Courier Hermes has increased capacity by 40% at its Rugby distribution centre ahead of peak season by adding a new sortation tier.
The £16 million investment at the 270,000 Midlands Super Hub will allow it to process nearly 70,000 items per hour or up to 1.35 million parcels per day.
The installation of the tier, which was manufactured by Beumer, took 12 months. It measures 1.1km in length, with 1942 trays.
Martijn de Lange, CEO of Hermes UK, said: “For the last few years we have witnessed double-digit growth due to our commitment to invest in our world-class network and infrastructure, our innovative fleet and our industry-leading portfolio of services solutions.
“In addition, our in-house engineering team is constantly optimising our equipment to ensure it is best in class and we will soon be introducing further automation to support our returns process in the coming months.”
“Last year, we enjoyed our most effective and busiest peak season to date, whilst, at the same time, achieving record service levels and I’m absolutely confident the third sortation tier in Rugby will put us in the strongest possible position to further support the retail industry over the coming years.”
In February, Hermes added a semi-automated carousel system to one of its biggest distribution hubs, claiming it will increase productivity by 30%. The new system, which the company says is worth £1 million, is designed to process larger items at the company’s Midlands Super Hub in Rugby.
