A trade magazine we read recently published an edition with an air-supported belt conveyor featured prominently on its cover. Over it were the words, “Competitive Edge” and “Money-Saving Strategies.” We laughed when we saw it because the support structure for the conveyor must have cost an arm and a leg. The article accompanying the image explains that the suspension cable supports used for the conveyor are meant to reduce construction costs and eliminate foundation work.
Perhaps that’s true, but when you compare the support requirements for the conveyor to what’s required for our SMART Conveyors™, you realize there are more savings to be had.
The support towers in the image appear to be distanced about 40′ apart. That’s what’s required for our SMART Conveyors™. But unlike the conveyors in the magazine, our supports do not need cables nor the extra height to accommodate them. And so material costs, installation costs, and installation times are lower with SMART Conveyors™ than with this system.
More could be said regarding the comparison between SMART Conveyors™ and the air-supported belt conveyors featured on the magazine cover (efficiency, capacity, power requirements), but suffice it to say that if installation costs are important to you, SMART Conveyors™ win hands down over the competition. SMART Conveyors™ are built in modular, 5-foot sections that bolt together for rapid construction, and we equip our machines with 5-foot support mounts, which allow for variances that inevitably come with concrete work and which make matching the supports to the conveyor frame difficult.
When comparing bids, make sure to consider the entire cost of installation. The price of the conveyor alone will not give you the full picture. And “cost saving” structures do not necessarily mean the system costs less than others on the market.
Do you want some numbers to compare with other bids you’ve received? Contact us. We can quickly work up a proposal so you can do just that.
