Food Grade Conveyors
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Designed for Sanitary & Washdown Environments
Food-grade, sanitary and washdown conveyors are designed for environments where cleanability, corrosion resistance and product safety are critical. Depending on the application, that may mean washdown-ready construction or a more sanitary design for direct food contact.
We look at what you’re conveying, how the system needs to be cleaned and how it fits into the rest of your line to recommend the right conveyor design.
Choosing the Right Conveyor for Your Cleaning Requirements
Not every application requires the same level of sanitary construction. From general washdown environments to direct food-contact applications, your conveyor design should match your product, cleaning procedures and sanitation requirements.
Food & Beverage Applications
Food grade conveyor systems can be configured around different products, sanitation requirements, and production stages.
Bakery & Prepared Foods
Move baked goods and prepared foods through processing, cooling, packaging and other production steps.
Meat & Poultry
Designed for demanding sanitation environments, including raw, processed, and packaged products.
Dairy & Eggs
Built for applications that require frequent cleaning and washdown, from dairy products to egg handling.
Beverages
Move bottles, cans, and other containers efficiently through production and packaging lines.
Frozen Foods
Designed to perform in cold, wet environments while supporting sanitation and production requirements.
Packaged Foods
Move cases, cartons, trays, and other packaged products between production, packaging, and downstream processes.
Non-Food Applications
Sanitary and washdown conveyors are also used in industries where cleanliness, corrosion resistance, or frequent equipment cleaning is important.
Pharmaceuticals
Clean production and packaging environments with stringent sanitation requirements.
Personal Care Products
Stainless-steel conveyor systems for cosmetics, toiletries, and other personal care products.
Chemicals
Corrosion-resistant conveyor designs for chemical products and environments that require frequent washdown.
Connecting Your Entire Packaging Line
Integrate conveying with inspection, weighing, labeling, packaging, and end-of-line automation to keep products moving through the line.
Vision Inspection
Inspect products and packages for quality, orientation, presence, and other requirements.
Print date codes, lot numbers, barcodes, and other variable information directly on products or packaging.
Customizing Your Food Grade Conveyor System
Product type, sanitation requirements, washdown procedures, temperature and throughput all influence how a food grade conveyor system should be designed. We evaluate both the production process and cleaning requirements before recommending a solution.
Other key considerations include:
✓ Product contact requirements
✓ Washdown level
✓ Cleaning chemicals
✓ Temperature & environment
✓ Conveyor type & belt material
✓ Equipment integration
How Conveyors Support Larger Automation Projects
Conveyor Integration Reduces Manual Packing While Reusing Existing Equipment
This customer is a private-label bakery for a major regional grocery store chain. They needed to increase production volume while reducing the manual labor required to pack baked goods into cases.
Challenges
- Increasing production volumes: The bakery needed to support higher production volumes with a process that relied heavily on manual case packing.
- Existing equipment integration: The customer wanted to reuse its existing bulk packer, labeling, case sealing, and palletizing equipment as part of the automated process.
Solutions
RMH designed a conveyor system that integrated with the bakery’s existing packaging equipment, allowing the customer to automate more of the case-packing process while using equipment already in its facility.
Product is conveyed from the flash freezer to an elevated infeed on the customer’s bulk packer, which counts the individual baked goods and drops the appropriate quantity into a case below. A zero-pressure accumulation conveyor automatically indexes cases into position beneath the packer and holds each case in place during filling.
Once a case is filled, the bulk packer signals the conveyor to release it. The case then moves through a case shaker to settle the product before continuing to the customer’s existing labeling, case sealing, and palletizing equipment.
The system also includes a manual packing option that allows product to be diverted to operators if the automated packing process is unavailable, helping the bakery maintain production.
In addition to the conveyor hardware, RMH provided the controls package, which included a control panel, PLC programming, and commissioning to operate the system as one complete solution.
Results
✓ Supports increased production volumes
✓ Reduces repetitive manual case packing
✓ Repurposes employees to higher-value roles
✓ Reuses existing packaging equipment
✓ Maintains flexibility with a manual packing option
Conveyor System Helps Bakery Reconfigure Facility for Increased Production Volume
This customer is a large-scale private-label bakery for major retailers nationwide. As part of a facility reconfiguration, they needed a new system to move frozen pies from the freezer to relocated packaging equipment and support increased production volumes.
Challenges
- Facility Reconfiguration: The bakery was reconfiguring an existing facility using equipment relocated from other plants.
- Product Flow: The new layout required a reliable way to move frozen pies from the freezer’s elevated discharge, down to operator level, and to the packaging equipment.
Solutions
RMH designed and integrated a turnkey conveyor system around the new line layout. The system conveys frozen pies from the freezer to the customer’s packaging equipment.
In addition to the conveyor hardware, RMH provided the controls package, which included a control panel, PLC programming, and commissioning to operate the system as one complete solution.
Results
✓ Connects the freezer and packaging processes within the new line layout
✓ Integrates relocated equipment into the reconfigured facility
✓ Automates product movement between production and packaging
✓ Supports plans for increased production volumes
