Is this belt alignment or belt condition monitoring?

No. This is material presence and empty belt time: whether the belt is carrying material during the operating period. Alignment, tracking and belt damage inspection are different systems.

Do we need belt scales?

No. The record is based on what the camera observes on the belt, not on a weight measurement. If you already have scales, their data can be part of the conversation, but a scale is not required and is not replaced.

What does empty belt time actually tell us?

It tells you when the belt ran without material inside the period you agreed to review. It points at where to look. The reason still comes from reviewing the events together with feed and truck activity.

Which conveyor should we start with?

Usually the one closest to the constraint you already argue about. One belt with a clear camera view and a defined operating period gives a record the team can check.

Conveyor monitoring

Is the belt running, or is it running empty?

A conveyor that turns is not the same as a conveyor that carries material. Camera-based monitoring records material presence on the belt and empty belt time, so running hours and producing hours can be separated inside the period you agreed to review.

Ask about conveyor monitoring

Conveyor carrying aggregate in a quarry plant

The operational problem

Belt running hours are easy to read from the drive. What they do not say is how much of that time material was actually on the belt.

When a shift comes up short, the gap is often spread across many short empty periods rather than one obvious event. Without a record of material presence, those minutes are invisible and the discussion stays anecdotal.

What can be observed

This is material presence monitoring. It is not belt alignment, belt tracking or belt damage inspection, and it does not weigh the material.

Whether material is present on the belt, minute by minute, during the operating period
Empty belt time accumulated across a shift, a day or a week
Empty periods placed on the same timeline as crusher feed and truck dumps
Periods where the view was obstructed or the data is missing, kept separate from producing time

How the operator investigates

Take the longest empty periods first and look at what the upstream record shows at the same time: was the crusher fed, were trucks dumping, was there an event at the feed point.

Then look at the short repeated ones. These are usually the ones a shift total hides, and they often point at a cycle or a handover rather than at equipment.

Keep missing or obstructed data out of the productive time figure, so nobody has to defend a number they cannot explain.

What we need for a walkthrough

Which conveyor is closest to the constraint you already discuss
Where the belt can be viewed, and lighting conditions at that point
Power and network availability near the camera position
The operating period the plant is measured against
Any belt scale or PLC data you already collect for that line

Questions we are usually asked

Is this belt alignment or belt condition monitoring?: No. This is material presence and empty belt time: whether the belt is carrying material during the operating period. Alignment, tracking and belt damage inspection are different systems.
Do we need belt scales?: No. The record is based on what the camera observes on the belt, not on a weight measurement. If you already have scales, their data can be part of the conversation, but a scale is not required and is not replaced.
What does empty belt time actually tell us?: It tells you when the belt ran without material inside the period you agreed to review. It points at where to look. The reason still comes from reviewing the events together with feed and truck activity.
Which conveyor should we start with?: Usually the one closest to the constraint you already argue about. One belt with a clear camera view and a defined operating period gives a record the team can check.

Talk to our team

Ask about equipment compatibility, installation or pricing. Tell us which area you want to look at first and we will go through it with you.