The first records of the conveyor belt date back to 1795. The first conveyor system is made of wooden beds and belts and comes with sheaves and cranks. The Industrial Revolution and steam power improved the original design of the first conveyor system. By 1804, the British Navy began loading ships using steam-powered conveyor systems.

In the next 100 years, machine-driven conveyors will begin to appear in a variety of industries. In 1901, the Swedish engineering company Sandvik began producing the first steel conveyor belt. Once constructed with leather, rubber or canvas straps, the conveyor system begins to use different combinations of fabrics or synthetic materials for belts.

Conveyor systems have been in development for decades and are no longer just manual or gravity-powered. Today, mechanical conveyor systems are widely used in the food industry to improve food quality, operational efficiency, productivity and safety. Mechanical conveyors may be horizontal, vertical, or tilted. They consist of a power mechanism that controls the speed of the equipment, a motor controller, the structure that supports the conveyor, and the means of handling materials such as belts, tubes, pallets or screws.

The conveyor industry offers design, engineering, application and safety standards and has defined more than 80 conveyor types. Today, there are flat-panel conveyors, chain conveyors, pallet conveyors, overhead conveyors, stainless steel conveyors, watch-to-chain conveyors, custom conveyor systems, etc. The conveyor system can be specified by load capacity, rated speed, throughput, frame configuration and drive position.

In the food industry, the most commonly used conveyors in food factories today include belt conveyors, vibratory conveyors, screw conveyors, flexible screw conveyors, electromechanical conveyors, and cable and tubular towing conveyor systems. Modern conveyor systems can also be customized and optimized to meet customer needs. Design considerations involve the type of material that needs to be moved and the distance, height, and speed that the material needs to move. Other factors affecting the design of the conveyor system include free space and configuration.