High capacity, speed and cost-optimised precision
The fast and efficient design and installation of advanced sortation systems enables Hermes Logistik Gruppe Deutschland to meet the different demands of its three distribution hubs in Germany.
As Germany’s largest privately-owned B2C and C2C parcel courier, the sortation hubs enable the fast shipping of parcels across a range of sizes from small items to very large parcels. This allows Hermes to achieve cost-efficient parcel shipment in addition to handling returns and providing outsourced business processes. Each of the hubs delivers high capacity with proven levels of availability and low maintenance costs.
The high capacity is achieved with sortation features which include on-the-fly Optical Character Recognition (OCR), as well as certified induction-based weighing and volume measurement of the parcels are on the sorter. The integrated measurement and barcode readers are used to optimise the use of vehicles and simplify route planning.
Matching sorters to parcels
The Hückelhoven Logistics Centre, in North Rhine-Westphalia, houses a powerful sortation system which was created in just 11 months. The system combines two stacked sorters for parcels and an additional sorter for handling small items. The three sorters provide a total capacity of 27,500 items per hour and up to 15,000 returns are processed each day. To streamline the in-feed of parcels from the internal and external areas, eight induction units feed items onto the sorters. The parcels are then discharged to 80 spiral chutes for the 61 Hermes branches and export branches.
The redundancy of all crucial systems prioritises system availability and the contactless linear motor drives contribute to easy maintenance as well as quiet operation.
