Accumulating Conveyor Icon
Accumulating conveyor nodes represent material transport that also allows temporary storage along the conveyor path. Like standard conveyors, they model movement between process steps using length and speed to determine travel time. However, unlike normal conveyors, accumulating conveyors can hold material when downstream flow is restricted, allowing items to queue directly on the conveyor itself.
This ability to accumulate makes accumulating conveyors useful for modeling systems where material backs up along transport lines, such as pallet conveyors, roller beds, or accumulation lanes. When downstream nodes are unavailable or operating more slowly, material remains on the accumulating conveyor rather than being blocked entirely upstream. This allows ReliaSim to capture both transport delay and in-line buffering within a single node.
Accumulating conveyors are defined by several key properties. Length represents the physical distance material must travel, directly influencing how long it takes to move from input to output. Maximum speed defines how quickly material can traverse that distance, setting an upper limit on transport capacity. Height determines the number of units that can be held per unit length, effectively defining how much material can accumulate along the conveyor.
Accumulating conveyors also specify output units, ensuring material continues downstream in the correct measurement. Together, these parameters control both how quickly material moves and how much can be stored directly on the conveyor.
When building a model, accumulating conveyors should be used wherever physical transport also provides storage. They are especially helpful when modeling systems where work-in-process naturally builds up along conveyors rather than in discrete buffer locations. As with other node types, it’s best to use accumulating conveyors where this behavior reflects real operations, and to start with simple parameters before refining details.