5 Signs Your 3PL Needs a Carton Conveyor Upgrade

As a 3PL (or logistics manager in an e-commerce-driven fulfilment centre), knowing when to upgrade your conveyor systems is critical. If any of these five signs resonate, it’s time to consider a carton conveyor upgrade.

Sign 1 – Picking and packing zones are labour-intensive and growing

If you’re seeing:

• 6 + pickers at peak shifts, and still falling behind
• Labour cost per order creeping up
• Manual pushing of cartons/totes between workstations
  … then your carton & tote conveyor systems are overdue for automation.

Sign 2 – Your throughput cannot keep up with order volumes

E-commerce volumes are rising. The global conveyor systems market is growing, in part driven by this need.
If you’re seeing delays or having to add shifts to compensate, an upgrade is likely.

Sign 3 – Labour shortage or high turnover in picking staff

Labour markets are tight. An automated conveyor system reduces reliance on the manual workforce and mitigates risk from turnover.

Sign 4 – Space is constrained and layout is messy

If your conveyors (or manual flows) are sprawling, inefficient, or impeding other operations, you need a space-efficient conveyor design that simplifies flow and reclaims floor space.

Sign 5 – You plan future growth, but the current system lacks modularity

If you anticipate SKU growth, seasonality peaks or changing product profiles (cartons, totes, pallets) then having a future-proof conveyor system matters. Your new system should integrate with WMS/WCS and other automation.

What to do next – a quick upgrade roadmap

• Audit current state: Map flows, labour touches, bottlenecks.
• Define target state: Throughput goals, labour targets, space constraints.
• Select solution partners: Look for 1-2 week quotation, site visit, service track record.
• Build business case: Show labour cost savings, throughput improvement, payback period.
• Plan installation: Minimising downtime, modular roll-out approach.
• Train and measure: Set KPIs (cost/order, picks/hour, downtime) and monitor.

Why now is a critical moment

With e-commerce, rapid fulfilment expectations and labour challenges, the conveyor systems market is seeing significant growth. Investing now gives you competitive edge, better service levels and lower long-term costs.

How Diamond Phoenix helps 3PLs

• End-to-end: from conveyors for cartons, totes, pallets to full integration.
• Consultative: We bring experienced engineers to ensure the solution fits your business.
• Fast: Quotation in 1-2 weeks.
• Service: 24/7 support to protect your operations during peak times.
• Solutions are tailored to your labour, space and throughput challenges.

Act Now: Future-Proof Your Fulfilment with a Diamond Phoenix Upgrade

If any of the five preceding signs, throughput bottlenecks, rising damage rates, excessive manual dependency, lack of package variability handling, or inflexible layouts resonate with your operation, the costs of maintaining the status quo are rapidly outweighing the investment in a modern solution.

Don't wait. Upgrade your carton conveyor system with Diamond Phoenix, now to secure these immediate and long-term advantages:

• Increase Volume: Eliminate bottlenecks and achieve consistent, controlled flow with powered systems, ensuring you can scale up smoothly to meet peak season demands without failure.
• Reduce Labour Risk: Stop dedicating valuable labour to pushing and guiding cartons. Automating movement frees up your workforce for higher-value activities and mitigates the risk associated with relying on a tight labour market.
• Reclaim Space: Transitioning to vertical conveyance (like Spiral Conveyors) and modern powered solutions allows you to optimise your facility's footprint, enabling you to add more storage (mezzanines) or packing stations without expensive building expansions.
• Future-Proof Your Business: A robust, automated material handling system is the foundation for future warehouse technologies, including robotics and automated sortation. An upgrade now ensures your infrastructure is ready for the next wave of e-commerce evolution.