The Richards-Wilcox Powered Overhead Zig-Zag Conveyor in the Houston Food Bank is moving over 750,000 lbs. of food per day to help thousands of American families affected by COVID-19. Here’s the full story.

COVID-19 is impacting our lives in unthinkable ways. While medical professionals are working tirelessly to control the pandemic’s direct impact on health, an army of frontline workers across sectors are taking unprecedented measures to mitigate the indirect socioeconomic impact of the pandemic on the community.

As people continue to lose their jobs, more and more Americans are becoming food insecure. Hunger Relief Organization, Feeding America, is now preparing to feed 17.1 million people, on top of the 37 million that they already serve. Not surprisingly, food banks are starved for resources and manpower needed to meet the growing demand.

A few years ago, Richards-Wilcox Conveyor had the opportunity to design a conveyor system for the Houston Food Bank. We knew that the Houston Food Bank couldn’t afford downtime. A lot of families depended on them. Our goal was to help automate their process with minimal human intervention and increased efficiency. A goal that seems all the more relevant and significant in the current times.

“Randy Degood with Progressive Handling reached out to us to help design a conveyor system for the Houston Food Bank. After several ideas and input from all parties, we developed a system that allows them to prepare 750,000 lbs. of food per day.”

– Matt Chorski, Systems Sales Manager, Richards-Wilcox Conveyor.

Today, we’re proud to see our conveyor hard at work in the Houston Food Bank – supporting President Brian Greene and his team on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.

The COVID-19 crisis also brings to light the importance of cleanliness and hygiene in protecting people from the pandemic. By reducing manual handling of food, our conveyors not only help the Houston Food Bank meet the strict safety and sanitary regulations, but also maximize productivity and process efficiency.

Designed to be durable and reliable — while providing flexibility and customization, our powered overhead Zig-Zag conveyor is helping the Houston Food Bank respond faster, stronger, and smarter to COVID-19. The Richards-Wilcox team is proud to work with clients like the Houston Food Bank, and engineer conveyor solutions that keep factories future-ready at all times.

100 years ago, Richards-Wilcox Conveyor gave the world something no one had seen before.

The overhead enclosed track conveyor. Several generations and two industrial revolutions later, we continue to lead our clients into the future by engineering the world’s most effective conveyor solutions.

Evolution and innovation are at the heart of everything we do.

Inspired by British naturalist Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution: the species that are best able to adapt to changing environments are the ones most likely to survive in the long run – we got thinking about evolution in our industry.

For centuries, our conveyors have carried the same qualities as some of the most evolved species that walk the surface of this earth.

Tested in the Wild for More Than 100 Years…

Our systems are designed to adapt.

Flexible, modular, and integrated with your technology and your evolving floorplan.

Our conveyors are built for the future.

When the world changes and the pace quickens, you will stay at the front of the pack.

Our solutions are engineered to evolve.

Constantly adapting to meet the challenges of the modern factory.

Our new brand brings this vision to life in every word, pixel and piece of metal.

It stands tall in the form of larger-than-life beasts we built from the same steel structures that make our conveyors – serving as a daily reminder of our power and purpose.

As we celebrate our legacy and look boldly to our future, we encourage you to explore our new website to see how our company has evolved with every creative conveyor solution we engineer.

Since its introduction in the early 20th century, the overhead conveyor has revolutionized several industries. These conveyors use an arrangement of overhead monorail systems to move products connected to the monorail from one point to another, thus allowing for seamless transitions between various process operations. This automated transportation of goods and materials minimizes human labor and, as a result, significantly reduces time, as well as cost.

Overhead conveyors offer numerous advantages. Specifically, they free up valuable floor space, thereby maximizing facility floorplan layouts and increasing plant efficiency and flexibility.

Richards-Wilcox’s Zig-Zag overhead conveyor can be used in almost any industry that requires items to be transported around facilities as part of their daily operations. They are ideal for a number of applications ranging from simple, in-line systems to complex storage retrieval systems.

