An international technology competition has been launched to identify new monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions for conveyor belts used in CMPC’s industrial operations.

The challenge is being organized through global engineering open-innovation platform ennomotive and focuses on a practical reliability issue for large pulp and paper facilities: detecting conveyor belt problems before they develop into failures capable of disrupting production.

Technology companies, scaleups, research centers and engineering firms worldwide are being invited to propose solutions.

Conveyor Failures Can Disrupt Mill Operations

Conveyor systems play an important role in moving materials through large industrial facilities. Unexpected belt failures can result in production interruptions, additional maintenance work and reduced equipment availability.

For CMPC, improving the ability to continuously assess conveyor condition could enable maintenance teams to identify developing problems earlier and intervene before an unplanned shutdown occurs.

The challenge therefore goes beyond detecting a belt after it has already failed.

The objective is to develop or identify technologies capable of monitoring belt health continuously, recognizing anomalies and supporting prediction of future failures.

Sensors, Computer Vision and AI Among Technologies Sought

The competition is open to a broad range of technical approaches rather than specifying a single monitoring method.

Proposed solutions could incorporate technologies including:

• Industrial sensors and IoT systems
• Computer vision
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Edge computing
• Digital twins
• Condition-monitoring and predictive analytics technologies

Entrants can propose existing commercial technologies adapted for conveyor belt monitoring or develop entirely new approaches.

The central requirement is that the technology improves the reliability, availability and maintenance efficiency of conveyor systems.

Predictive Maintenance Moves Beyond Scheduled Inspections

The project reflects a wider shift in industrial maintenance from responding to equipment failures or relying primarily on fixed inspection schedules toward condition-based and predictive maintenance.

Continuous monitoring can potentially give maintenance teams more information about how equipment condition is changing between scheduled inspections.

When combined with appropriate analytics, data collected from sensors or imaging systems can be used to identify abnormal operating patterns and indicate when closer inspection or maintenance may be required.

The specific technologies and performance of the eventual CMPC solution will depend on the proposals submitted and subsequent industrial validation.

Winning Technology Will Be Tested at CMPC Facility

The selected solution will move into a validation project at one of CMPC’s industrial facilities.

If the technology proves successful during validation, the project could potentially progress toward wider deployment across the company’s operations.

CMPC has manufacturing activities in Chile, Brazil, Argentina and other markets, creating the possibility for a successful monitoring technology to address conveyor reliability across multiple industrial sites.

For participating technology providers, the competition therefore offers more than a technical demonstration. The winning entrant could establish a supplier relationship with a major international pulp and paper producer.

By opening the challenge internationally, CMPC and ennomotive are seeking technologies from outside conventional pulp and paper equipment channels that could help shift conveyor maintenance from finding failures to anticipating them.

Last Updated on 18/08/2026 by Jota Machinery