Production Floor Planner

Silo siting & transport

REF —

Map your production floor
Place machines · draw connections · we suggest where the silos fit

Set your room size, drop in the equipment you run, and arrange it like your floor looks today. Use Connect to link any two machines and pick the transport for each link — including a bypass. Hit Suggest silo zone and Recommend transport for guidance, then download the plan or save it to keep working later.

Room × m
Roaster Packing Storage Silos Utility Pneumatic Chain Helicoidal Bypass (diverter)
Transport systems — how they compare
Moving coffee between storage, silos and the roaster
Chain conveyor Modern
Enclosed chain/drag conveyor moving beans "en masse" horizontally or on a gentle incline.
Pros
  • Very gentle — minimal bean breakage
  • High, steady capacity
  • Fully enclosed: clean, dust-controlled
  • Low energy per ton; durable
Cons
  • Fixed route — hard to reroute later
  • Takes horizontal space along its run
  • Higher upfront cost
  • Horizontal / gentle inclines, not steep lifts
SILO
Pneumatic Modern
Beans travel through tubing by air — the Air Pneumatic Loading method in our Smart Silo System.
Pros
  • Routes around obstacles, up to silo tops
  • Frees floor space (tubing overhead)
  • Enclosed; can serve several destinations
  • Best for long distances and vertical lifts
Cons
  • Higher energy use (blower)
  • Fast air can create fines; dense-phase gentler but costlier
  • Needs filters and some upkeep
  • Can be noisier
Helicoidal (screw) Legacy
A rotating screw pushes beans along a tube. Simple and cheap, but older and slower — being phased out for coffee.
Pros
  • Low cost and compact
  • Simple, self-contained
  • Useful for very short runs and dosing
Cons
  • Slow throughput
  • Friction can crack or polish beans
  • Short distances only; wears over time
  • Superseded by chain & pneumatic

In short: for most roasteries we pair a chain conveyor for direct horizontal runs with a pneumatic line wherever beans climb, turn or reach the silo tops. A bypass diverter lets one line feed several destinations. The helicoidal screw still suits short metering, but it's the legacy option.