What happens when product for an automated sorting line dries up? Production grinds to a halt, and workers stand around waiting for maintenance to come restore the flow. Overhead costs increase as the minutes tick away. As equipment ages, this happens more frequently. Sometimes the solution isn’t to replace the worn equipment. Sometimes it takes rethinking the solution.

The cereals and dry snacks division of a globally recognized food manufacturer was having problems keeping its sorting conveyors moving. Two main conveyors would each deflect product to two sets of eight secondary conveyors, for a total of 16 possible paths.

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