Case Study: Shingle Line Production

January 16, 2024

Performance and dependability are critical during shingle production. Belts need to be built to take constant punishment and hold up to the rigorous demands placed on them every day.

Motion Conveyance Solutions' Volta product line offers belts specifically designed for some of the most demanding requirements and challenging applications in the field—from puncture resistance to abrasive material. Volta is proven to last longer.

The Gritty Problem

An East Coast-based building materials manufacturer, with revenues over $3 billion, was looking to improve common issues with belts used in their shingle production facility. Roofing plants commonly struggle with losing belts due to failing mechanical fasteners. In most cases, the belt carcasses remained intact, and the failure resulted from shingle grit wearing out the bottom of the mechanical fastener plate that ran across the slider bed.

A Homogeneous Solution

Motion Conveyance Solutions worked with the manufacturer to install the Volta FEZ Homogeneous Green TPE Smooth x Embossed belt to multiple applications within different production stages throughout their facility. This belt completely eliminates the need for a mechanical fastener and instead uses a butt weld—where the ends of the belt are fused together. This eliminates the need for mechanical fasteners and solving the customer’s issue.

Seeing Is Believing

The belt started at a 4 mm width, and four weeks later, the belt was still 4 mm thick, showing no signs of elongation. One belt showed wear, including a large puncture from something getting caught in the machine during the fourth week of use, but it was still operational. The customer chose not to change the belt to see how long it would run, and seven months later, the belt still had not failed.

Throughout the seven-month timetable, there was no need to retension or reweld any belts. Previously, the manufacturer had tried a three-ply blue rough top and four-ply transmission belt, but each typically lasted about a week. When using the Volta FEZ belt on another application, the customer achieved eight months of use, significantly reducing down time and increasing production.

Longer Life and More Profit

Having to change conveyor belts weekly forced the customer to make large investments in a belt stocking program for the machine. They also had to devote at least four maintenance hours per week to the procedure. The customer completed a cost savings analysis on this line and calculated a total annual materials cost savings of $80,000.

Due to the success of this one location, the president of the shingle division decided to put these high-abrasion-resistant Volta belts into additional shingle production facilities.