 | Best in class letter sorting at the Swiss Post
Automatic processes from incoming to outgoing mail plus processing around the clock: Thanks to fully automated mail tote storage facilities the new Swiss Post Mail Sorting Centres
have been able to take the lead in this field. In 2002 the decision was taken to devise a new method of processing mail with three main offices in Zürich-Mülligen,
Härkingen and Eclépens, six regional sub-centres and two centres for returns and video coding. The prime location of these centres within the public transport system,
standardised processes and a high degree of automation have paved the way for an increase in efficiency and competitiveness.
Zürich-Mülligen - a highly modern mail sorting facility
"Reengineering Mail Processing" (REMA) is the name of this major logistical project. Approximately 1200 employees will be working in the future in the first of the three
new sorting offices, and around the clock in a three shift system. This means four million deliveries per day, in 100,000 totes on a conveyor belt a total of nine kilometres in
length with the help of 15 sorting machines, 4 of which are Interroll Crossbelt Sorters.
After the containers have arrived by rail or truck, the totes are redirected to the processing area by means of robots. The so called "A" deliveries are forwarded
directly to the sorting process, where they are dealt with by one of the fifteen sorting machines, each of which is capable of handling up to 40,000 items of mail per hour.
"B" deliveries, which are required to be dealt with within six days, are sent to a high bay rack facility able to cope with 80, 000 totes, where they are sorted according to
the delivery times.
Double efficiency
The sorting of the totes into more than twenty modules of the high bay rack, the so called mail storage facility, is made by the Interroll Crossbelt Sorter, which impresses with
its two tiers and horizontal configuration.
Every minute a good 170 items pass through Interroll's high performance sorter, meaning a rough total of 13, 000 every hour. Around the clock. Four Interroll Crossbelt
Sorters with horizontal conveyor sections that can be adapted to fit the available space form the cornerstones of the sorting process in the centres at Mülligen,
Härkingen and Eclépens. This makes a total of approximately 1.4 kilometres of sorting belts.
Precisely assembled sorting modules
The system integrator Siemens chose the Interroll Crossbelt Sorter for the REMA Project because, thanks to the Plug and Play design, the sorting modules that have been precisely
assembled can be quickly and easily integrated into the overall system. Siemens' sorter control system guarantees a frictionless start-up and safe operations.
Flexibility and guaranteed access to the totes at all times were considered key benefits in connection with storage. Also, an optimal usage of the space available was a matter of
the highest importance, in particular at the Zürich-Mülligen letter centre.
Mechanics provide the edge
For the customer, important Interroll criteria are above all ease of maintenance, the robust construction of the sorter thanks to its patented mechanical drive system, its low
noise level and, most of all, zero error tolerance. It is absolutely imperative that there should be not be cases of items getting stuck, twisted around or even falling off the
conveyor, nor during the 60 input procedures, whilst being transported on the crossbelt carrier or when being discharged at one of the 250 destinations.
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