Hermes has further enhanced capacity and operational efficiency at its 270,000ft² (25,000m²) Midlands Super Hub in Rugby, UK, by installing a new bespoke semi-automated carousel system.
The innovative equipment has been specifically designed and built to process larger packages and incorporates specialist auto-scanning and profiling functionality.
The £1m (US$1.3m) carousel system replaces a number of manual lines and is capable of processing up to 4,000 items per hour to over 60 destinations. The system has two automatic infeeds, which are directly fed from boom conveyors, and two manual infeeds, all of which can handle bulky items up to 2m (6.5ft) in length, 1.2m (3.9ft) in width and weighing up to 50kg (110 lb). This investment ensures that the hub’s overall capacity is now well in excess of one million parcels per day.
Each of the four infeeds onto the main carousel incorporates the latest scanning, volumetric and weighing technologies that identify and accurately profile the packages. Automatic checks are carried out on each parcel to ensure they have been correctly labelled before being transferred onto the carousel itself.
Chris Barrett, head of engineering, facilities and estates at Hermes, said, “This is one of the first systems in the UK to incorporate an auto-scanning and profiling functionality onto a high-speed carousel system.
“Whether it is a curtain pole, ironing board or a set of golf clubs, the carousel is able to streamline the movement of all our bulky items, which will boost our productivity by over 30%. It will also improve the visibility and tracking of parcels, which is an obvious benefit for our clients.”