DHL’s €25 million express facility construction project in the Austrian city of Linz has just gone into operation after a successful construction project, according to Dutch system supplier VanRiet.
The 9,000sqm DHL Express location at Linz-Hörsching Airport is a combined service centre, sorting facility and main handling centre, with access to DHL Express aircraft that fly to the DHL air freight hubs in Brussels and Leipzig four and five times a week, respectively.
As such, the new parcel centre required a sorting system with a high degree of flexibility and the ability to handle the complexities of simultaneously supplying a road hub, an air gateway and a courier service centre. This is what VanRiet's HC Sorter provides.
Ken Straetman, DHL’s Linz-Hörsching project manager, commented: “When DHL Express Austria issues a tender for a sorting system, we do not only want the best technical solution, but we also look for a strong partner who understands our business. The express business is growing at a fast pace with an increasing complexity of requirements, therefore we need flexible solutions and a supplier that can provide these within a tight schedule. Since we worked with VanRiet before we are convinced that they can deliver high quality solutions IN TIME… and that is what the express business is all about.”
Straetman added: “What we really appreciate is that we don’t only have a business partnership, but a real collaboration during the design phase and work together with the engineers of VanRiet as one team with the same goals…We needed a high level of flexibility for this sort system combining a Road Hub with an Air Gateway and a Courier Service Center in one facility, with all the complexity that comes with it and together with the VanRiet engineers we managed to design a very versatile system that sets us up for the future.”
The executive also paid special attention to the security of customer shipments: “Our sorting technology is fully geared towards avoiding errors. Sensors detect whenever there is free space on the conveyor belt, for example, and by means of a zipper system, each package is assigned a position that excludes physical contact with the other packages and thus prevents damage.”
What DHL emphasizes as being particularly innovative is the ultra-modern sorting line. The VanRiet sorter will reach a capacity of approximately 6,000 pieces per hour with a daily handled weight of 325 tons.
The energy-efficient use of all the technology at the site is said to be equally remarkable. Room as well as outdoor lighting is controlled by sensors, using presence, motion and daylight detection. This means that the intelligent system only provides light where work is being done and adapts it to the amount of daylight available.
Solar panels on the DHL facility’s roof are said to furthermore contribute to the location’s sustainability. Through the panels, 63,000 kilograms in CO2 emissions are estimated to be saved, further reducing the facility’s carbon footprint by 11%.
Material Handling Systems by VanRiet is a Dutch company that for more than 65 years has been developing design, integration, installation and maintenance for automated transport and sorting solutions for customers’ logistic challenges. Just recently VanRiet entered partnerships with DPD Polska and Posten Norge AS, providing automated sorting solutions for the two companies’ hubs.
