DHL USA has teamed up with regional companies to upgrade the sorting technologies at its mainexpress hub for the Americas, at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), due to
the growing volumes at the site.The US$12.5 million project will upgrade many existing hardware and software applicationsrunning its automatic sorting system, improving the speed and reliability of shipment scanning.
The Ohio-based Mettler-Toledo, in partnership with Datalogic Automation in Hebron, Kentucky,will provide hardware and software for the CVG auto-sort scan tunnels. This will include opticalsystems that capture shipment data from packages to effect automated sortation and internal routingof international shipments. DHL is also working with Material Handling Systems (MHS) to upgrade itsProgrammable Logic Controllers, which are the systems running much of the sort equipment hardwareat DHL’s CVG hub, with the next generation of computer hardware and software.
Additional enhancements for the CVG automated sorting system include new software, controlmodules and visualisation systems to improve system functionality and sorting speed.
The entire project, which started in April 2010, is expected to be completed by April 2011.
“As US importers and exporters increase their reliance on DHL to grow their operations on aglobal scale, we need to ensure the latest technologies are in place to continue providing thehighest levels of service and reliability for our customers,” said Jack O’Neill, vice president ofoperations for DHL Express USA. “I am pleased that we have been able to tap many regionally based,globally recognised technology providers to help keep our hub outfitted with the lateststate-of-the-art technology.”
The DHL Express hub at CVG serves as DHL’s central hub for the Americas region and includesmore than 6 km of conveyor belts, with the ability to process shipments at the rate of 90,000pieces per hour.
In 2008, DHL restructured its US express business to stem losses, leading the company towithdraw from domestic US operations and focus entirely on its international services, eliminatingthe need to maintain the US$310 million Air Park in Wilmington, Ohio, as its principal US air hub.In August 2009, DHL moved the hub back to its former location at Cincinnati.
