Steel conveyer belts were invented during the turn of the 20th century with the introduction of assembly lines being introduced by Henry Ford in 1913. Over the years, businesses in a variety of industries have implemented conveyer belts into their operations to make moving items faster and easier than the job would be with other equipment and human labor. Today, the same advantages that conveyer belts provided to coal mines and assembly lines during the 1900s has made them an integral part of fulfillment centers, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities.
One major difference in the way conveyer belts are used today is the scale on which they are run. Thanks to global trade, some of these facilities actually require complex conveyer systems that cover several miles of area, sending plastic containers to a series of checkpoints before the items are removed from the containers, packaged, and sent to their destination. While corrugated cardboard boxes have been used for a long time and are still used in smaller conveyer systems, many of these high-volume businesses have turned to plastic containers or totes. Many feel that they offer a number of advantages that can’t be overlooked.
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