Use a warehouse to buffer an industry's deliveries

Choose input or output buffering

For large incoming deliveries, use the path: arriving train → warehouse → short feeder → industry. For output that fills between train visits, use: industry → short pickup → warehouse → outgoing train. Configure and test one direction first. A direct service that already matches production may not benefit from the extra buildings and running costs.

Set up the sawmill example

1. Back up the save and inspect Input Stocks, Output Stocks and Cargo Flow at the mill. Decide whether the problem is incoming Logs, outgoing Planks or both. Do not add a buffer to an industry missing another essential input.
2. Provide warehouse storage for the intended product and connect the long-distance cargo stop to it. Check the slot, filter and available room using the warehouse checks.
3. For incoming Logs, create a short cargo line from a stop serving the warehouse to a stop serving the mill. In the reported layout, the mill-side stop is outside the warehouse's range so it targets the industry. Inspect the actual connection highlights; no fixed spacing is claimed.
4. Allow Logs pickup at the warehouse and use a vehicle supporting Flatbed cargo. At the mill, leave Logs pickup disabled for this feeder and let the valid consumer receive them. Start with Load if available and watch one delivery before increasing the service.
5. For outgoing Planks, create the opposite pickup-and-storage service: load Planks at the mill and unload them into a compatible warehouse slot. Then check that the outgoing train collects Planks there. Keep the two product directions explicit rather than assuming one generic loop will do both.

Storage does not fix a permanently slower next leg

A reply to the player's layout warns that the feeder can still reach a full industry. Compare its deliveries with consumption; reduce the feeder load or frequency if stock never drains. The manual confirms that full industry output does not stop production: excess is destroyed and appears in Cargo Flow. A buffer only helps if its pickup removes stock in time and the onward service eventually carries it away.

Warehouse capacity, compatible slots and added line costs still matter. Do not enable forced disposal merely to make vehicles empty, or describe additional modules as infinite storage. Use the oversupply checks if the destination remains full.

Verify the buffer over several visits

Watch cargo enter the warehouse, leave on the short shuttle, reach the intended industry, and depart on the next production leg. Compare stock swings and Cargo Flow before and after; for output buffering, check whether destroyed output decreases. Also compare company costs. A full warehouse, an empty shuttle or one paid trip alone does not establish an improved supply chain.

If cargo reaches the wrong building

Recheck the receiving stop's highlighted consumers, warehouse filters and each stop's selected pickup product. In an overlapping catchment, the intended destination must be established by the actual delivery, not by visual proximity. If stock still cannot move, keep the save, build, mods and connection-panel images for support. Restore the previous layout if the extra leg makes costs or delivery timing worse.