NEWS RELEASE Waites Introduces Waites Conveyance™ to Help Keep Conveyors Running and Products Moving
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 19, 2026
Built on deployments across more than 400 material handling facilities, the offering combines condition monitoring and expert guidance to help maintenance teams protect throughput.
CINCINNATI, October 19, 2026 — Waites Sensor Technologies, Inc., the undisputed leader in conveyor monitoring, today introduced Waites Conveyance™, a focused offering that brings together its established conveyor monitoring technology and analyst services to help distribution, fulfillment, and logistics operations reduce unplanned downtime.
A single failing roller, bearing, or gearbox can disrupt material flow far beyond the cost of the component itself. Waites Conveyance helps maintenance teams identify developing problems, understand what needs attention, and plan corrective work before equipment failures interrupt operations.
“A conveyor component doesn’t have to be expensive to stop an expensive operation. When one small component fails, the consequences can reach far beyond that piece of equipment,” said Rob Ratterman, Co-Founder and CEO of Waites. “We built our Waites solution to find those problems early and give maintenance teams time to act—not another pile of alarms to investigate.”
Waites’ conveyor monitoring deployments span more than 400 material handling facilities, including 25,000 sensors at a single third-party logistics (3PL) site. A large percentage of the parcels shipped around the USA today pass by Waites sensors. That level of experience informs sensor placement, diagnostic analysis, and practical maintenance recommendations for complex conveyance environments.
Waites Conveyance helps maintenance and operations teams:
- Reach the components that matter: Monitor vibration and temperature on conveyors, sorters, motors, gearboxes, and other material handling equipment, including locations where access or mounting space is limited.
- Turn findings into planned maintenance: Get prioritized recommendations that help onsite teams decide what needs attention and make better use of available maintenance windows.
- Scale across facilities: Extend a consistent monitoring approach across large sites and multi-site operations, with analysis support that reduces the need for onsite teams to interpret every measurement themselves.
The offering pairs complementary sensors with the Waites monitoring platform. The compact, 0.53-inch SV5 tethered sensor collects vibration and temperature data in tight or enclosed locations and connects by cable to a wireless node. The SM7 wireless sensor provides triaxial vibration and temperature monitoring, with ImpactVUE® ultrasonic-range detection to help identify developing bearing and lubrication problems.
Waites’ proprietary machine learning models help identify developing fault patterns in machine condition data. Experienced CAT II–IV vibration analysts assess findings, add operating context from onsite teams, and deliver prioritized repair recommendations. The emphasis is on helping customers understand the problem and take action, not simply collecting more data or generating more alarms.
In a published case study, one of the world’s largest fulfillment operators deployed nearly 10,000 Waites Conveyance sensors across seven facilities, avoiding $1.8M in unplanned downtime, protecting 350+ hours of operations, and achieving full ROI in under 12 months.
Waites Conveyance is designed for fulfillment centers, retail distribution networks, 3PL providers, parcel and sortation facilities, and other conveyor-intensive operations. Monitoring configurations are selected for the equipment, operating conditions, and failure modes that matter at each site.
To discuss your conveyor monitoring needs and identify coverage priorities, visit waites.net/solutions/waites-conveyance.
About Waites
Waites Sensor Technologies, Inc. (Waites) combines wireless condition monitoring, AI-powered analysis, and experienced vibration analysts to help industrial maintenance teams identify developing equipment problems and act before failures disrupt operations. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Waites has deployed more than half a million sensors across six continents. Its mission: to create a world where nothing breaks.
Waites has been awarded a Titan Innovation Award for manufacturing technology, won the Best IoT Solution Award from ReliabilityWeb, and was selected as a finalist in the Fierce Sensors Best of Sensors Award in the Best Industrial and IIOT Solution category. Cincinnati Business Courier also recognized Waites as the Best Place to Work.
Media Contact:
Matter Communications on behalf of Waites
WaitesPR@matternow.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Waites Conveyance, and what is new?
Waites Conveyance brings Waites’ established conveyor monitoring technology and analyst services together in a focused offering for material handling operations. It combines application-appropriate sensors, the Waites platform, and expert guidance to help maintenance teams identify developing problems and act on them. The offering builds on existing deployment experience rather than representing a new entry into conveyor monitoring.
What equipment and problems can Waites Conveyance monitor?
