination. Automation cells require precisely timed conveyor movements synchronized with robotic handlers.
Our experience with machining operations informs conveyor designs that address these specialized needs. We engineer systems that protect finished surfaces, resist coolant exposure, and integrate with manufacturing automation protocols.
Assembly Line Integration
Assembly operations require conveyors that present components to workstations at ergonomic heights and orientations, accumulate work during downstream delays, and move assemblies through multi-station processes at controlled rates. Custom Conveyor designs assembly conveyors that support both manual and automated assembly operations.
From simple roller conveyors that allow workers to manually advance assemblies between stations to powered systems with precise speed control and accumulation zones, we engineer solutions matched to assembly process requirements. Our systems support lean manufacturing principles by enabling efficient material flow and minimizing work-in-process inventory.
Heavy Industrial Manufacturing
Foundries, steel fabrication facilities, and heavy equipment manufacturers handle products that test the limits of material handling equipment. Castings weighing thousands of pounds, structural steel components, and assembled machinery require conveyor systems engineered for extreme loads.
Custom Conveyor has designed and built heavy-duty systems supporting loads from a few hundred pounds to six tons per unit. Our structural engineering approach ensures these conveyors provide stable transport while withstanding the shock loads and harsh conditions typical of heavy manufacturing environments.
Define Your Need → Engineer A Solution → Deliver For You
This three-phase process has guided our manufacturing conveyor projects for over forty years. Each phase builds on detailed understanding of your production requirements, facility constraints, and operational goals.
Phase One: Define Your Need
Manufacturing conveyor requirements emerge from production processes, not abstract specifications. We begin by understanding what you manufacture, how you manufacture it, and what material handling challenges you face. This involves examining product characteristics, production rates, facility layouts, and integration requirements with existing equipment.
For manufacturing applications, we pay particular attention to factors like product weight ranges, dimensions and geometry, surface finish requirements, and environmental conditions. A conveyor moving precision machined components requires fundamentally different design considerations than one transporting castings or weldments.
Phase Two: Engineer A Solution
With a thorough understanding of your manufacturing operation, our engineering team develops conveyor solutions that address your specific requirements. This isn’t selecting from standard product lines—it’s custom engineering based on your actual needs.
We determine appropriate conveyor types, materials, drive systems, and controls. We design for integration with your facility’s layout and existing equipment. We engineer for reliability under your operating conditions. The result is a conveyor system specification tailored to your manufacturing environment.
Phase Three: Deliver For You
Engineering drawings become physical conveyor systems in our Cedar Rapids fabrication facility. Our in-house manufacturing capabilities—from laser cutting to welding to assembly—ensure the conveyor system we deliver matches the engineering specifications we developed for your application.
This integrated approach from engineering through fabrication to delivery means accountability resides with a single source. When you work with Custom Conveyor, you’re working with the team that designs your system and the facility that builds it.
Material Selection for Manufacturing Conveyors
Manufacturing environments span a wide range of conditions and requirements. The conveyor materials appropriate for an electronics assembly clean room differ significantly from those needed in a foundry. Custom Conveyor’s multi-material fabrication capabilities allow us to engineer conveyor systems with materials matched to each application.
Carbon Steel Construction
Most general manufacturing conveyors utilize carbon steel structural components and frames. This material provides excellent strength-to-cost ratios for applications where corrosion resistance isn’t critical and surface finish requirements permit standard industrial coatings.
Our carbon steel welding and fabrication capabilities support conveyor systems from light-duty transfer applications through heavy industrial designs. Proper material selection, appropriate structural design, and quality fabrication ensure these systems deliver years of reliable manufacturing service.
Stainless Steel Applications
When manufacturing processes require corrosion resistance, cleanability, or compliance with specific industry standards, stainless steel conveyors provide the solution. Our stainless welding capabilities enable construction of complete conveyor systems in various stainless grades.
Food processing manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, and certain precision manufacturing environments specify stainless steel material handling equipment. Custom Conveyor engineers and fabricates stainless conveyors that meet these stringent requirements while maintaining the structural integrity and performance characteristics the application demands.
