This year’s International Materials Handling Conference (IMHC), Beltcon21, was held on August 2 and 3 at the Emperor's Palace Conference Centre in Kempton Park, Gauteng.

Beltcon – the leading conveyor event in Africa – again played host to an impressive speaker line-up of reputable international names, with local South African experts being well represented too.

The conference was organised by a dedicated committee of volunteers from the South African conveyor industry and sought to appeal to decision-makers, designers, engineers, manufacturers and constructors in the sphere of belt conveying.

The IMHC event is underwritten by the three associations that play a prominent part in the South African materials handling industry, namely, the Conveyor Manufacturers Association of South Africa (CMA), the South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering and the South African Institute of Materials Handling.

Alongside the conference proceedings, an exhibition could be viewed by speakers and delegates during tea and lunch breaks, and before and after the conference presentations, allowing for plenty of interaction between parties.

The conference programme included two full days’ worth of presentations.

The preliminary programme noted that the event would be hosted by two keynote speakers, namely conveyor manufacturer Fenner Conveyor Belting technology manager Dave Pitcher and industry expert Wilco Uys.

A range of topics were addressed during the event such as ‘Energy efficiency label and scale for conveyor belts’, presented by belt manufacturer Continental technical consulting head Zoltan Tarpay.

Other topics included ‘Testing methods to predict the durability of conveyor belt top covers’ and ‘A model on lagging friction as a function of creep history and wrap pressure’.

Amendments made to the legislative framework since the last conference, Beltcon 20, were also a talking point.

The conference was aimed at disseminating information on the latest technology as well as presenting case studies, papers and new ideas for the design, safety and operation of belt conveyors.

As the organisers emphasise bringing practical information to the industry, the committee ensures that technical papers from previous conferences are made available for posterity on the website.

Delegate packs included a hard copy of the technical papers of each event presentation, and engineers registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa could accrue two Category 1 Continuing Professional Development credits for attending.