Flexco tech changes nature of belt cleaner maintenance

By Kevin Yanik| April 5, 2023

Elevate i3 devices that are attached to the ends of each Flexco belt cleaner capture useful insights about the equipment. Photo: P&Q Staff

Manufacturers in recent years unveiled an assortment of technology solutions that provide users with insights about the health of their equipment.

Now, aggregate producers can count Flexco, a manufacturer of belt fasteners, cleaners and maintenance products, among those manufacturers.

The company showcased Flexco Elevate Belt Conveyor Intelligence at last month’s ConExpo-Con/Agg, detailing how its real-time monitoring system positions producers to best manage belt conveyors. Flexco Elevate was created in partnership with Uptake, an industrial AI and IoT data science provider, to reduce the need for onsite inspections and allow operations to access real-time insights remotely from a dashboard.

Flexco says those who utilize Flexco Elevate can quickly address belt conveyor performance issues and minimize unexpected downtime.

“In and of itself, it can tell you what’s happening from a wear perspective on the actual cleaner,” says Travis Vliem, digital product manager of Flexco Elevate.

How the technology works

Flexco’s Travis Vliem offered a look at the Flexco Elevate dashboard at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023. Photo: P&Q Staff

According to Flexco, insights are captured through Elevate i3 devices that are attached to the ends of each Flexco belt cleaner. Information is wirelessly transferred to a dashboard, where producers can access information about the cleaners being utilized throughout their operation.

“Our business is making sure customers have productivity, and we want to be the partners in that productivity,” Vliem says. “This is a really good way for them to accomplish that.”

As Vliem describes, the Flexco Elevate system presents producers with a variety of opportunities to gain operational efficiencies. Belt cleaners are often a neglected piece of equipment, he says, so having real-time insights about them can allow maintenance personnel to focus on more pressing areas.

“If [the belt cleaner] is an asset that is in a good condition and there’s not a tension issue or a blade life issue, there’s not a need for a person to go and look at it,” Vliem says. “Focus that effort where the effort may need to be. If you have a different piece of equipment that’s having some issues, that person can deal with that quicker.”

Additionally, Vliem says Flexco Elevate can serve as a “check engine light” for producers.

“If there’s maybe a vulcanized splice that’s starting to delaminate or a mechanical splice starting to do some separation – or maybe a tear starting to form – that comes through, hits our cleaner and has a slightly different feel,” he says. “Our device knows there’s something a little different about that, and it can shoot out an insight – whether that’s a high-g event or an abnormality.”

Vliem says Flexco Elevate gives producers the knowledge to squeeze the maximum life out of belt cleaners.

“[Belt cleaners] often times get changed out because a shutdown is scheduled for a certain time, and operators are going to change them out regardless,” Vliem says. “But that blade may have 50 percent life left in it. It could potentially go another shutdown [before a changeout].”

Vliem shared a case in point at ConExpo-Con/Agg that further illustrates the idea that producers can experience efficiency gains.

“There was a site that installed about 20 of these and saw productivity increase by 0.6 percent,” he says. “That’s seemingly ‘small potatoes,’ but that’s $1 million a year for that site. That’s not ‘small potatoes’ anymore.”

Producers can log service events into the Flexco Elevate dashboard, Vliem adds.

“You have the ability to take notes when you tension it, when you replace a blade and when you’ve made an inspection,” he says. “You have the ability to log in via Bluetooth to the device to do these service events if you’re in the field. But, if it’s snowing, blowing and minus-30 out, maybe you don’t want to spend the extra three minutes to do that. Go back to the office with the notes in your head, and you can add those service events here in the dashboard from the comfort and warmth of your office.”