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

governance
Exploring the Intersection of Board Governance, Community Engagement and Creativity with Ann Margolin
February 23, 2026

Behind every city vote, hospital budget or zoning decision is a leader navigating tough, often conflicting priorities. Right now, public leaders are operating in an environment of rising healthcare costs, workforce shortages and heightened community expectations—especially within safety-net systems that collectively provide billions in uncompensated care each year. The stakes are real—they affect patients…

Read More
career-connected
Workforce Alignment, and the New Blueprint for Career-Connected Learning Ecosystems
February 23, 2026

Workforce shortages, shifting federal and state policy, and rising skepticism about the return on investment of a traditional four-year degree have pushed career-connected learning to the forefront of education reform. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall employment is expected to increase by nearly 4.7 million jobs between 2022 and 2032, with…

Read More
hiring strategy
AI Is Reshaping Hiring Strategy And Critical Roles Are Shifting to Permanent Talent
February 20, 2026

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future-state discussion—it’s a present-day leadership priority. As enterprises accelerate the adoption of generative AI and automation tools, hiring strategies are evolving alongside broader business transformation. According to McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI report, 88% of organizations now report using AI in at least one business function, underscoring how…

Read More
Larry North
Resilience, Reinvention, and the Relentless Pursuit of Growth: Larry North’s Journey from Fitness Icon to Private Equity Leader
February 20, 2026

Entrepreneurship is being glamorized in real time. Social media highlights overnight wins, AI tools promise instant scale, and private equity is reshaping industries at a rapid clip. Yet behind every “success story” is something far less flashy: failure, adaptability, and the discipline to keep going when life hits hard. According to the U.S. Bureau…

Read More