Flexible Conveying Line Guide for Food and Pharmaceutical Industry: Field Case Analysis in Xuhui District

• ​Cleaning Efficiency Improvement 40%: Food grade PP chain plate is directly water flushed, no oil residue, passed FDA flight inspection;
• ​Reduction of labour exchange to 15 minutesQuick release links support bottle switching and are compatible with 200ml-1L packages;
• ​Saving of 30% plant area: Spiral climb design utilises vertical space to free up 100m2 of storage area.

​Essential Industry Needs: Flexible conveyor lines are not "optional", they areGMP-certified equipment--Its lubrication-free, bendable, and quick-adjusting characteristics directly address food and pharmaceuticalcontamination risktogether withflexible productionContradiction.

​Second, the industry-specific needs dismantling: selection to avoid the pit guide​

​Hygiene Compliance: Tougher Than Cleanliness​

• ​Material Selection::
  ✅Stainless steel chain plate: Preferred by Xuhui Biopharmaceuticals, resistant to strong acid disinfectants (e.g. sodium hypochlorite);
  ❌ 普通工程塑料：长期接触75%酒精易脆化，某试剂厂因此链板断裂停产。
• ​structural design::
  • ​Seamless links(e.g. Flexlink Steel Top Chain): Avoids dirt pick-up and reduces cleaning time by 251 TP3T compared to seam type;
  • ​Tiltable side panels: Facilitating deep cleaning of dead spots, weekly maintenance time at a dairy plant was reduced from 4 hours to 1 hour.

​Temperature control scenarios: the balance between cold chain and autoclaving​

​Space optimisation: "snail's nest" for small factories​

The cost of land in Xuhui District exceeds RMB 60,000 per square metre, and the flexible conveyor line breaks through three layouts:

• ​spiral tower: A capsule factory achieved a 10m vertical lift in a 5m diameter space, saving 80% of horizontal access;
• ​S-barrier: Bypassing aseptic plant load-bearing columns to avoid production line interruptions;
• ​multilayer reflux: Packing line and filling line stacked up and down, logistics efficiency increased by 50%.

​III. Field cases in Xuhui District: the full path from failure to success​

​Case 1: The life and death of GMP certification for pharmaceutical companies​

​sore point: An innovative drug company was issued 483 defective items in an FDA inspection due to contamination of a conveyor belt lubricant.
​prescription::

1. Replace withLubrication-free Flexlink systemChainplates are ISO 15378 certified;
2. retrofittingOnline Particle Monitor, real-time feedback on cleanliness;
3. ​Slope Drainage Design: Eliminate stagnant water that harbours micro-organisms.
   ​in the end: 0 contamination record through EU GMP audit, capacity increase of 200%.

​Case 2: Intelligent upgrade of a beverage factory​

​original dilemma: Traditional production line sorting error rate of 8%, annual loss of more than 1.2 million.
​Flexible chain line + AI transformation::

• ​Dynamic weighing modules: Rejects underfilled products with 99.2% accuracy;
• ​Visual inspection station: Automatic identification of bottle cap defects, defective product interception rate of 100%;
• ​IoT predictive maintenance: 2 weeks advance warning of chain link wear and zeroing in on faulty stops.

​Case 3: Micro conveyor systems in biological laboratories​

Requirements of a cell therapy company in Xuhui: conveying culture bottles in a 50m2 clean room.Zero vibration, zero static.
​Tailor-made solutions::

• ​Magnetic Levitation Drive Chain: Operating noise <25dB to avoid vibration affecting cell activity;
• ​Carbon Fibre Conductive Chain Plate: Surface resistance <10⁶Ω prevents electrostatic adsorption of particles;
• ​Embedded Sensors: Real-time monitoring of temperature/humidity/particle count, with direct data flow to the regulatory platform.

​IV. Selection guide: four steps to lock the optimal programme​

​Step 1: Matching Material Characteristics​

​Step 2: Quantify performance parameters​

• ​Conveying speed: The filling line needs to be ≥15m/min, and the sorting line needs to match the robotic beat (e.g. 30 pieces/min);
• ​load-bearing limit: Choose a heavy-duty chain (e.g. CH103 chain) for infeed canisters ≥ 50 kg/m and a light-duty chain (e.g. CL63 chain) for reagent bottles;
• ​turning radius: R150mm miniature bends (e.g. Flexlink system) are preferred for small workshops.

​Step 3: Intelligent function pre-built​

​mandatory module::

• ​Manipulator InterfaceEtherCAT communication ports are reserved to support future automation expansion;
• ​Data Centre Docking: Open OPC UA protocol for digital twins on the production line;
• ​Energy consumption monitoringA pharmaceutical company saves 180,000 yuan in electricity costs per year by displaying the power consumption of a single metre of conveyor in real time.

​Supplier selection: localised services win​

​V. Future trends: from "conveyor" to "intelligent logistics hub"​

Xuhui head pharmaceutical companies have practisedFlexible chainplates + digital twins::

• ​Real-time dynamic optimisation: AI automatically adjusts the conveyor path according to the order priority, and the line utilisation rate is from 68% → 92%;
• ​blockchain traceability: Uploading the delivery track of each batch of medicines, increasing the efficiency of regulatory audits by 5 times;
• ​Low carbon design: Solar chain plate drive (e.g. Weaving Knowledge Intelligence programme), 12 tonnes of carbon reduction per year on a single line.

​personal viewpoint: The ultimate value of a flexible conveyor line is not in the hardware itself, but in theReconfiguring the production logic--It allows food and pharmaceutical companies to move from "rigid batch" to "flexible customisation" over the next three years.Self-learning conveyor systemThe current 80% fixed production line will be phased out, and devices without pre-built AI interfaces will be relegated to sunk costs.