A split tray sorter installed by Dürkopp Fördertechnik at German catalogue and e-commerce specialists Witt Weiden has proved to be highly efficient, enabling ‘returns’ to be easily and efficiently integrated into the normal order and dispatch process.
At peak times the mail order company processes up to 77,000 orders per day to a customer base of some nine million consumers. The product range includes women’s and men’s clothing, shoes, household articles, textiles and accessories. Returned goods are a significant challenge in e- commerce and mail order logistics, as goods are often returned due to incorrect size, colour or quality. These goods all have to be re-stocked – a process which is made easy with the Dürkopp split tray sorter.
In the past, a cross belt sorter was used to process the returns, however increasing maintenance costs and equipment down time reduced productivity, and the equipment no longer met the required performance standards. Following a review of several options, Witt then decided to invest in a new Dürkopp Fördertechnik automatic, split tray sorter system. During the two month installation and commissioning period, the old system continued to be used in parallel so there was minimal disruption to the business.
Now the returns process starts with the goods being checked manually and then re-packed for re- stocking. The split tray sorter enables returned stock to be automatically inducted by two induct stations in any order onto the split tray sorter where it is recognised by the control system and directed to the appropriate drop-off location to be stored away.
The sorter trays have a dimension of 60×60 cm which enables stock to be loaded in almost any orientation – for example, shirts and trousers can be inducted lengthways or sideways which further increases the system’s speed of 1.3 m/sec.
The 24 chutes are also designed so that each one can discharge goods into two separate storage boxes which effectively doubles the sorter capacity. Following the sortation process, employees then scan the article and move it into tote bags for storage until re-ordered.
Annette Sommer, UK General Manager for Dürkopp, said: “I am delighted the split tray sorter has surpassed the required performance criteria of Witt Weiden. The system can also be easily expanded so providing additional capacity to meet future business demands.”
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