Aluminum Construction Benefits
Specific manufacturing applications benefit from aluminum conveyor construction. Weight-sensitive applications, corrosive environments, or situations requiring frequent conveyor relocation make aluminum an attractive material choice.
Our aluminum welding expertise allows us to design and build conveyor systems that leverage aluminum’s properties while addressing its unique fabrication requirements. The result is lightweight, corrosion-resistant conveyor systems appropriate for specialized manufacturing needs.
Engineering Across the Scale Spectrum
Manufacturing products range from miniature electronic components weighing grams to industrial equipment weighing tons. Custom Conveyor’s engineering and fabrication capabilities span this entire spectrum—we’ve built conveyor systems for products from 6 grams to 6 tons per unit.
Light Product Handling
Small, lightweight manufacturing products require conveyors engineered for gentle handling and precise positioning. Belt conveyors with appropriate tracking, roller systems with small roller diameters, or specialized designs that prevent product damage while maintaining production rates.
Our engineering approach for light product conveyors focuses on preventing product slippage, controlling static accumulation, and ensuring smooth transitions between conveyor sections. These systems must move products reliably without the mass and momentum that helps stabilize heavier items.
Medium Load Conveyors
Most manufacturing products fall into the medium weight category—from a few pounds to several hundred pounds per unit. Conveyor systems for this range represent our most common manufacturing applications.
These conveyors balance structural requirements with cost efficiency. We engineer systems robust enough for reliable long-term operation while avoiding over-design that increases cost without improving performance. The goal is a conveyor system appropriately matched to the application’s actual requirements.
Heavy Load Capacity
Manufacturing environments producing castings, weldments, fabricated structures, or assembled heavy equipment require conveyors engineered for substantial loads. Custom Conveyor has designed heavy-duty systems supporting individual unit weights measured in tons.
Heavy load conveyors require careful structural engineering, appropriate drive system sizing, and robust construction. Our 300-ton press brake enables forming of heavy-gauge structural members. Our welding capabilities ensure frame integrity under load. The result is conveyor systems that safely and reliably transport heavy manufacturing products.
Cedar Rapids Engineering and Manufacturing
Custom Conveyor & Equipment Corporation has operated from Cedar Rapids, Iowa since our founding in 1984. This Midwest manufacturing location provides several advantages for our manufacturing industry clients.
Central geographic positioning enables efficient shipping to manufacturing facilities across the United States. Our location places us within reasonable transportation distance of major manufacturing regions from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, from the Mid-Atlantic to the Mountain West.
The Cedar Rapids facility houses our complete engineering and fabrication operations. When you visit Custom Conveyor, you see the laser cutting systems, press brakes, welding stations, and assembly areas where your conveyor system will be engineered and built. This integrated operation ensures accountability and quality control throughout the manufacturing process.
Four Decades of Manufacturing Conveyor Experience
Since 1984, Custom Conveyor has been engineering material handling solutions for manufacturing clients. Forty years of experience across diverse manufacturing sectors has developed our understanding of what makes conveyor systems succeed in production environments.
We’ve learned that successful manufacturing conveyors result from thorough understanding of the application, appropriate engineering solutions, and quality fabrication. Standard products rarely optimize manufacturing material handling. Custom engineering based on actual requirements produces conveyor systems that improve production efficiency and deliver long-term reliability.
This experience informs every project we undertake. Whether you’re adding a conveyor to an existing production line or engineering material handling for a new manufacturing facility, Custom Conveyor brings four decades of manufacturing industry expertise to your project.
Discuss Your Manufacturing Conveyor Requirements
Manufacturing conveyor projects begin with conversation about your specific requirements. What are you manufacturing? What material handling challenges do you face? What are your production goals?
Custom Conveyor & Equipment Corporation welcomes the opportunity to discuss your manufacturing material handling needs. Our engineering team can help you define requirements, explore solutions, and develop conveyor systems that improve your production operations.
Contact us at (319) 449-3322 or visit our contact page to start the conversation. We’re ready to apply forty years of manufacturing conveyor experience to your project.
