Conveyors are the backbone of any distribution center warehouse or manufacturing plant. If you make something, you have to move it – often on a roller conveyor. These staples of material handling play a critical role throughout a factory or warehouse for optimization. Conveyor control systems can either be centralized, using a primary PLC, or decentralized using multiple smart field level devices such as block I/O.
Centrally controlled plants or warehouses in which a PLC issues the control commands for the entire facility is often subject to long cycle times. Even with high-performance controllers - especially when networks comprise many nodes, long cycle times can be a challenge.
When centralized control results in the PLC reacting too late, boxes or totes transported on a conveyor can jam or be controlled incorrectly. These errors require manual intervention in the facility. However, this problem could be avoided by implementing decentralized solutions.
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