Swiss Post has increased capacity at its parcel sorting centre in Frauenfeld, northern Switzerland, by 25% with a new, more efficient sorting system, as part of its e-commerce strategy and in time for the peak Christmas season.
The Frauenfeld facility is the second of the three sites that Swiss Post has expanded, following the upgraded parcel centre in Härkingen, in the north-west of the country. The 25% capacity increase enables the company to handle the growing volumes and the faster delivery speed while maintaining the usual quality during the parcel sorting process, Swiss Post explained.
Previously, the Frauenfeld parcel centre had the capacity to sort 20,000 parcels an hour. After the successful system upgrade, this figure will rise to over 25,000 parcels per hour on peak days. The new conveyor and sorting system was first installed during ongoing operations over the three existing sorters and then connected to them. At 2.5 metres per second, it runs considerably faster than the existing systems with a peak of around 1.7 metres per second. When utilisation is low, parts of the system can also be shut down if not required. This saves up to 80% in energy consumption.
Thanks to e-commerce growth, Swiss Post saw its parcel volumes constantly increasing over the last years. In 2014, the postal operator delivered a record number of almost 112 million parcels. Processing times are also becoming shorter as nearly 50% of the customers now want their parcels to be delivered the next day. This figure has increased by around 30% in the last 15 years. At peak times such as the Christmas period, over one million parcels are handled every day.
Swiss Post is investing around CHF 60 million (€55 million) in the expansion of the sorting systems at its three parcel centres to guarantee that parcels are processed and delivered reliably and on time. The expansion of the Härkingen parcel centre was completed in autumn 2014. This summer, construction work has started to expand Swiss Post’s third parcel centre in Daillens, western Switzerland.
The capacity increases at the three parcel centres are part of Swiss Post’s e-commerce strategy which includes new services that offer customers more flexibility when receiving and sending their parcels. For example, customers can now request a second delivery attempt in the evening for missed consignments. Another new feature is a single Swiss Post login that allows them to register at various online shops at the same time. This means that personal data and delivery addresses only need to be entered once.
The network of My Post 24 terminals and services is also being expanded. In addition, Swiss Post will launch the individual management of parcels and registered letters next year. As soon as a consignment is on its way, the customer can use the “consignment cockpit’ on the Swiss Post website to select whether it should be delivered to a home address or to an alternative address.