Depending on the application and sensor configuration, Waites monitors vibration and temperature from conveyor rollers, bearings, motors, gearboxes, and other rotating components. These measurements can reveal developing bearing wear, lubrication problems, misalignment, and other mechanical issues. Coverage depends on equipment access, operating conditions, sensor placement, and the failure mode. The proposed scope should identify the components and conditions being monitored.
Which sensors are used?
The SV5 is a compact tethered vibration-and-temperature sensor for locations where space or wireless access is constrained. Its cable connects the sensing point to a wireless node. The SM7 is a wireless vibration-and-temperature sensor with ImpactVUE® ultrasonic-range detection. Sensor selection depends on the mounting location, equipment behavior, and diagnostic requirements; the two products are complementary rather than interchangeable in every application.
How often is equipment monitored?
The sensors remain installed on the equipment, providing ongoing visibility without relying solely on periodic inspection routes. Measurement schedules and supported event triggers depend on the hardware and configuration. Permanently installed monitoring is not the same as uninterrupted waveform streaming. The deployment plan should specify the collection settings for each application.
What do maintenance teams receive?
Teams receive machine condition information and prioritized diagnostic recommendations through the Waites platform. Analysts assess findings and work with onsite teams to add operating context and clarify corrective actions. The goal is to explain what needs attention and what to do next. The applicable notification and analyst-review workflows should be confirmed for the selected monitoring configuration.
What does installation require?
A deployment starts with the equipment list, operational priorities, and proposed monitoring points. Planning should address sensor mounting, access to enclosed or elevated equipment, wireless coverage, gateway placement, and site safety requirements. Scope and installation timing depend on the facility and should be agreed on with onsite teams before work begins.
Does the Waites system need access to the corporate network?
In a cellular gateway deployment, the dedicated Waites sensor network sends machine condition data to the cloud over a separate cellular connection, without using the facility’s corporate Wi-Fi or LAN for that data transport. That collection architecture is distinct from employees accessing the dashboard and from optional identity, API, or maintenance system integrations. Those connections should be evaluated separately with the customer’s IT team.
How should IT teams evaluate security and data handling?
Review the architecture, encryption controls, access management, data handling, and integrations applicable to the proposed deployment. Machine-condition analytics use readings such as vibration and temperature. User accounts, communications, and support can separately involve personal information, as described in Waites’ privacy policy. Your IT team can assess those details against its security requirements for the proposed configuration.
What makes Waites different?
Trust and two decades of proven expertise. Waites combines conveyor-specific deployment experience, compact sensing options for difficult locations, monitoring at large-facility scale, and practical guidance from experienced analysts. AI helps identify patterns in machine data; analysts contribute diagnostic judgment and operating context. Together, they help maintenance teams focus on useful corrective work. The value is the complete path from a monitored component to an actionable maintenance decision, not simply the presence of sensors, AI, or analysts.
Can Waites connect findings to our maintenance workflow?
The Waites platform provides diagnostic context and recommended actions for maintenance teams. Waites’ MaintainX integration can turn analyst-reviewed findings into prioritized work orders and synchronize key information between the systems. That is one integration option, not a requirement to use Waites. Confirm the supported workflow and integration scope for your environment.
What is included, and how do existing customers get started?
Discuss your equipment, current monitoring coverage, and priorities with Waites or your existing account team. The proposal should specify hardware, connectivity, installation responsibilities, platform access, analyst services, any integrations, and commercial terms. Existing customers can use that discussion to identify monitoring gaps and evaluate additional coverage. Exact package contents and expansion requirements should be confirmed rather than assumed.
How should we evaluate results?
Evaluate changes in unplanned downtime, emergency work, and maintenance effort against an agreed-upon baseline. Keep estimated avoided downtime costs distinct from documented labor savings and actual repair costs. Results depend on the application, the condition being monitored, and the maintenance response; individual case studies are not guarantees of identical outcomes at every facility.
Why should I partner with Waites?
Waites analysts provide a dedicated service, working alongside facilities’ maintenance and reliability teams to catch issues early and keep equipment running reliably with fewer emergencies.
With 20 years of experience in predictive maintenance, Waites brings hands-on knowledge from a wide range of facilities, industries, and machine types, especially in conveyance. That history allows facilities to benefit from lessons learned across many environments from the very start of the partnership.