Conveyor-Assisted Industries

Although the applications for Zig-Zag monorail conveyors can be plentiful, some of their most common industrial applications are:

• Manufacturing – Overhead conveyors are an essential element in manufacturing automation. Assisting in a broad variety of processes ranging from assembly to fabrication and packaging, Zig-Zag conveyors aid the movement of parts or components – particularly heavy or bulky items – from one phase of the manufacturing cycle to another automatically.
• Warehouses & Distribution Centers – In the warehouse and distribution industry, sorting, tracking, and packaging large amounts of items are essential to daily operations. Overhead conveyors often deliver the empty cartons or totes to the picking modules while maximizing floor space, thereby allowing workers to focus on specific tasks with minimal obstructions at ground level.
• Automotive repair – Because automotive parts are often cumbersome, manual transportation can be impractical in the repair industry. As an alternative, Zig-Zag overhead conveyors are the ideal automotive parts conveyor for rapidly and consistently transporting car parts and bodies from one repair or assembly process to another. For instance, a car part can be moved from the stamping process straight to painting in an automated and seamless fashion.
• Paint finishing and detailing – Zig-Zag conveyors are also useful solutions for handling products during painting and detailing operations. Since the monorails are installed overhead to increase available floor area, painters have ample working space to work with bulky and complex shapes.
• Garment industry – Correctional institutions, hospitals, dry cleaning facilities, and hotels all make use of overhead conveyors to easily store and retrieve garments or textiles. By utilizing overhead space, multiple levels of clothing storage increase storage capacity. Enclosed monorail systems can also be used for highly efficient and automated employee uniform retrieval systems.
• Food & beverage – Process automation in the food and beverage industry is crucial as increasing consumer demand and fierce competition necessitates faster and more efficient production. Conveyors move food products between various processes ranging from manufacturing to packaging with minimal human intervention and increased efficiency. The use of conveyors and the reduction of manual handling are also essential for meeting strict safety and sanitary regulations.

The versatility of Zig-Zag monorail systems also makes them suitable for other applications such as:

• Inventory storage
• Plating rack storage
• Die-cast rack storage

Installing a Zig-Zag Overhead Monorail System

Richards-Wilcox Conveyor Zig-Zag overhead monorail systems offer several benefits over conventional conveyor systems. The standard modular construction of the monorails is designed to be durable and reliable while providing essential flexibility and customization for a broad range of applications.

To learn more about how Zig-Zag monorail systems can address your conveying need or to discuss the specifics of our installation process, please contact our technical support team for more information.

Richards-Wilcox Conveyor Provides a Single Solution to Integrate Carton, Tote, and Trash Handling

Aurora, IL – Richard-Wilcox Zig-Zag® Overhead Enclosed Chain Conveyor provides a singular solution for multiple applications. Manufacturing and Distribution centers can now combine three operations such as carton, tote distribution, and trash handling all in one powerful and durable overhead conveyor system that can integrate with existing floor conveyor systems. By implementing a Zig-Zag system, companies can increase packing efficiency and productivity, realize a cleaner and safer working environment, and automate manual functions to significantly reduce labor hours.

Contact Richards-Wilcox today to get a free copy of our Zig-Zag demo video on CD-ROM and learn how you can increase productivity and streamline your distribution.
Call for more information 888-852-1020 or e-mail [email protected] .

Richards-Wilcox. American Made. American Owned.

Richards-Wilcox Twin-Trak Power & Free Side-by-Side Conveyor For Limited Space Applications

Aurora, IL – Richards-Wilcox Twin-Trak Conveyors combine power & free capability with a side-by-side track configuration. Twin-Trak offers the ideal medium-to-high capacity solution for product storage and transportation where limited overhead space is available.

Twin-Trak’s side-by-side design uses only 8” of vertical space and can be installed in facilities where an over and under Power & Free conveyor is out of the question. Twin-Trak is designed for applications such as progressive assembly, finishing systems, and WIP buffer storage.

Twin-Trak increases throughput using controlled accumulation and delivery, eliminating the usual wait time with storage banks. Work in process is stored overhead, freeing floor space, and is transported down to meet production requirements for each stage of the operation. This system delivers the right parts at the right time to the correct operation, making a continuous flow. Twin-Trak eliminates product rehandling and manual transporting by integrating finishing and assembly processes in one material handling system.

Call for more information 888-852-1020 or e-mail [email protected].

Richards-Wilcox: American Made, American Owned