Conveyors worked example

Conveyor ROI with total conveyor project investment of 462,500 $: a worked example

What does the result look like when total conveyor project investment reaches 462,500 $? The full calculation is worked below with real intermediate numbers. a plant manager or project engineer needs a first-pass business case for conveyor or line automation investment

The inputs for this scenario

  • Total conveyor project investment: 462,500 $ (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 185,000)
  • Annual labor, downtime, and throughput savings: 82,000 $ / yr (unchanged)
  • Annual conveyor support cost: 12,000 $ / yr (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Net annual savings = annual savings − annual support cost) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6.61 years for conveyor payback period, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 70,000 $ / yr for net annual savings.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 462,500 $ for project investment.
  • At this operating point the engine returns -112,500 $ for five-year net benefit.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where total conveyor project investment sits at 185,000 $ and the headline result is 2.64 years, this scenario comes in 150% above the baseline at 6.61 years.
  • A figure at this level is achievable when total conveyor project investment is genuinely sustained, not just peaked for a shift. Simple payback ignores the time value of money, throughput ramp-up, and salvage value, so for long-horizon decisions pair it with an NPV or IRR analysis.

Results at a glance

  • Conveyor payback period: 6.61 years (headline result)
  • Net annual savings: 70,000 $ / yr
  • Project investment: 462,500 $
  • Five-year net benefit: -112,500 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Conveyor ROI calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.