Monday, November 26, 2012

Furnishing North America and the World with Conveyor Belts


Being that we’re already a transnational company with offices both in Ontario and Upstate New York, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Furnace Belt does a fair share of its business internationally. A good 10% of our total annual revenue on average comes not only from neighboring North American countries like Mexico, but also nations farther afield: places like Australia, South Africa, Turkey, and throughout the Middle East. All of these countries have sizable food processing and manufacturing industries (indeed some of them gargantuan), and all of them require conveyor belt meshes that let their production processes run smoothly and competitively. Since North America has a long legacy of providing quality industrial products, it only makes sense that other nations would reach out to places like Furnace Belt to furbish their production lines with the best technology money can buy.

For instance, Australia and South Africa have an abundance of mines dispersed across their territory. Australian copper and South African diamonds are, after all, practically household names in the global market. That being said, these countries rely upon a constant supply of industrial conveyor belts to extract the riches from beneath their soil. World-famous conglomerates in both of these countries would never be what they are without the necessary means of extraction engineering.

That’s what we’re here to do at Furnace Belt. As part of the North American manufacturing network that runs roughly from Chicago to north of Toronto, we make it our business to insure that other developing countries get the equipment they need to continue to grow their nascent economies. Global prosperity is a prospect we champion and relish the thought of. If you’re a customer in another country who wants durable, precision conveyor belt meshing for any type of industry, we’re always ready to hear from you via email or telephone. Let us know today!

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Promising Future of Indian Food Processing


Furnace Belt is considered a world leader in the manufacture of woven metal conveyor belting, so it should come as no surprise that we are quite interested and involved in the burgeoning Indian food processing industry. Over the past few years, the Indian food processing industry has taken off like a rocket, which in turn has created a nearly insatiable demand for cutting edge technology and machinery.  

According to a report from the influential Technology Exports Development Organization (TEDO), the Government of India has given commercializing agriculture and developing food processing high priority in developing India’s economy. Unfortunately, the report also points out that the agro-food processing equipment sector is lagging behind other developed countries. This technological discrepancy stymies the food processing industry, since modern equipment like the conveyor belts we make at Furnace Belt aren’t available for small to mid-sized Indian companies.

The products we make at Furnace Belt allow for produce and meats to reach the market place with consistent level of quality, as well as being free of potentially hazardous bacteria.  The only way to truly grow the industry is to methodically upgrade the equipment and infrastructure so that the people of India trust that their food supply is wholesome and without blemish. The government has set a goal to triple the size of the industry by 2014-15. An Indian academic, V Gokul Das, MD summarizes as such: “Future prospects for the industry are pretty bright. It is a growing sector as there is mass movement from villages to cities and there are new products that are being launched for the food and beverage sector.”

For everyone at Furnace Belt this is an exciting time. We look forward to introducing even more of our conveyor belting to India’s new and seismically growing food and beverage processing industry.