The global market for Conveyor System is projected to reach US$9 billion by 2025, driven by the strong focus shed on automation and production efficiency in the era of smart factory and industry 4.0. Automating labor intensive operations is the starting point for automation, and as the most labor intensive process in manufacturing and warehousing, material handling is at the bottom of the automation pyramid. Defined as the movement of products and materials throughout the manufacturing process, material handling is labor intensive and expensive. Benefits of automating material handling include reduced human role in unproductive, repetitive and labor intensive tasks and the ensuing freeing up of resources for other core activities; greater throughput capability; better space utilization; increased production control; inventory control; improved stock rotation; reduced operation cost; improved worker safety; reduced losses from damage; and reduction in handling costs.

Benefiting from increased investments in factory automation are conveyor systems, the workhorse of every processing and manufacturing plant. Technology innovation remains crucial to growth in the market. Few of the noteworthy innovations include use of direct drive motors that eliminate gears and helps engineer simplified and compact models; active conveyor belt systems perfected for efficient positioning of load; smart conveyors with advanced motion control technology; development of vacuum conveyors for fragile products that need to be placed securely; backlit conveyor belts for improved assembly line productivity and lower error rate; flexible (adjustable-width) conveyors that can accommodate different shaped and sized objects; energy efficient designs with smarter motors and controllers.

Object detection on a conveyor belt such as food-grade metal-detectable belt or magnetic conveyor belt is a huge revenue generating innovation targeted at the food end-use industry which helps identify metal contaminants in food as it travels along the processing stages. Among the application areas, manufacturing, processing, logistics and warehousing are major end-use markets. Airports are emerging as a new end-use opportunity with growing passenger traffic and increased need to reduce baggage check-in time resulting in increased deployment of baggage conveying systems.

The United States and Europe represent large markets worldwide with a combined share of 56%. China ranks as the fastest growing market with a 6.5% CAGR over the analysis period supported by the Made in China (MIC) 2025 initiative that aims to bring the country’s massive manufacturing and production sector into the forefront of global technology competitiveness. Inspired by Germany’s ”Industry 4.0″, MIC 2025 will enhance adoption of automation, digital and IoT technologies. Faced with new and changing economic forces, the Chinese government through this initiative is stepping up investments in cutting edge robotics, automation and digital IT technologies to competitively integrate into the global manufacturing chain dominated by industrialized economies such as EU, Germany and the United States and move from being a low cost competitor to a direct added-value competitor. The scenario bodes well for the adoption of conveyor systems in the country.