Making the manufacturing process as smooth, seamless and efficient as possible is essential to high product yield, and bigger profits. This is why the transfer conveyor has become so essential in many industrial and other settings. These handy systems allow for the easy movement and uninterrupted flow of products around factories and premises, boosting output and keeping the supply chain going. 

There are many kinds of transfer conveyor, including those used in manufacturing and the types you see at baggage security checks and carousels at airports. They’re all designed to do one basic thing: carry loads ranging from light to heavy and get them from A to B in as fast a time as possible without causing any damage. 

Today's transfer conveyors are sophisticated and versatile pieces of equipment that can also be mobile and extend over three and a half times their length to fit whatever job is being done. They've become so vital at transfer points for bulk products that their use has been soaring in recent times, and manufacturers are racing to keep up with transfer conveyor demand around the world. 

Big Appetite for Transfer Conveyors

The global market for transfer conveyors is growing so rapidly that it's forecast to increase by 4.5% year-on-year to 2025, with a projected worth of just over $10 billion, up from slightly over $7.7 billion in 2019, according to new research. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the scale of manufacturing in the region, Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing market for transfer conveyors, the research says. And the digital economy is pushing up demand, as more people shop online and want their goods as quickly as possible, putting additional pressure on manufacturers to get their products made and out of the factory. 

"With the globalization of the economy, shorter product cycles and the advancements in e-commerce, the international flow of goods is increasing and accelerating, which is driving the market studied," says the research. 

No Waiting Around for Products

Customers are, in fact, getting their online-ordered items faster than ever before, according to the research, which says that in 2012, parcels were delivered in 5.5 days on average while in 2019, the delivery window had shrunk to half that, between two and three days — a testament to speedier manufacturing and delivery processes, and courier firms also use transfer conveyors to move their parcels about quickly. 

"The conveyor systems market is influenced by various factors, such as industrial growth, expansions, modernisation of industries and product and process-specific conditions," says the research analysis. "Conveyor systems help in simplifying the task of handling bulky materials. It plays a vital role in operations by reducing and minimising the production cycle time and errors respectively."

And it says that the “increasing usage of online retailing, coupled with changing consumer behaviour towards goods purchasing, is likely to have a positive impact on the adoption of conveyor and sortation systems. In addition, many companies already invested in the sortation facility are expected to increase their capacity owing to the rising demand.”

Transfer conveyors were also critical in the pharmaceutical sector last year, as the coronavirus pandemic raged and companies rushed to develop vaccines on massive scales, helping them to quickly get their product out to every country in the world. It was the same story in the food and beverage sector, the research notes, as increased demand was placed on manufacturers to keep production going around the clock to meet sharply rising demand. 

The humble transfer conveyor — in all its shapes and sizes and featuring rollers, belts and wheels — keeps manufacturing rolling with hardly any effort at all.