UPS has ordered 200 high-performance line scan cameras for its European air hub at Cologne/Bonnairport from the German machine vision experts VITRONIC to capture parcels and envelopes for more
efficient sorting to cope with future capacity expansion.The large order is the result of the planned increase of the sorting capacity at this UPS sitefrom 110,000 to 190,000 parcels per hour as part of the largest facility investment outside theUnited States in the company’s history, VITRONIC explained. The contract value was notdisclosed.
As part of the new contract, the 200 VITRONIC VICAMssi2 line scan cameras with white LEDillumination will be installed as identification systems for the automatic capture of parcels andenvelopes. 12 VIPAC top reading systems automatically capture and read barcodes on envelopes. Thecapture of maxi codes on parcels will be carried out at 67 three- and five-sided readingtunnels.
Additionally, the volume measurement system VIPAC D captures the corresponding certified volumeof the package. Including the systems already installed, 136 VIPAC identification systems with morethan 330 cameras will be operating at the Cologne/Bonn hub by the end of next year.
The current UPS order continues the long-term successful co-operation with VITRONIC. In 1997,UPS ordered the first 20 VIPAC identification systems from VITRONIC for its site in Fechenheim, adistrict of Frankfurt, Germany, which was the company’s biggest European hub at that time. Twoyears later, the central Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, was equipped with 167 three-sidedreading systems and 28 top-side reading systems. Further systems have been installed at the UPSsites in Brussels/Belgium, Paris/France and Nuneaton/England.
In Fechenheim, the first generation of the in-house developed VITRONIC high-performanceline-scan autofocus camera guaranteed the automatic reading of barcodes. In 2011, the systems werereplaced by multi-sided reading systems of the latest technology.
Founded in Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1984, VITRONIC is now represented on five differentcontinents, including locations in USA, Australia, UK, UAE, France, Latvia, Morocco, Malaysia andSingapore, and employs 400 staff.
