You can never have too much information when you're looking to install a conveyor system. A lot of thought and even more calculation must be put into something that is built entirely to improve efficiency. When you're ready to approach a material handling expert about a conveyor system, you'll want to be prepared with a number of things to speed up the process and share the same concerns as the experts building your system.

What is your budget?

You probably already know that a conveyor system isn't something to be taken lightly. You simply can't afford to look at it two years' down the road and realize it's not working. Do your research, be real about investment your project requires, and run the math on your ROI. Will you be able to secure a loan? Will your conveyor system generate a return within the timeframe you have in mind? The money needs to make sense before anything else.

What is your maintenance plan?

What kind of plan can you put in place to maintain your conveyor? See what kind of service plan your material handling provider or the equipment manufacturer offers along with the install. Consider keeping a qualified technician on staff who can service it regularly. Don't think for a second that a conveyor system is a set-it-and-forget-it kind of affair. It needs regular care to run its best.

What product do you want to convey?

The big question is, what are you trying to move? Be prepared with the dimensions, size, weight, and fragility of your product when you approach a material handling solutions provider. From there you can decide what type of conveyor is best and what kind of capacity is expected of it.

What is volume do you want to achieve?

This goes hand in hand with the type of product you want to move, and helps answer questions about conveyor speed and throughput. Calculating your ROI also depends heavily on your conveyor's ability to move product faster and more efficiently than your current method. Run time tests and study the results to see what your current state is, and where you want to be.

What type of environment will it be in?

You've probably heard the saying that "the forklift always wins." Conveyor can be built to take some punishment, but there are some things it just can't take. Forklift collisions being one of them. This is just an extreme example, however, since there are loads of other factors you'll want to take into account when choosing a conveyor system. Is your environment excessively hot, cold, wet, or dry? Is there lots of static in the air, or will it be surrounded by caustic materials? Does it need to travel through high traffic areas? Most importantly, can you even fit a conveyor system where you want it?

The material handling experts at SPeedrack Midwest can answer all these questions and more as they quote and build a conveyor system for your business. Knowing the answer to the questions posed above will help you create realistic expectations and smooth out the research process while we work to find the best solution for you. Call 616-887-8886 or contact us online today to begin quoting your new conveyor project.