Custom Conveyor Systems

Custom conveyor systems are engineered to a specific product profile, throughput target, building, and software stack instead of being assembled from catalog sections. Most production warehouses combine several conveyor types into one coordinated system. That puts the engineering in the transfers, merges, controls, and interfaces between them. HOJ designs, fabricates, programs, installs, and services custom conveyor solutions for projects nationally and internationally.

When a Custom Conveyor Solution Is the Right Call

Standard sections work when product, rate, and layout sit inside a manufacturer's published specs. Custom conveyor design is required when the application falls outside them.

Product outside spec. Examples include items too short or soft-bottomed to sit on at least three rollers, loads above standard capacity, or mixed sizes on one line.

Mixed conveyance. Gravity, motor-driven roller, and chain-driven sections often run in one system, each placed where the product needs it.

Interfaces. The system has to hand off to a WMS, AMRs, or palletizers.

Building constraints. Ceiling height, footprint, and column spacing set elevations, curves, and routing.

HOJ engineers first and specifies equipment second. Buying catalog equipment before the engineering is done is how operators end up with mismatched spend.

Where the Budget Goes on an Engineered Conveyor System

HOJ's published cost breakdown puts conveyor steel at roughly half of a system's cost. Controls are the second-largest line item.

Projects range from $5,000 parts replacements to multi-million-dollar automation. Used conveyor saves about 15 percent at best, but it gives up the warranty and brings components with limited remaining life.

Conveyor System Design Inputs

A custom conveyor design starts with data, not a layout sketch.

Product profile. Weight, dimensions, and fragility for every product type handled.

Rates. Peak hourly volume, not the daily average.

Facility. Ceiling height, footprint, and columns.

Integration. WMS, AMRs, palletizers, and any equipment that stays in place.

Conveyor sizing then follows the product. Roller centers keep the shortest product on at least three rollers. Roller diameter and gauge match the heaviest unit weight with margin. Width equals product width plus clearance, with guardrails where product can skew.

Safety Requirements Built Into the Layout

ASME B20.1 applies to the design, construction, installation, maintenance, inspection, and operation of conveyors in relation to hazards, across bulk, package, and unit handling installations. The 2024 edition includes sections on guarding, controls, transfer and discharge points, and risk assessment and risk reduction. OSHA general industry rules set the minimums.

Nip points and rotating parts. Guarding must protect operators and other employees in the machine area (29 CFR 1910.212).

Sprockets and chains. Sprockets and chains must be enclosed unless they are more than 7 feet above the floor or platform (29 CFR 1910.219).

Energy isolation. New, replaced, or modified equipment must have energy isolating devices designed to accept a lockout device (29 CFR 1910.147).

Controls and Electrical Standards

NFPA 79 covers the electrical equipment of industrial machinery, including material handling machinery. The National Electrical Code references it through Article 670.

HOJ builds UL 508A control panels in-house and programs in structured text per IEC 61131-3. New systems are built on Beckhoff industrial PCs, with Ignition HMIs that work across Allen-Bradley, Siemens, and mixed floors. Every project hands off commented code, I/O lists, as-built drawings, and known-good backups, so the plant's maintenance team owns the system.

Build, Test, and Cut Over

On a typical eight to sixteen week line integration, most of the schedule is planning: design, panel build, programming, and factory acceptance testing. HOJ builds and tests controls before touching the floor, runs FAT and SAT, and has completed multiple changeovers in a couple of days.

Timelines scale with scope:

• A single-zone gravity line installs in days.
• A powered case conveyor with controls and WMS integration takes several weeks to a few months.
• Full distribution center systems are scoped in months.

Extending and Retrofitting Existing Lines

Custom work often means adding to equipment already on the floor. ASME B20.1 applies to all conveyor installations, with noted exceptions. OSHA's lockout design requirement is triggered by major repair, renovation, or modification, not only new installs.

Line shaft conveyor usually migrates to MDR section by section. End-of-life PLCs move to modern platforms with field wiring left in place.

Why Operators Use HOJ for Custom Conveyor

HOJ's scope covers problem analysis, custom design with 3D modeling, project management, in-house fabrication, in-house software engineering, and installation. Install crews include veterans with more than 20 years installing conveyor at HOJ. Work is evaluated by independent third-party engineers and safety inspectors. Installation quality carries a one-year warranty, with manufacturer warranties on equipment.

HOJ works with Hytrol, Intralox, Interroll, Itoh Denki, Ryson, Nercon, and Span Tech. A 70+ vehicle service fleet supports the system after launch.