For Ermanco, a Paragon Technologies company, this month is a sequel to a debut two years ago. At ProMat 2001, the company introduced narrow-belt sortation. And this month at ProMat 2003, the focus is on narrow-belt accumulation conveyors, says Lee Schomberg, vice president of marketing.

He explains that a great advantage of narrow belt technology is greater compactness of the conveyor as a result of mounting the drive as well as electronic and pneumatic components within the conveyor frame.

The two-inch wide narrow belt, says Gordon Hellberg, vice president of sales, is ultra-high strength and can be installed in lengths up to 300 feet. The replacement of metal lacing with a hot-melt splice reduces noise as does a hollow-shaft direct drive that eliminates all chain, sprockets and chain guards.

The belt-driven live roller conveyor, which electronically senses products, eliminates all line pressure and is best suited to warehousing and distribution operations where the size and weight of conveyed products varies. These narrow-belt advances, along with other recent product developments, says Leon Kirschner, chief operating officer and president, are central to Ermanco's expansion beyond being a supplier primarily of line-shaft conveyor.

"With these and other products, we have arrived at a point where we have a broad product range that meets the needs of distribution centers," explains Kirschner.