3 Types of Equipment That Built Tuff Automation’s Reputation

When it comes to custom material handling equipment, most OEM's (original equipment manufacturers) will admit that they have a broad scope of equipment they provide. Tuff is no exception to this. Through the last 30 years, Tuff has provided equipment like extendable conveyors, Salco CA doors, and CO2 scrubbers. Sure, these projects were fun but were a little out of the norm.

With that said, we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't highlight the equipment that has been synonymous with the Tuff Automation name. In this blog, we will discuss the 3 primary types of equipment that have built the heavy-duty Tuff Automation reputation.

CDLR Conveyor (Chain-Driven Live Roller)

For most of the company's life, Tuff Automation has been focused on providing custom material handling equipment to handle heavy-duty pallet loads. Therefore, it didn't take long for us to become leading experts in the design of CDLR conveyors.

A CDLR conveyor is a type of roller-based conveyor that uses linked chains to transfer and distribute power/movement from one roller to the next. Our CDLR conveyors are built with formed steel channels and can be customized to be integrated into any existing system. Our robust design makes them perfect for transporting heavy items such as loaded pallets, tires, barrels, etc.

Customers have sought after our CDLR to best fit their needs for the long term. Our design includes premium components, including precision bearings. Precision bearings are what we call a "Tuff standard". 

Have a look at some of our projects: https://www.tuffautomation.com/cdlr-conveyors

Pneumatic Lifts

When an application requires a product to be transported vertically, it is pretty typical that a lift would be introduced. These can be scissor lifts, VRC's (vertical reciprocating conveyors), etc. These are typically used in applications that can appreciate a low cycle count and rate.

However, we provide pneumatic lifts for those high-cycle applications. High-cycle lift processes don't have to mean short equipment lifespans. Pneumatic lifts are a long-lasting, cost-effective alternative to scissor lifts, and they're a perfect high-cycle solution.

Ordinary scissor lifts are rated for a lifetime of approximately 200,000 cycles. The vertically mounted cylinders on our pneumatic lifts make possible a lifetime of several million cycles. When our customer's application exceeds a cycle time of 45 cycles per hour or 500 cycles per day, they see the return on investment on a pneumatic lift very quickly.

See more of our lift designs here: https://www.tuffautomation.com/lifts

Stackers and Destackers

Over the years, more and more companies have sought ways to automate their systems to improve production efficiency. Stacking and de-stacking product by hand is usually manual work that is quickly replaced with automation.

Stackers and destackers are used to easily optimize the storage of heavy and unwieldy materials. Our engineers design heavy-duty stackers customized to fit and stack virtually any size or weight combination with speeds varying from 2-3 units per hour to several units per minute.

Long-time customers have seen the benefits of these units. Especially those in the automotive industry.

Check out some of the units we've provided: https://www.tuffautomation.com/stackersanddestackers

Conclusion

It's no secret that we've established some very strong partnerships with our customers over the years. These partners swear by our equipment. When their equipment has the Tuff Automation logo on it, they know it's "tough" enough to handle the test of time (you knew we had to do it at some point).

That is the reputation that is synonymous with Tuff Automation and the three types of equipment we just presented are exactly the reason our customers return and refer us.