To set some ground rules, the measurements this guide will use for the map are in "units" where 1 unit is equivalent to the space that a single conveyor piece takes up (also equal to the width of the doors).

The starting area is 10 units wide and 20 units long. A quick way to judge distance is by the panels in the wall. Each panel is 5 units across.


Each floor tile is 2x2 units.


To expand your operations, the first upgrade is unlocked by buying weight scales and the license for weighing boxes. The upgrade itself costs $700.

Each area upgrade will give you a 10x10 expansion to your warehouse. There is a total of 14 expansions or "tiers" to unlock. The image below shows the starting area and the first two unlocked areas.


Here is the full unlocked map with arrows indicating each shipping/receiving bay.
Red arrows are for outgoing invalid parcels. Green arrows are for outgoing valid parcels with the door type indicated. Blue arrows are incoming trucks/parcels.


Also see this detailed map made by zhanshiDE[docs.google.com] (thank you zhanshiDE!)

Scroll to the bottom of this section for a table with all shop parts for automating parcel inspection.
Below are some automation parts that warrant a little more explanation than what's in the table.

Smart splitters are described as splitting into three paths, but they will not actually dump any parcels onto a side that isn't connected to a conveyor, making them useful for splitting into two paths.


Each scanner has one side for input, and then ejects valid/invalid parcels to the left and right. You can swap the sides that the valid/invalid parcels come out when placing a Scanner.
There is a nameplate that indicates the type of scanner as well as the level and time it takes to scan. The blue lights on the top right of the nameplate also indicate how upgraded the Scanner is.


Once you make progress building your parcel empire, you will need to incorporate storage racks into your system. This prevents parcels getting backed up on the conveyors on days when you can't submit certain cargo types.


Launchers are fun. You get to watch parcels fly irresponsibly through the air with no regard to any "fragile" labels on the box, but you do need to be mindful when setting them up.

First, launchers have no concept of what's on the landing side of the launch. This can cause pile-ups that you have to manually fix. Parcel physics are a little weird and once you start stacking 3 or more on top of each other they have trouble figuring out how to snap onto the conveyor belt.


Second, launcher upgrades don't just increase speed. They exponentially increase the launch distance.


Below you can see how the distance increases for each tier. Another note here is that each parcel has it's own "physics weight" and causes some variability in exactly where the parcel will land. If you want to make sure your parcels always land correctly, I recommend using 4 straight conveyor pieces in the landing zone.


Third, the following image is a valid use of launchers. The launcher's direction is the opposite of the straight conveyor, allowing you to launch parcels backwards.


In conclusion, I see two useful applications for launchers.
1. Use tier 3 launchers to launch parcels great distances and over other conveyors (way faster than using bridge conveyors).
2. Tier 1 or 2 launcher at a truck delivery door so that the truck is always being unloaded, which is useful if you haven't fully set up automation and want to maximize the amount of parcels you process in a day.

Example use, one bay door sorted into 3 sticker checkers. Pre-approved and denied packages are launched using T3 launchers, while parcels without any stickers go onto straight conveyors.

To automate, you need:

• Conveyor belts
  
• "Conveyor Deliveries" upgrade - automatically unloads trucks onto conveyor belts
  
• Sticker Checker - sorts out any pre-approved/denied parcels
  
• Scanners - check the various parcel criteria to sort out the invalid and valid parcels
  
• Sticker applier - applies "Approved" and "Denied" stickers to parcels so that you don't have to

To improve your automation you want to add:

• Storage racks, loaders, unloaders - store packages for trains/planes/boats on days when they're not being accepted
  
• Pause conveyors - disable conveyor paths for trains/planes/boats

The automation setup is straightforward:

1. Use sticker checkers to separate pre-labeled parcels. Theoretically you can skip this step, but you save a lot of time by not scanning pre-labeled parcels.
   
2. Use scanners to sort the good from the bad. There is a scanner for each item that needs to be checked on a parcel (ie. weight, serial number, country/flag, etc.). Line these up in series.
   
3. Use the Contents Inspection Diverter Conveyor to separate parcels that need this extra step of inspection after going through all other Scanners.
   
4. Send all fully checked parcels through an Approval Sticker Applier, then use Cargo Type Diverters to send each package to its respective door.
   
5. Combine all of the rejected parcel outputs from the Scanners using joiner conveyors and send these parcels through a Denied Sticker Applier, then to the nearest Invalid Parcel door.
   
6. Add launchers or storage racks as desired to improve the setup, and upgrade your scanners to make them faster.

Example: