Conveyor belt management system and method

A conveyor belt management system, comprising:

• a workpiece processing machine, comprising:
• a processing station for processing workpieces;
• a conveyor system having an endless conveyor belt configured to support processing of the workpieces;
• and
• a belt information system configured for obtaining belt information from a data storage device of the endless conveyor belt and writing belt information to the data storage device regarding belt usage;
• and
• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause a computing device of the conveyor belt management system to:
• process belt information including at least one of a belt type and belt usage;
• and
• output a belt optimization plan including at least one of recommendations and instructions for using a first type of endless conveyor belt for processing workpieces having first workpiece processing requirements, replacing the endless conveyor belt, verifying the endless conveyor belt on the processing machine, adjusting processing machine components, and adjusting processing machine settings.

A method for managing conveyor belts for a workpiece processing machine, comprising:

• obtaining, with a belt information system, belt information from a data storage device of an endless conveyor belt;
• writing, with the belt information system, belt information to the data storage device regarding belt usage;
• processing, with a computing device, belt information including at least one of a belt type and belt usage;
• and
• outputting, with a computing device, a belt optimization plan including at least one of recommendations and instructions for using a first type of endless conveyor belt for processing workpieces having first workpiece processing requirements, replacing the endless conveyor belt, verifying the endless conveyor belt on the processing machine, adjusting processing machine components, and adjusting processing machine settings.