Create and connect conveyors

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Conveyors play a vital role in material handling and logistics simulations,

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allowing you to move flow items from one point to another within your model.

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You can easily create and join conveyors, as well as adjust conveyor visuals, directions,

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and features to design a realistic and effective conveyor system.

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Begin with your model open in FlexSim.

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In the Library, under Conveyors, select Conveyor, and in the options, select Straight.

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Click a location in the model to place one end of the conveyor.

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The end remains anchored to this location as you then drag the other end of the conveyor to lengthen, shorten, or control its direction.

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When you are ready, simply click to place the conveyor.

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Select the Conveyor.

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In Properties, you can set the appearance.

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Expand the Visualization menu, and you have the option to select between a Roller, Belt, or MassFlow conveyor.

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Note that these are visual changes only, and changing the actual behavior of the conveyor would require further parameter adjustments.

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For now, select RollerConveyor.

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You can also control the direction of the conveyor.

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Simply click the Switch Direction icon to reverse its direction.

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As this is clicked, notice that the yellow directional arrow on the conveyor in the Model switches as well.

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To reposition the conveyor within your Model, click and drag it within the 3D space.

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To resize the conveyor, click in the middle of the red arrows at either end to lengthen or shorten the conveyor or to change its angle.

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Next, in the Library, select Conveyors, and this time, select Curved.

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Click in the Model to place one end of the curved conveyor.

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Like the straight conveyor, you can use your cursor to determine how big or small the conveyor is, as well as adjust its radius.

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Once the curved conveyor is placed, click Switch Direction to adjust the flow direction,

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use the green arrow to adjust the conveyor radius, and the red arrows at either end to adjust the size.

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Here, a second straight conveyor is added to illustrate how Join Conveyors works.

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In the Library, select Join Conveyors.

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In the Model, click the first straight conveyor, and then click the new conveyor to join them.

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This creates a perfectly curved section of the conveyor that would be hard to achieve otherwise.

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Next, connect the straight conveyor to the curved conveyor.

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Once again, the Join Conveyors feature automatically creates a seamless connection.

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Zoom in on the connections between conveyor segments,

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and you can see that each is marked by a symbol with two lines, also known as a transfer.

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You can also create a transfer by adding a conveyor and then dragging it to meet another.

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As you can see here, this automatically creates a transfer.

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Now you can create, connect, and design conveyors in your model to optimize your material handling systems.