A mechanized factory with over 3000 separate conveyor belts wants to minimize the cost associated with maintenance, repair, and replacement of these belts. The conveyer belts currently are composed vulcanized rubber around a cotton web base, but the factory owners are investigating new plastic polymer design. For any given size belt, the costs for belts of the two compositions are comparable. Compared to the current rubber/cotton belts, the plastic polymer belts are lighter and easier to move
operating the conveyor belts made of plastic polymer would consume less electric energy. A change from rubber/cotton belts to plastic polymer belts would require minor modification to some of the drive cylinders of the conveyor belts, but the costs of these changes are negligible.
Whether a typical plastic polymer conveyor belt has an approximate serviceable life as least as long as the typical rubber/cotton belt of the same size and shape.