Hermes, the UK’s largest courier delivery network, is increasing sorting capacity at itsnational hub by more than 20% to cope with rising volumes.
The company is investing in a new conveyor system for the automated sortation system at the hubin Nuneaton, central England. This will increase the throughput by more than 20% and createcapacity to process 6,000 parcels per hour.
The hub expansion is in response to the increasing volumes that are being handled at the site,Hermes UK stated.
Carole Woodhead, CEO of Hermes in the UK, commented: “The national hub is forecast to handlemore than 55 million parcels this year, an increase of more than 15% when compared to the previoustwelve months, so we are extending the automated sortation system to ensure we are best placed forthe peak Christmas period and beyond. This latest development is part of an expansion programme forour hub and depot network that is designed to meet present and future requirements, supporting ourongoing growth strategy.”
The solution will be installed in an existing area within the 85,000 sq ft (7,900 sqm) facility.It will include an Interroll vertical cross-belt sorter with four Sovex unloading infeed boomconveyors and a manual infeed for containerised traffic. As with the existing sortation system, itwill also feature a dual-top camera system to provide the option to record picture images of allparcels.
Hermes is growing strongly in the UK at present. In 2011, its revenues soared by 22% to €303million and volumes increased by 20%, including 40% growth at Christmas. Woodhead said in May thatshe is targeting 15-20% sales growth for 2012.
In addition to the Nuneaton hub expansion, the company is investing in new depots to increasethe network to 25 locations and plans to expand its northern England hub at Warrington in 2013. Italso launched a network of more than 500 parcel shops for collections and returns this year.
