DHL is using Vitronic’s camera-based recognition system, VIPAC, to identify barcodes and address information on parcel labels at its new €300m distribution centre in Leipzig, Germany. It makes for swift, automatic parcel sorting and dispatch, and allows the hub to process up to 60,000 items per hour.
Owned by Deutsche Post World Net, DHL is a leading global supply chain and express logistics carrier. It operates in 220 countries, has over 300,000 employees, and ships over 1.5 billion items each year. DHL handles a wide range of goods from over 4,000 suppliers, and offers unparalleled expertise in express, air and ocean freight, overland transport, contract logistics solutions, and international mail services.
DHL Leipzig covers nearly two million square metres and is one of the world’s largest distribution centres. Close to Leipzig airport, it incorporates a specially built airfreight hub, from which DHL planes fly to 46 global destinations, including Asia, the Middle East, all European countries, and the US. DHL Leipzig offers European manufacturing companies a fast, efficient delivery service to international markets.
Open twenty-four hours a day, DHL Leipzig incorporates advanced sorting automation and an extensive conveyor network (over 6,500 metres of track). Twenty-two VIPAC units from Vitronic identify parcel labels at high speed, enabling sorters to automatically direct packages to the correct loading bays for dispatch.
As parcels flow through on powered conveyors, VIPAC uses fast, auto-focus, line-scan cameras to capture high-resolution photographic images of their labels. It combines optical character recognition (OCR) with sophisticated computer algorithms to read barcodes, 2D codes, badly damaged or marked codes, and handwritten and printed address information.
Together with videocoding, a facility that enables the manual input of unreadable labels, VIPAC achieves read rates approaching 100%. This allows users to maintain high levels of efficiency, and reduces the need for time-consuming manual intervention. This leads to significant cost savings.
Nineteen of DHL Leipzig’s VIPAC units operate in the goods-in area above conveyors travelling at speeds of 1.7 metres per second. Each uses five auto-focus cameras to capture images of labels on the top and all four sides of parcels, and an additional fixed-focus camera underneath the conveying equipment, which acquires images of the bottoms of parcels through a small opening. This camera configuration allows DHL to obtain label information no matter what the orientation of a package.
Each goods-in VIPAC unit is equipped with Vitronic’s VOLUMEC volume-measuring system. VOLUMEC uses lasers to measure a parcel’s height, width and length. Using this data, it calculates an item’s volume and the smallest possible cube that will enclose it. This enables DHL Leipzig to automate invoicing, an essential requirement in any busy distribution centre.
Three additional VIPAC units identify labels on ‘flyers’, small to medium sized wallets and boxes optimised by DHL for automated sorting. Each uses just one camera to identify labels on the top side of parcels travelling at speeds of 1.9 metres per second.
All VIPAC units link to a videocoding system at DHL Leipzig. In the event of an unreadable label, its image is sent via a high-speed network to one of six terminals for manual input. An intelligent address database helps operators fill in missing details. Videocoding means DHL Leipzig achieves a successful read rate of nearly 100%.
A sophisticated interface allows DHL to monitor and control all devices, and evaluate statistics such as read rates, throughput, and the number of distributed shipments. This makes for effective management and helps the distribution centre to perform efficiently.
DHL is one of the biggest and most well reputed couriers in the business. High-speed, automated parcel sorting is essential to maintain the speedy delivery service for which it is renowned. At DHL Leipzig, VIPAC from Vitronic is integral to this process.
Vitronic UK
Malcolm Smith
Tel: 0115 840 8244
Email: malcolm.smith@vitronic.com
www.vitronic.com
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