DPD France is testing robots for parcel sorting and has opened a new depot in Annecy, south-eastern France, ready for growing parcel volumes in the peak pre-Christmas period.
To optimise parcel handling in the depots, the company is now testing ten ‘Soly’ robots, developed by the sorting solutions specialist Solystic, at its depot in Vémars in the Ile-de-France region (metropolitan area of Paris).
These new lightweight robots are designed to sort and deliver small packages to their shipping points within the depot, and transfer parcels to the delivery trucks. This reduces repetitive movements by sorting staff and handling by delivery drivers who can focus on their delivery routes instead.
The deployment of the robots required marking the ground with QR codes, DPD France explained. The robots move following these markings and the depot workers load each parcel to be distributed onto the robots. The latter scan the parcel directly and transfer it to the correct shipping tray for loading on the truck.
"We want to reinvent shipping. Therefore, we are testing ten Soly robots for parcel handling. Our goal is to optimise the distribution of parcels and the organisation of the routes for the delivery drivers,” said Emmanuel André, Managing Director Operations, Network and Quality, DPD France.
“The job of parcel delivery drivers is changing and we must follow this development. With regard to the consumer or the service point, it is increasingly service-oriented and must involve less handling in terms of loading,” he added.
Meanwhile, DPD France has opened a new depot in Annecy, south-eastern France, reinforcing its presence in Savoie and Haut-Savoie region, in line with growing parcel volumes in the peak pre-Christmas period. Featuring a dual parcel sorting chain, the new depot is well prepared to manage seasonal volume peaks smoothly, the company said.
Located in Saint-Felix, 15 km from Annecy near the A41 motorway, in close proximity to Switzerland, the new depot replaces the former nearby 1,100 sqm depot. The new facility is built on an area comprising 14,000 sqm, with a building that covers 3,300 sqm. It has ten gates for lorries and 75 gates for light vehicles. 90 people work at the site including 60 delivery drivers.
The depot is dedicated both to the dispatch and collection of parcels weighing below 30 kg. It features ten telescopes and two semi-trailers for loading and unloading the parcels. The double chain for processing parcels ensures two parallel parcel flows redirected to delivery drivers for distribution. Other features include lighting with automatic sensors, solar heating and green areas to reduce the noise level of the site.
“During winter, this depot, located close to Switzerland, is now the most important one for DPD France in terms of import and distribution of parcels in our European network, and considering the seasonality of winter items we handle and ship (skis, winter clothes and accessories, snow chains for cars, tyres etc.),” Eric Mosca, head of the Annecy depot, said.
Founded 20 years ago, DPD France (formerly Exapaq), part of DPDgroup, has a network of 56 branches and six national sorting centres. It employs 1,800 people who handle and deliver 240,000 parcels across France on a daily basis. In 2014, DPD France delivered over 59 million parcels.
