Abstract: A singulating module/belt including a conveyor belt for moving a stack of sheet material toward a pair of take-away rollers in one direction and a singulation belt moving in an opposing direction for retarding the motion of the upper sheets of the stack. The singulation belt is characterized by a compliant face surface which separates sheet material without damaging or tearing the sheets during singulation. In the described embodiment, the cross section of the belt includes a plurality of grooves defining a plurality of longitudinal ribs therebetween. The ribs define a cumulative width dimension in contact with the sheet material which is within a range of between about 0.55 to about 0.85 of the width dimension of the belt. Furthermore, the height dimension of each rib is within a range of between about 0.20 to about 0.8 of the height dimension of the belt.