New Sorting Technology Boosts Efficiency

Logistics provider Deutsche Post DHL Group and intralogistics solutions provider BEUMER Group have signed an agreement on the use of a new and innovative sorting technology in selected parcel centers.

The newly-developed medium-format sorter is specially designed for processing small and medium-sized shipments measuring up to shoe box size (45 cm x 35 cm x 25 cm) and with a maximum four kilograms in weight. The new sorting system ensures even more efficient sorting in that it separates formats and significantly boosts sorting capacities at the respective sites. Deutsche Post DHL is investing some EUR 250 million in the new technology which will be piloted in Greven and subsequently installed in eight additional parcel centers by 2023.

“With the continued strong growth in the e-commerce market, we need to generate new sorting capacity in our parcel network so we can meet additional demand in the regions we serve. We’re seeing a strong increase in small to medium-sized shipments. The new medium-format sorter developed by BEUMER Group is specifically designed for use in processing these kinds of shipments, giving us additional capacity and boosting efficiency in the respective parcel centers,” says Thomas Schneider, Chief Production Officer Post & Parcel Germany at Deutsche Post DHL Group.

“We’re both pleased and proud that we were able to convince Deutsche Post DHL Group of the merits of our innovative medium-format sorting system,” says Thomas Wiesman, Director Sales Logistic Systems at BEUMER Group. “We look forward to continued successful cooperation and thank them for their confidence and trust.”

The medium-format sorter is being piloted at the parcel center in Greven in North Rhine-Westphalia. The parcel center will receive a 35-meter-wide and 126-meter-long extension measuring some 4,400 square meters which connects the two wings of the existing U-shaped building. Installation of the new sorting system will start in May. This will increase sorting capacity at the parcel center by more than 40%, making for an additional 14,000 items and an overall total of 45,000 shipments per hour. The new sorter will be ready for use at the Greven parcel center in time for the pre-Christmas peak season this year.

After successful piloting in Greven, the new medium-format sorter will also be used at the Regensburg, Speyer, Neuwied and Neumünster sites from 2022. Four additional sites are planned for 2023. The new medium-format sorters in the nine parcel centers will then enable an additional 126,000 shipments to be sorted per hour across DHL’s parcel network.