What do American Airlines, Avery Dennison, Amazon.com and Nordstorm have in common? All have plans in place for improving their materials handling operations in the short term with new conveyors. And even more important, they are not alone. Not by a long shot.

According to a Modern Materials Handling survey, 77% of respondents say they plan to buy conveyors in the next 18 months. The survey was done online recently over the readership of MMH. Results are based on responses from 515 readers.

The big question that remains is when will corporate managers pull the trigger and allow new conveyor projects to proceed. There appears to be some expectation that will be soon, as 50% of those surveyed said they were currently evaluating suppliers for their new conveyor needs. Some 28% are currently buying their systems, 23% have established a preferred vendor list, while 18% are in the process of selecting a supplier.

American Airlines, for instance, is already moving along. 'We are looking now for conveyors that will allow us to do in-line scanning of bags,' says Philip Gargula, American's facilities manager at O'Hare Airport in Chicago. 'The system is under design now and should be completed within the next twelve months.'

Already, American has in place seven miles of conveyors to handle baggage at O'Hare. It is an extensive system, able to route thousands of bags quickly to their destinations. Belt conveyors are used exclusively at this hub, with most bags placed directly on the belts. Push diverters sort the luggage to the appropriate planes.

Despite all that, American needs to upgrade. It's required by new security requirements following 9-11. And while only a handful of companies are required by law to upgrade their conveyors, American is clearly part of a larger trend in conveyor buying.

'Many conveyor users have been holding off their purchases because of the economy,' says Robert Reinfried, executive vice president of the Conveyor Equipment Manufacturers Association. 'Conveyor manufacturers are optimistic now. They are seeing more activity with inquiries and some bigger jobs.'

During the past two years when potential users have been sitting on projects, a number of conveyor manufacturers have had to cut back their operations due to slowing orders. Reinfried says that some manufacturers are concerned that they may not be able to keep up with demand once the logjam breaks and orders begin flowing once more.

'They are very lean right now and will continue to be cautious until they are sure that the economy is recovering,' he adds.

The MMH survey also shows that new conveyor purchases will be used in all facets of operations, with many respondents stating that they plan to buy conveyors for more than one facility. Conveyors for manufacturing lead the way, with 64% saying they intend to use their new conveyors within plant operations.

Avery Dennison uses a combination of flat belt and roller conveyors in its manufacturing facility in Meridian, Miss. The plant produces office products, specifically three-ring binders and sheet protectors. Most conveyors are used to transport products from manufacturing machines to the packaging areas. The binders ride on flat belt conveyors, while the sheet protectors are placed into bags or cartons, and then are carried on powered roller conveyors to packaging.

The conveyors are the most efficient way of moving our products,' says Donald King, manufacturing engineer at Avery Dennison.

King says that one improvement he hopes to make in the near future is to add more sensors to his roller conveyors so that the rollers stop and do not keep turning when products accumulate.

'We also are looking at adding robotic palletizing this year, and will need conveyors for that as well,' he says.

In addition to manufacturing, the MMH survey reveals that distribution centers and warehouses will also receive their share of new conveyors during the next 18 months. Some 43% of those surveyed said they intend to buy conveyors for their DCs, while 22% said they will place new conveyors in their warehouses. More than 10% are buying conveyors for more than two buildings, with another 8% buying for all three types of operations—manufacturing, distribution and warehousing.

Amazon.com just completed a major expansion and re-engineering of its conveyor systems at its distribution facility in Fernley, Nevada. The company may be adding another pick module to the building this year, which will require additional conveyors.

'Conveyors play an absolutely critical role here,' says Scott Bickley, procurement and inventory manager at Amazon. 'Everything revolves around the conveyors. We use them for everything from picking to packing to shipping. We have every type of conveyor here, but the majority are mechanically driven belt conveyors.'

Belt conveyors are well-suited to handling the wide range of books, music, toys and home improvement products at Amazon.com. They offer positive transport to items of all weights and sizes.

Belt conveyors are also very common in many other facilities. In fact, more than half of those surveyed say they plan to buy belt conveyors, making them tops on our survey list. Other types mentioned as most likely to purchase are roller, gravity flow, accumulation and pallet conveyors.

Nordstrom, the department store chain, is in the planning stages of a project that will add new conveyors and 24 additional diverts to the shipping sorter at its Dubuque, Iowa distribution center. The facility is a super DC, meaning that it ships not only to stores, but to other Nordstrom fulfillment centers as well.

Most of the products distributed from Dubuque are garments shipping to Midwestern stores. Some are flat packed into cartons and conveyed by live roller units directly to outbound docks. They are then floor loaded onto trucks.

Hanging garments rely on power-and-free trolley conveyors for transport. The trolley conveyor system will also be upgraded this year. Before the facility added conveyors about ten years ago, all handling was done by lift truck and pallet jacks.

'The conveyors do most of the transport within the facility, says Dave Yockey, systems specialist. 'We could not live without them.'

Clearly, conveyors continue to be an integral part of the supply chain that few facilities can do without. They are a key component to both manufacturing and distribution. And if the economy soon shows more than just a heartbeat, new conveyors may move from corporate wish lists to reality.