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Wire-Mesh Products Addresses Conveyor Belt Failure with a Custom Solution for a Global Snack Producer

“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” — Henry Ford

Manufacturing excellence begins and ends with the highest standards of quality control.

A leading international potato chip producer experienced severe operational disruptions when a newly installed fryer take-out belt malfunctioned: the belt suffered from bunching, lifting, and a failure to properly engage the drive sprockets.

Initially, the belt’s supplier denied responsibility for the issue. The customer came to Wire-Mesh Products for a second opinion to troubleshoot the issue. Ultimately, our evaluation revealed manufacturing flaws in the competitor’s product and we provided a reliable, long-term fryer belt.

Consequences of Food and Beverage Manufacturing Downtime

$600 Per Minute ¹
average loss during manufacturing downtime
$10,000,000 Annually ¹
average loss due to plant downtime

The Problem: Production-Stopping Conveyor Belt Failure

Shortly after installation, the competitor’s chain-driven wire mesh incline belt experienced significant bunching: the wire mesh wouldn’t lay flat, spirals compacted together, and the belt moved inconsistently with abrupt stops and accelerations.

These issues threatened smooth throughput, equipment alignment, and, ultimately, product quality.

The original fryer belt manufacturer claimed that the malfunction was a result of the facility’s installation process, rather than any form of premature product failure.

At this point, the food manufacturer didn’t have a clear path forward. They turned to the technical professionals at Wire-Mesh Products for an assessment of the installation process and the fryer belt’s quality.

The Solution: Uncovering Manufacturing Defects Through Detailed Belt Analysis

The Wire-Mesh Products team conducted a thorough inspection of the fryer take-out belt in question. The main drive assembly was operating as intended and conversations with the maintenance team revealed that they followed proper installation procedures. 

To uncover the root cause, our experts disassembled a sample section of the damaged belt. 

Our analysis revealed three critical flaws in the assembly of the belt spirals and mesh. These defects came from the belt’s manufacturing and caused the bunching issue, not the installation process. 

After presenting our findings, the original manufacturer provided a replacement conveyor belt at no additional cost to prevent further downtime. In the long-term, the food manufacturer requested that WMP build a higher-quality solution.

The Result: A Reliable, Food-Grade Conveyor Belt Built for Stability

WMP custom-built new food-grade conveyor belts designed to prevent the construction issues that caused the original failure.

Since installation, the facility has maintained uninterrupted operation because the new belts lay flat, track smoothly, and eliminate any bunching or indexing issues. Ultimately, the upfront investment in an excellent belt system has helped them to save countless hours of downtime in the demanding high-volume snack manufacturing landscape.

Are you experiencing inefficiencies or premature conveyor belt failures with your industrial food processing equipment? The friendly and knowledgeable specialists at Wire-Mesh Products are ready to assist you. Get in touch with our team for a comprehensive belt analysis and a custom solution. 

  1. Siemens AG. (2024). The true cost of downtime 2024. https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/TCOD-2024_original.pdf