The express service headquartered in Baden-Württemberg has three shoe sorters from MHS in operation at its new hub in the Hammer Industrial Park in Rhynern. They mainly handle sensitive parcels from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors as well as cosmetics, consumer electronics and home entertainment. The high-end system automatically scans, weighs and measures each consignment.

"The parcel sorting of such sensitive goods requires special care. By using sliding shoes, our sorting systems are both gentle and effective," says Johan Hoelen, Manager Sales at MHS International. In addition, various climate zones in the new logistics center enable goods to be handled at the right temperature. This means that temperature-sensitive goods can be handled either in a room temperature range of 15 to 25 degrees Celsius or in a refrigerated area between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

The three interconnected HC Shoe sorting systems have a total length of 220 meters with eight infeeds and around 100 outfeeds for the truck and van sector. On the one hand, this modular design with additional infeeds increases the throughput to an operating capacity of 6,300 parcels per hour. Secondly, this ensures that the parcels are fully pre-sorted for each delivery vehicle and that manual selection, as was the case at the old trans-o-flex site, is no longer necessary. The sorters scan, weigh and measure the parcel. A closed deck helps to reduce noise levels and maintenance requirements.

"Corona was probably the biggest challenge in implementing the system. Many service providers were called back to their home countries, but thanks to the partnership with trans-o-flex, we successfully completed the project on schedule," says Hoelen.