Most conveyor enquiries start with the wrong question. Buyers ask "what conveyor do you have?" when the deciding information is what the line has to do: what is carried, how fast it must move, where it must go and how the product may be touched.
1. Start with the load, not the conveyor
Write down the unit weight, the footprint and the underside of the product. A 12 kg tote with a flat base and a 12 kg casting with an uneven base are different conveying problems — the second one will need fixture or pallet handling before any belt is chosen.
2. Turn takt time into a required speed
Takt time divided into pitch distance gives the minimum belt or chain speed. Add 20–30 % headroom for accumulation recovery and product changeover. If the number comes out above 30 m/min, check whether a vertical lift would shorten the route instead of speeding the belt up.
3. Map the layout before choosing modules
Draw straight runs, curves, level changes and operator positions on the plant drawing. Level changes are where most projects go wrong: an incline needs 3–4× the length of a vertical lift, which is rarely available.
4. Match the conveying surface to the product
Chain for pallets and carriers, roller for rigid flat-bottomed cartons, belt for mixed and small goods, timing belt where spacing must be held to fractions of a millimetre and flexible chain where the route bends tightly. Mixed lines on shared frames are normal, not a compromise.
5. Specify the environment, then the options
Ambient temperature, washdown, ESD classification and cleanroom class rule out more options than any performance requirement. Settle these first, then add accumulation, lift-locate, code reading and guarding.
Bring those five answers to a supplier and the quotation is a configuration, not a guess. Bring only a product name and every supplier will quote a different machine.