Belgian postal operator Bpost has opened a new flagship sorting center capable of sorting up to 300,000 parcels a day, more than doubling its previous capacity. The sorter utilizes the latest technologies, such as 360° parcel scanning, and is capable of handling oversized items measuring 120 x 70 x 60cm (47 x 28 x 24in).
At 80,000m² (860,000ft²), the New Brussels X sorting center is the biggest in the Benelux and the second biggest in Europe. Based in Neder-Over-Heembeek, north Brussels, the hub will handle letters for the Brussels and Flemish Brabant region, as well as all parcels for the whole country. Overall, the center is capable of handling 2.4 million letters per day.
The sorting facility forms the cornerstone of Bpost’s Vision 2020 strategy, which aims to centralize parcel sorting in the new hub, organize last-mile delivery around 60 operational mail centers, and fully automate mail sorting at five other sorting centers.
The centralization of Bpost’s parcel sorting capabilities means that online shops can now drop their parcels at New Brussels X until 2:00am for delivery to the end customer a few hours later.
New Brussels X was officially opened by Alexander De Croo, deputy prime minister of Belgium, and Philippe Close, mayor of the city of Brussels.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Koen Van Gerven, CEO of Bpost, said, “This building is a major achievement for Bpost, proportional to our big ambitions. This sorting center is our response to the express train on which e-commerce is arriving in our daily lives and how this has an irreversible impact on the postal industry.
“The number of parcels we handle continues to increase month on month, so we needed to adapt our infrastructure and processes in an innovative way to be able to continue to guarantee customers high quality and flexibility.”
October 24, 2017