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Beyond the Belt: Why Conveyors Are Secretly Awesome (and Full of Fun!)

Beyond the Belt: Why Conveyors Are Secretly Awesome (and Full of Fun!)

Jan 29, 2026

Pipistrelle bat leaning over the top of a fence
Beyond the Belt: Why Conveyors Are Secretly Awesome (and Full of Fun!)

When you hear the word “conveyor,” what comes to mind? Probably a luggage carousel, a supermarket checkout or maybe a factory assembly line. These are important uses but they don’t portray the fun world of conveyors very well!

Conveyors are, at their heart, incredibly versatile systems for moving things from one place to another. But it’s this fundamental simplicity that opens up a universe of creative possibilities.

Let’s dive into some examples that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about these humble machines.

The Bat Accelerator

Bats are synonymous with their calls and echoes. Scientists have reimagined a conveyor system to research how bats compute the echoes they make when they fly.

When flying, a bat’s echoes return at different rates depending on how near they are to objects are and how fast they are flying. This creates a kind of ‘sound flow’ but the detail on how this is used by the bat has always been a bit of mystery.

A conveyor system was created to learn more. It had 8,000 revolving panels clad in plastic ivy on either side of an eight-meter stretch of woodland path: a well-known commuting corridor for wild pipistrelle bats in Bristol. The panels rotated either in the same or opposite direction of bat flight.

This system revealed that when panels rotated in the direction of flight, bats flew faster. When panels rotated in the opposite direction, bats slowed down—by as much as 28 percent. So, conveyors can officially speed up and slow down bats. More findings on this University of Bristol study are here.

A screen grab from the influencer Joeseph's Machines video showing a conveyor belt with objects on including salad leaves which are being blown into a man's mouth by a hairdryer.

The Conveyor-5-Course-Meal-Feeder

If you’ve ever watched a “Joseph’s Machine” video, you know the pure delight of watching everyday objects perform intricate, Wallace & Gromit style sequences. And guess what can play a starring role in these elaborate contraptions? You’ve guessed it – conveyors!

When this team re-purposed an IKEA roller blind into a belt conveyor that ingeniously feeds you a 5 course meal courtesy of everyday objects… you have to see it. 15 million other people already have.

Theme Park Thrills

Ever ridden a log flume or a roller coaster?

Chances are, conveyors are working behind the scenes, pulling your boat up a steep incline or guiding your vehicle through an immersive experience.

They’re essential for creating those seamless transitions and exciting drops that make theme park rides so memorable.

Roller Coaster
Theatres scene showing three sillhouettes behind the red curtain in different poses

Musical Theatrics

Special effects are expected in most big theatre shows these days and conveyors can very much be a part of these jaw-dropping effects. In the West End and other theatrical homes, conveyors are often used as travellators for dancers and actors to make fluid movements without toing and froing from stage left to stage right. A crucial requirement  of these conveyors is quietness as noisy machinery really does spoil a good musical!

Looking Beyond The Obvious

The next time you encounter a conveyor, consider its ingenious engineering and the potential for unexpected applications. A lot of fun can be had when you combine creativity and conveyors. From accelerating bats to creating theatrical spectacles, conveyors are far more exciting than they often get credit for.

 

Are you a theatre company employee, a theme park manager, an influencer or a bat scientist? If so, we are here for all your conveyor needs – get in touch on 01623 354473.

Pallets are Becoming More Reusable and we LOVE it

Pallets are Becoming More Reusable and we LOVE it

Nov 13, 2025

Pallet handling is in our blood and we’ve noticed an interesting shift…

Lockdown made pallet waste visible

How many vertical planters were made out of wooden pallets in lockdown? That strange era introduced many UK consumers to the prevalence of single use pallets as we merrily shopped online for garden furniture, desks, freezers, gym equipment, hot tubs… to try and turn our temporary prisons into homes that we could enjoy, or at least endure.

A new era in reusable pallet models

We’re pleased to report a noticeable shift in the pallet world. Pallets are becoming reusable and repairable with pallet suppliers such as CHEP and PECO Pallet leading the way here. These organisations, and others with a similar ethos, are creating sharing pallet models that keep pallets out of landfill (and gardens).

Along with enormous environmental benefits, there are also economical benefits since the need for buying pallet stock disappears. This can be brilliant for anyone only wishing to use pallets temporarily such as for events.

How it works

It’s a simple idea that is really catching on:

  1. Customers rent out high quality pallets to transport their materials
  2. Pallets are periodically returned to depots
  3. Each pallet is rigorously inspected and, if necessary, repaired to ensure it is safe to use
  4. Out they go to a customer again

How many times can you reuse a pallet?

So how reusable is a pallet? For wooden pallets you can expect 5-10 years of use if each one transports items 30 times per year. So that equates to up to 300 uses per pallet.

In fact, our conveyors have been known to carry pallets made of plastic and even metal – all with different levels of durability and reusability.

Long live pallets!

Need any pallet handling?

We have an abundance of warehouse-focused customers so naturally pallets are a common cargo for our conveyors. We’d be delighted to help you get your pallets from A to B. Simply contact us.

