How Tubular Drag Conveying Reduces Waste

The manufacturing sector prizes speed for its ability to maximize production. However, when it comes to conveyors, faster doesn’t always mean better. This is especially true for food producers whose conveyor systems may be moving specialty foods like roasted nuts, breakfast cereal, malted barley or delicate cookies or crackers. For food processing facilities and manufacturers seeking to reduce product loss due to degradation, a slow conveying tubular drag system can help achieve a more successful process.

As material is moved through a conveyor, it faces multiple opportunities for degradation due to poor inlet design, product shearing, conveyor speed, temperature changes, friction-induced separation, and sweeps the material needs to pass through on the way to the next process. These threats can negatively impact the quality of the material and contribute to material loss through breakage and waste.

What is a tubular drag conveyor?

Tubular drag conveying systems feature stainless-steel tubes with nylon or UHMW discs attached to a stainless-steel cable, pulled by sprocket drives attached to drive units. Often the cable is coated with plastic for food-grade applications. The cable and disc assembly passes through the tubing, pulling materials from the infeed points to discharge ports. This slow-moving method of conveying, running approximately 100 feet per minute, typically operates on a single electric motor operating at less than 5HP, making it extremely energy efficient, and gentle enough to support a multitude of different products. This gentle conveying aspect prevents breakage of delicate and/or specialty materials that are worth more when they are whole and unbroken.

A smooth, slow-moving conveying system carefully handles materials to minimize degradation and reduce waste, while offering extensive equipment life. With their many advantages over traditional conveying methods, like augers, and bucket elevators, tubular drag conveying systems are quickly becoming popular among food manufacturers and within other industries where the integrity of the material is more critical than speedy output.

Cablevey Conveyors is a leading world-wide tubular drag conveyor manufacturer based in Oskaloosa, Iowa. Our conveyor technology is engineered to be clean, food-safe, highly-efficient, and cost-effective. Reduce Contamination. Minimize Waste. Lower Costs.

Contact Cablevey today by visiting https://cablevey.com/contact/.

Read more at cablevey.com

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Baker Tilly
Baker Tilly Bridges Cultures and Markets to Power U.S.–China Business Growth
November 14, 2025

Baker Tilly’s U.S.–based China practice supports Chinese enterprises operating in the United States as well as U.S. companies with Chinese-heritage leadership. Team members such as Beverly Bian, Terry Dickens, and Lucy Ni work with clients ranging from early-stage ventures to major multinational organizations navigating cross-border growth. The practice distinguishes itself through its bilingual capabilities…

Read More
construction
Empowering Excellence: How Rick Ward Elevates Southwest Construction Services
November 13, 2025

In an industry where timelines tighten and jobsite complexities grow by the day, quality assurance has become one of construction’s most defining—and differentiating—disciplines. At its core, QA isn’t just about correcting mistakes; it’s about building systems and people capable of preventing them in the first place. This is especially true in specialized sectors…

Read More
training
Empowering Teams Through a Modern Training Culture
November 13, 2025

Training may be the backbone of any skilled trade, but in waterproofing—where mistakes can compromise entire structures—it becomes a defining competitive advantage. At Southwest Construction Services, the evolution of training reflects a larger industry shift: seasoned crews now rely less on formal classroom sessions and more on hyper-focused, on-site guidance tailored to the…

Read More
quality assurance
Ensuring Excellence: How Quality Assurance Shapes Every Successful Project
November 13, 2025

In an era of rising climate volatility and tighter construction tolerances, waterproofing has quietly become one of the most consequential guardians of a building’s long-term health. Too often, the industry treats it as an afterthought—something buried behind walls, beneath slabs, or under layers of finish—but the truth is that its success or failure can…

Read More