BLOOMFIELD, CT—Conveyor manufacturer mk North America has released a new version of its online conveyor modeling tool. The latest release of CAD360! features enhanced design tools and better access to equipment models to make it faster and easier to design and share custom conveyor systems from the manufacturer.

Short-cycle applications have a wide range of requirements. Manufacturing engineers must consider numerous aspects of transfer systems: Can the system move forwards and back again? How flexible is it? What sizes and weights can be transported? Can it be expanded if necessary?

Industry 4.0 is the hottest trend to hit the manufacturing world since the Toyota Production System started to transform assembly lines two decades ago. Although most of the talk about digital production systems and smart factories involves things such as augmented reality, collaborative robots or data analytics, conveyors play an equally important role.

Walk into any modern assembly and packaging facility, and the conveyor systems may very well resemble roller coasters at an amusement park—going up steep inclines, moving down drops, and twisting and turning around equipment and machinery as they transfer product from one area of the plant to another.