Where Have all the Warehouse Workers Gone…

Where Have all the Warehouse Workers Gone…

Sep 18, 2024

A huge rise in ecommerce has fuelled the need for warehouse workers, but where are they all? It would seem that this industry is now suffering with a lack of labour just when it so desperately needs more people.

 

Where has everyone gone?

We can, to some extent, attribute this employee shortage to the B-word. Pre-Brexit, probably about one in five warehouse workers were from the EU so there are obvious implications affecting 2021 onwards. But this is by no means the only reason.

 

Image is everything

The industry also has an image problem with new potential recruits considering the sector ‘boring’. Maybe the work can be unstimulating… also warehouse environments can be noisy and cold. Plus, the jobs on offer are often challenging and shift-based.

 

E-commerce is driving new developments in Warehouse Automation

So, what is the answer? One is definitely needed as consumers are not turning their backs on online shopping anytime soon.

New technology and warehouse automation systems are changing the playing field. They are physically replacing manual jobs for a start, but also elevating what would once be lower-level manual jobs into positions that require being able to run, manage and question these new systems to make sure that they are performing optimally. This certainly sounds like it could pique more candidates’ interest.

 

New entrants are shaking things up

Smaller businesses can now compete in the warehousing space too due to technological advances replacing the need for labour. And we’re seeing a host of new players arriving which is adding welcome diversity to the industry.

 

Warehousing is the future

Far from being an undesirable career option, warehousing has the potential to house the perfect blend of technological and human talent in forthcoming years. Technology, conveyors and automation are key to this transition, so why not see how they could help your warehouse. All you need to do is have a quick no obligation chat with PJP Conveyors. Simple!

 

Photo by Tiger Lily

 

Warehouse Automation is very much our thing

We are always automating a warehouse somewhere or other. Here are some projects that give you a real flavour of what we can achieve.

High-speed product sorter conveyor system for footwear supplier

This huge digital conveyor project incorporates scanning technology, transfer units, zero line pressure (ZLP) roller conveyors and a whole lot more. We designed, developed and implemented this massive product sorting system for a footwear manufacturer and it remains one of our largest ever projects.

Warehouse Automation - High speed product sorter conveyor system for footwear supplier
Warehouse Automation - Sorting a common warehouse bottleneck

Sorting a common warehouse bottleneck

We streamlined the end of line/despatch process for a pet food supplier to get rid of bottlenecks. Prior to our system, the customer could complete an order every 3-4 minutes. Our system reduced this to one every 10 seconds.

Automated solution for cosmetics supplier

We created a complete Dimensioning Weighing and Scanning (DWS) System to allow each parcel of a cosmetics manufacturer to be weighed & measured and the info printed on a carrier label.

Warehouse Automation - Automated solution for cosmetics supplier
Warehouse Automation - System upgrade for international security product supplier

System upgrade for international security product supplier

To support new picking, scanning and despatch processes we had to introduce modern transfer units, new ZLP roller conveyors, new scanner outputs, upgraded PLC software and adapted the human-machine interface (HMI).

If you like what you see, get in touch

The quickest way to get hold of us is on 01623 354473.

Why Does Engineering Not Seem to be a Place for Young People?

Why Does Engineering Not Seem to be a Place for Young People?

Jun 27, 2024

Whenever we visit a site, we fully expect to be dealing with onsite engineers who are in the latter stages of their careers. We’re talking in particular about mechanical engineers and mechanical fitters. We certainly never encounter anyone fresh out of school or university and rarely even someone in their 30s.

The issue extends into the computer side of engineering too which is a huge cutting-edge area. Yet, PLC engineers/programmers working with programme logic controllers on site are rarely starting out in their careers. Conversations we have had suggest that younger people prefer sitting at desks coding on PCs, rather than setting up controls in factory and warehouse sites – this one baffles us since we love being out and about in the thick of it!

 

Why there are so many missing engineers

From 1981, British manufacturing faced a really tough time. Jobs in manufacturing declined 21% from 1981 – 1991, 15% from 1991 – 2001, and 33% from 2001 – 2011[1]. Finally, thanks to changes in economic policy, the sector in terms of jobs is increasing but the damage is done. Lots of people saw British manufacturing being passed up in favour of factories in developing nations and stayed away. This created a huge skills gap across these periods.

Apprenticeships also contributed to the shortage. These declined from the mid-70s which prevented a lot of people from gaining the practical skills to become engineers. This lack of skilled technical entrants is sometimes termed the ‘missing middle’.

 

Hopefully things are now on the up

The government is now focusing on a huge STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) drive in the British education system. Certainly, if you talk to many GCSE or A-Level students about what sort of job they would like to do, engineering in all of its glorious forms features heavily in their aspirations. There are also specific initiatives to get more females and diversity into STEM.

In 2022, some 22.8% of degrees in Great Britain were in STEM subjects[2]. Whilst this doesn’t sound too bad, if you compare it to India at 34% or Germany at 36.2% you start to see that we are not quite keeping up the new flow of potential engineers. But it’s better than it was and hopefully this new generation of mechanical, manufacturing, and computer science engineers are employed before all the people we deal with retire!

