Long-lasting sorter

As one of Sweden’s most famous brands, Åhléns, started as a mail-order business in 1899. By 1991, the company decided to increase efficiency in its distribution centre near Stockholm, Sweden, by moving to automated materials handling. The system that Åhléns chose to install was a tilt-tray sorter from Beumer Group’s Crisplant range. Today, that same sorter is still the going strong.

The secret to the system’s longevity lies in a combination of high build quality, meticulous maintenance and the sorter’s adaptability. The build quality and maintenance have provided long-term reliability while the adaptability has enabled the integration of new technologies and capabilities. Through a series of upgrades, the sorter has been able to keep pace with Åhléns’ continued expansion into a 600-million Euro company, distributing products to approximately 300 department stores and stores for both Åhléns and Kicks throughout Sweden, Norway and Finland.

As the number of stores increased, Åhléns worked closely with Beumer Group to adapt the software controls to support new sorting processes and the sorter database has been upgraded from SCO Unix to Linux, and the CMC upgraded from a Søren T Lyngsø Alpha control to a Siemens S7 based system. Designed to streamline the despatch of items to Åhléns network of retail stores, the upgrades have increased both the accuracy of the sorting process. 

Hardware upgrades, such as the upgrade from manual to automated scanning, have also enhanced sorting efficiency at the distribution centre. New automatic scanners, integrated into the existing system, provide a fully-automated detection system. The upgrade to automated scanning was carried out over a number of stages. This helped operators to familiarise themselves with the new scanners and also ensured that the DC could continue to operate at full capacity throughout the upgrade process.  

Another upgrade was designed to minimise shipping errors by allowing previously non-machineable items to be handled on the sorter. To achieve this, Beumer Group adapted a camera-based parcel-verification system to enable the sorter to detect when an item has been loaded onto a tray. When the sorter detects that an item has failed to load, the verification system communicates this information back to the control system. Detecting these errors at such an early stage in the despatch process means that the retail store is not charged for non-shipped items. The upgrade therefore increases the overall efficiency of the distribution process and also allows Åhléns to reduce the administrative cost of correcting errors.

Further efficiencies have been achieved by integrating the tilt-tray sorter with both the inbound and outbound pallet systems and by enabling the sorter to operate at two different speeds. The dual-speed capability means that the speed of the sorter can be adjusted to suit different mixes of items on the belt. This provides Åhléns with the ability to sort a wider range of items on the same system. It also helps to cut energy consumption by reducing the sorter’s speed during periods of lower demand.

Maintenance

Åhléns has always placed a high premium on longevity and has protected its investment in the sorter with a rigorous maintenance schedule.

Routine maintenance is carried out with co-operation between Åhléns’ maintenance teams and Beumer Group's Customer Support division, including the Support Hotline. This has allowed the sorter to achieve high levels of availability and efficiency throughout the past 26 years.

Preventative maintenance has also been a priority. When a routine check showed that the sorter’s chain had begun to show signs of wear it was replaced with a new chain supplied by the Beumer Group. At the same time, Åhléns took the opportunity to install new frequency inverters to improve the system’s energy efficiency and its own environmental sustainability.

Maud Schröder, distribution system operator at Åhlen's warehouse says: “I believe that meticulous maintenance and our insistence on using only genuine Beumer Group parts have helped to keep the sorter running so reliably for so many years. The sorter has certainly repaid our initial investment and still offers the flexibility to support future growth by providing further increases in capacity and efficiency.”