On Stand 20D30 at IMHX the Knapp Group will be presenting its pioneering sorting solution for flat goods developed by its sister company Dürkopp Fördertechnik.
The Dürkopp sorter bag can accommodate a wide range of items such as small boxes, CDs, DVDs, books, toys and gifts, accessories, textiles, shoes and cartons. The system is used mainly for e-commerce applications, and since it was launched in 2008, many systems have been installed.
The system is simple, easy and safe to use for the operator. At the induct stations the operators pass the article over a scanner and drop it into the bag provided. Following the filling process, the bag is then tracked via RFID technology and conveyed via the monorail system. Required items will be batch picked, sorted automatically and made available in customer order sequence at the packing bench. The operator will then pack items from the bags in sequence. Relevant packing information – such as the number of articles in the order – will be shown on a monitor.
The main advantage of sequence sortation is the system can sort any size of order in sequence and allocate these to several packing benches. The speed of the system can be matched with the working pace of the individual operator.
Articles are scanned in before being placed in the sorter bag and, during scanning, the RFID transponder on the pocket is linked to the article information – only following a positive scan will the pocket leave the induct station.
The sorter bag can be easily incorporated onto Dürkopp’s proven Pick Rotor and Roll Adaptor conveying systems which are widely used by companies across Europe.
Annette Sommer, General Manager of Dürkopp Fördertechnik UK, said: “This innovative bag system represents a step change in handling technology and has been installed at leading fulfilment companies. The average sorting capacity is 10,000 items per hour, in perfect order sequence and with a minimal workforce.”
Durkopp is steadily increasing its presence in the UK’s garment sortation sector having completed multi-million pound systems for Asda, Next, Sainsbury’s, Aurora Fashions, Debenhams, John Lewis Partnership and other well known UK retailers.
For Next Group PLC, Dürkopp has completed a further extension of their automated sortation system operating at their national hanging garment distribution centre near Pontefract in West Yorkshire.
The latest investment involves the installation of 23 additional Pickbuffers and associated conveyor connections which can store a total of 90,000 extra single items. The Pickbuffers enable automatic storage and single item picking for both e-commerce and store orders.
Annette Sommer added: “The system is used for all of Next’s hanging garment picking and due to the growth of Next’s e-commerce business we had been asked to extend the system we originally installed in 2006. We have also installed a special fast track lane to accommodate late orders and meet Next’s delivery promise of ‘Order by 9 p.m. and have it delivered next day’”.
Covering some 50,000m², Dürkopp designed the whole concept to take stock from an adjacent high bay warehouse for feeding into the automated forward pick-face and sortation process. Garments are selected here for shipping to Next’s 520 UK stores, international stores and to service the company’s growing volume of catalogue and Internet sales.
The system for Sainsbury’s is at their National Distribution Centre for Clothing in Bedfordshire which has the capacity to store over 7 million garments and currently services 410 Sainsbury’s Supermarkets nationwide with clothing. It has five storage levels and can handle more than two million garments a week. The Dürkopp system was installed in only nine months from receipt of order to commissioning and has 51 kilometres of storage rail and runs 20,000 trolleys.
“I look forward to seeing both existing and new customers at IMHX and to have the opportunity to demonstrate how our products can meet the rigorous demands of today’s garment handling sector and the growing e-commerce markets,” concluded Annette.
Dürkopp Fördertechnik
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