Overhead handling equipment Pros and Cons

-- Modern Materials Handling, 8/1/2004

Overhead Conveyor
Pros
·Provides cost-effective accumulation and sortation
·Requires less structural support
·Blends well into highly automated environments

Cons
·Challenging to maintain
·Higher noise than other technologies
·Difficult to modify once installed

Power-and-Free
Pros
·Low cost
·Easy to modify
·Easy to maintain

Cons
·Not very fast
·May require under guards

Monorail
Pros
·High operating speeds
·Flexible and easy to route as needed
·Highly customizable load interfaces

Cons
·More expensive than other technologies
·Requires significant structural work
·Requires regular maintenance
·May require under guards

Cranes
Pros
·Can handle very heavy loads
·Multiple axes of motion simultaneously
·Low maintenance requirements

Cons
·Significant structural implications
·Unique safety issues
·A fixed asset that can do one thing at a time
·Expensive to automate

Source: HK Systems