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Conveyors: the part that sets the pace of the whole system

Conveyors connect. An automated storage system without transport is an island: it stores very well, but the load still goes in and out by hand. Conveyors are what joins the storage area to the workstations, the loading docks and the production lines, and that is why they end up setting the pace of the whole system. STOKA designs, imports, installs, integrates and supports these lines. This page orders the families by function rather than by model, and tells you when they are worth it and when they are not.

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Why do goods stall between the warehouse and the dock?

Because the route is broken in the middle. Goods are put away quickly and despatched quickly, but between one point and the other somebody moves them by hand, with a pallet truck or with a forklift, and that is where the time goes. Conveyors close that stretch and let the load travel on its own.

What is an internal materials handling system?

In plain terms: they are the paths along which goods travel by themselves inside the warehouse. Instead of a person lifting a package and carrying it, the package rides on rollers, chains or a belt to wherever it is needed. The whole thing is called an internal materials handling system, and in practice it is a network: straight runs that carry the load from one area to another, curves and transfer tables that change its direction, lifts that raise or lower it a level, and stations where somebody works on it. It can move full pallets or loose cartons and totes, and it can also sort each package towards its destination or build the outgoing pallet. It is not an accessory to the storage system: it is the part that connects it to the rest of the operation. STOKA designs it, imports it, installs it, integrates it and supports it.

The families, sorted by what they do

It helps to look at them by function rather than by model. There are the ones that move pallets: heavy duty roller conveyors and chain conveyors, which take the pallet by its runners and carry it from the receiving bay to the storage system.

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There are the ones that move cartons and totes: light roller conveyors, belts and modular belts, working at operator height in the picking areas. There are the ones that change level: vertical lifts and lowerators, which raise the load to a mezzanine or drop it to the dock without anybody lifting it. There are the ones that change direction: transfer tables, curves and turntables, which make the load turn without leaving the line. There are the ones that sort: sorters, which read the label on each package and push it towards the destination it belongs to. And there are the ones that build the outgoing pallet: palletisers. Almost no project uses a single family on its own.

Why this is the most underestimated part

In project conversations, transport tends to come up last, as if it were plumbing. It is the other way round: it sets the pace of the whole.

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A very fast storage system with an undersized conveyor delivers exactly what the conveyor delivers, and not one package more. The slowest point on the line sets the step for everything else, so there is little value in accelerating the part that was already quick. And the stretch covered by hand today has a price: a warehouse operator costs the company USD 965 per month and USD 11,580 per year, social charges included, which amount to 34.6% of labour cost (collective agreement 40/89, logistics branch, June 2026; IARAF, February 2026). That is why transport is dimensioned together with storage and with the same arithmetic, on the measured activity peak and not on the monthly average.

What to define before quoting a run

Three definitions organise the project, and none of them belongs to the supplier: they are yours. The first is the route: where the load comes from, where it passes, where a person touches it and where it ends.

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Drawing it on the warehouse layout with real distances changes the budget more than any choice of model. The second is the accumulation points: where the load can wait without holding up what comes behind. A line with nowhere to accumulate passes every delay upstream, and a two-minute stop at despatch ends up stopping the output of the storage system. The third is what happens if a run stops: whether there is a bypass, whether the load can be taken off to one side, whether the operation can continue by hand meanwhile. That third question separates a line that recovers from one that shuts the whole warehouse down.

A conveyor is civil works, not furniture

It is worth being clear before signing: a conveyor is fixed infrastructure. It is anchored to the floor or hung from the structure, it is fed with power and it occupies a route that is then no longer available for forklifts; that surface has a price, because premium industrial rent in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) averages USD 7.33 per square metre per month (CBRE, Q2 2026).

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Moving it later is not shifting a piece of furniture: it is civil works, with downtime and with cost. That is why it is drawn on the final layout rather than the current one, and why the correct order starts with the process. The floor has to be verified too, because the supports concentrate load, and so does clear height, because a lift needs room above. Installation lead time for automated systems is 3 to 4 months from the purchase order, and the technical sheet for each run comes with the diagnosis.

What determines the design of a conveyor line?

We do not publish model-by-model specification tables: the detailed sheet comes with the assessment, sized against your operation. These are the criteria the choice is made on.

The real load unit
The pallet with the goods on it, overhangs and condition included, or the carton with its weight and its base. The conveyor family follows from that: rollers, chain or belt are chosen by how the load is supported, not by habit.
The activity peak, not the average
The line is dimensioned on the busiest hour of the busiest day. If the sum is done on the monthly average, the system works well nearly always and stalls exactly when it matters most that it should not stall.
The accumulation points
Where the load can wait without holding up what comes behind. It is the definition that changes the real output of the line the most, and the one most often forgotten when asking for a price per linear metre.
What happens if a run stops
Whether there is a bypass, whether the load can leave the line, and whether the operation continues by hand meanwhile. A run with no alternative turns a small fault into a warehouse stopped for hours.
How stable the layout is
Transport is fixed infrastructure. If the route is going to change in the next few years, it is better to solve it with mobile equipment and keep the conveyor for the runs you already know will not move.

Engineering for your operation

When is a conveyor not worth it?

Our approach

There are three clear cases. The first is short distance: if a person with a pallet truck covers the stretch in less time than the line takes to start, the conveyor adds cost and adds no speed. The second is low volume: a fixed line pays for itself when goods run along it all day; if a handful of packages cross per shift, the equipment stands waiting and the money goes further elsewhere in the warehouse. The third, and the most expensive to get wrong, is a layout that is going to change. A conveyor is anchored, powered and occupies a route: moving it is civil works, downtime included. If you are about to relocate, add a production line or reorganise the areas, define the final layout first. And if the problem is not moving the load but disorganised locations, no conveyor fixes that.

Frequently asked questions

Can I automate one stretch and leave the rest by hand?

Yes, and often that is the sensible move. It pays to start with the stretch where the load stalls or where people walk the most, measure it, and only then extend the line. A phased project also spreads the investment and lets you learn from the real operation before committing the entire route.

What speed and what capacity does a line have?

It depends on the load unit, the route, the number of stations and the accumulation points, so we do not publish general figures: out of context they lead to buying badly. The calculation is done during the survey on your measured peak, and the technical sheet for each run is delivered with the diagnosis.

Can the same line carry both pallets and cartons?

Not on the same line, because they are supported differently and call for different equipment. The usual arrangement is one pallet circuit and one carton circuit, joined by stations where the load is built or broken down. Those stations are the point to dimension carefully, because work tends to pile up there.

What happens if the power fails or a package jams?

The line stops and restarts in sections, and the damage depends on the design: whether there is accumulation before the critical point and whether an alternative exists for taking the load out. That is defined in the detailed design together with the restart protocol, not once the problem has already happened.

Other systems

Before quoting metres of conveyor, let us draw the route

The survey establishes the route, the load unit, the activity peak and the accumulation points. With that we tell you which runs justify fixed transport and which are better left by hand.