 

Get in touch if you’d like to chat with us about engineering, conveyors or to see how we could help your operations.

 

[1] Source LSE

[2] Data from Statista

 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Circularity in Manufacturing

Circularity in Manufacturing

Jan 16, 2024

Sustainability. It’s not a choice. Especially since, according to World Bank Open Data, manufacturing causes 20% of global carbon emissions. What sustainability looks like will vary from industry to industry, but a common concept is circularity. British manufacturing has circularity high on its agenda to help achieve government net-zero targets. But what changes are we likely to see from this initiative?

 

Goodbye to ‘take – make – dispose’

The concept of ‘take – make – dispose’ should become a thing of the past. We know that extracting resources from the Earth can destroy habitats, cause erosion and contaminate soil/water.  Equally, the concept of disposing makes many of us think of toxins leaching into rivers, wildlife being strangled by plastic and landfill sites emitting greenhouse gases.

Reduce, reuse, recycle is now a household mantra that is also key to how manufacturing operates with circularity.

 

Reducing resources

In manufacturing the ‘reduce’ element typically focuses on driving efficiency and using less to make more. This might focus on using less energy or maintaining equipment properly so it doesn’t need replacing so often. With so much more data available through in-house systems and wider data sharing initiatives, inefficiencies are now much easier to spot. We can understand where they lie in processes and can even quantify particular product’s carbon footprints.

 

Reuse as a concept

Reuse in manufacturing produces some inspirational examples. We’ve seen car life spans being extended by having their combustion engines removed and being turned into electric vehicles. Product life cycles are now considered a lot more. This explains why we’re seeing a rise in the manufacture of products that can be rented, re-sold and re-manufactured.

 

Pre- and post- production recycling

Recycling manifests itself in two ways. Firstly, with responsible sourcing of materials that avoids raw materials wherever possible. Secondly, by recycling any industrial waste that is produced. Thankfully, innovation now means many more products can be recycled. However, there isn’t yet a full suite of recycled products that equals their virgin alternatives in terms of cost and price. More work needs to be done.

 

Digital and technological advances

It’s a comforting thought that across the world there are teams of entrepreneurs and scientists looking for breakthroughs to help manufacturers reduce, reuse and recycle. We are keeping our eyes peeled.

Interestingly, it’s not always about the new – sometimes traditional methods make a resurgence. Certainly, we’ve had a lot of recent interest in gravity conveyors which use no electricity, simply gravity to transport items between different floors.

 

Want to see how green we can make your operations?

Get in touch for an efficient conveyor, with a long life ahead of it: future-proofed by replacement parts and servicing options.

 

Manufacturing in 2023: 5 Major Changes we’ve Noticed

Manufacturing in 2023: 5 Major Changes we’ve Noticed

Oct 3, 2023

We have spent several decades in factories and seen a great deal of change during that time. Here are our recent observations on the latest trends in manufacturing – in particular in British manufacturing. We’ve also included our thoughts on the opportunities and challenges they bring.

 

1) Data is huge

Whilst we work with electrical controls and integrating them into conveyor systems, the sheer breadth of electrical components now in manufacturing processes has given businesses more data than ever before. Dashboards, showing key management information, are something we see on most site visits. This constant reporting means problems are found quickly and can be dealt with.

 

2) A changing shift in the perception of AI

AI is very much becoming the norm in manufacturing and its presence is noticeably modernising manufacturing processes. Inventory management, supply chain management, predicting demand… it all uses AI now. AI is uniting entire supply chains and giving factories the ability to manufacture seamlessly. The fear that initially surrounded AI and its potential to take away jobs is lessening. In fact, seeing cobots working alongside human workforces to make processes slicker and safer is ever more common.

 

3) Predictive maintenance

This is a particular area of AI that interest PJP. Servicing and maintenance are essential to protecting hard-working equipment. And now AI is taking this idea to the next level with predictive maintenance systems helping companies nail the optimum time to replace parts: ensuring components use close to their maximum lifespan and minimising costly downtime caused by wear and tear.

 

4) Reduction in the workforce

Recruitment challenges are huge. The ‘great resignation’ we are still seeing has been caused by the perfect storm of low unemployment rates and high inflation in a post pandemic world where many workers are assessing their work-life balances. It’s a struggle to recruit skilled manufacturing engineers and workers – this is being compounded by many overseas workers now being painfully difficult to attract with new visa requirements.

 

5) Leaving the EU has created greater challenges

Manufacturing businesses buying from EU countries face increased paperwork, time and cost to get the items they need, and this has huge consequences for efficient manufacturing. When selling to overseas customers, mystical duty rates and resulting fines have left many manufacturers scratching their heads wondering just what is going on. 

 

We hope you’ve enjoyed this article on the latest trends in manufacturing. We like to keep our finger on the pulse when it comes to both manufacturing and warehousing. Automating processes with a new conveyor or maintaining existing machinery can be a game changer for manufacturers and we pride ourselves in finding solutions for our customers that provide impressive returns on investment.

Get in touch to see how we could help.