---
title: "A Christmas Carol: The Story of Bulk Material Handling Past!"
description: belt conveyor mistracking, belt mistracking, conveyor belt cleaner, belt cleaner, reduce carryback, prevent spillage, conveyor walk down, inspect conveyor
---

[Martin Engineering Blog](https://blog.martin-eng.com)

# [A Christmas Carol: The Story of Bulk Material Handling Past!](https://blog.martin-eng.com/a-christmas-carol-the-story-of-bulk-material-handling-past)

 Written by [Chelsea Blake](https://blog.martin-eng.com/author/chelsea-blake) | Dec 21, 2020 8:00:00 PM

Don’t be a**Scrooge**, read this **Christmas Conveyor Story** to get in the **holiday spirit** and learn some tips and tricks to improve conveyor productivity. I had fun putting a twist on this classic **Christmas Tale** of how we helped this operation **"Sleigh"** *(spelling intended🎄)* dust and spillage. 

I wanted to share this **gift** with you in hopes it would get you in the **Christmas spirit** and leave you with **goals for the New Year!**

**‘Twas the night(s) before Christmas when all through the plant not a conveyor was running efficiently, not even scant.**

Handling an abundance of **coal** every year, the **elves** had little time to spend on inefficiency. Due to the lack of proper belt cleaning, spillage and carryback were present throughout the entire plant, leading to immense material loss. Talk about a **blustery mess**!

| **Then at the plant there arose such a clatter. The workers sprang from their areas to see what was the matter.** |
| --- |

| All of a sudden *(queue up “here comes Santa Claus”)*, **Santa** pulled up in a Martin Engineering **sleigh**. **Santa** and his helpers heard of the **"frosty"** situation and came to perform a comprehensive review of the existing conveyor system. The included inspection of the conveyor belts from head pulley to tail pulley, while looking for areas of improvement in regards to safety, productivity, and regulatory compliance. After a detailed inspection, good ol’ **Kris Kringle** pulled the following from his **magical bag** to install;  to reduce carryback and to keep the belts properly aligned, preventing material spillage and damage to the belt's edge. According to the plant’s **elves**, the Walk the Belt™ service utilizing tablets to generate on-site, immediate reports was worthwhile. The detailed reports outlined the areas in the most need, allowing the **elves** to prioritize accordingly *(they still had last-minute toys to make of course).* The Walk the Belt™ service also turned out to be an opportunity for **Santa's helpers **to supervise installation and lend tips/tricks to the **elves** for maintaining efficient operations. They are now taking advantage of the <https://www.martin-eng.com/content/page/545/mr-blade-replacement-blade-installation>to help ensure optimal belt cleaner performance and overall productivity. The plant was **full of joy **that **Santa** and his **jolly helpers** were able to improve their day-to-day operations. Conveyors shouldn’t be looked at with a **"Bah Humbug"** attitude. When operating at their maximum efficiency, conveyors are the **"gift that keeps on giving."** *Ok, that was from a conversation between Clark Griswold and cousin Eddie but what good is a Christmas story without a Christmas Vacation reference?!* Thanks to **Santa's helpers**, this operation is getting a lot more than **coal** *(see what I did there?!)* this year, and they aren’t on OSHA & MSHA’s **naughty list**. **Santa sprang to his sleigh to give the team a whistle, away they flew like the down of a thistle. They heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”** **"Gone, Spillage! Gone, Carryback! Now, Dust and Mistracking! Gone, Citations! Gone, Fines! Gone, Hazards, Gone, Cleanup!"** |
| --- |

 

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