Most conveyor regrets are layout regrets. The hardware was fine; it was just pointed the wrong way. An hour of flow planning before the first quote saves months of workarounds after commissioning.
Walk the path of one order
Trace a single carton from receiving dock to outbound trailer, writing down every touch, turn and wait. Conveyors earn their keep on the straight, busy stretches of that path — not in corners where a person with a cart wins.
Count the peak, not the average
A line sized for the average day chokes on the busiest one. Pull the top ten days from last year and size flow for them; the other 355 days simply run quieter.
Leave room to sort later
Even if sortation is a phase-two dream, reserve the straight run and ceiling height it will need now. A merge added on paper costs nothing; one added to a live line costs weekends.
Draw the returns path too
Returns, empties and packaging waste move against the main flow. Lines that ignore them end up with tote stacks in walkways — plan the counter-current before it plans itself.
