Deutsche Post DHL has awarded a major contract for new sorting technology for small parcels to Beumer Group as part of a €250m (US$298m) investment at nine parcel centers across Germany that will enable an additional 126,000 shipments to be sorted per hour across the parcel network by 2023.
Beumer’s newly developed medium-format sorter, which is specially designed for processing small and medium-size shipments measuring up to shoe box size (45 x 35 x 25cm) and with a maximum 4kg in weight, will be piloted at the DHL parcel center in Greven, North Rhine-Westphalia. The building will receive a 35m-wide and 126m-long extension measuring some 4,400m2 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.
The Beumer system will then be installed in eight additional parcel centers by 2023, starting with Regensburg, Speyer, Neuwied and Neumünster from 2022. Four additional sites are planned for 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-size 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,” explained 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,” said Thomas Wiesman, director sales logistic systems at Beumer Group. “We look forward to continued successful cooperation and thank them for their confidence and trust.”