City Link is investing in automated sortation system for its parcels hub at Coventry in a move designed to increase throughput by 50 per cent.
The automated system is being supplied by Caljan Rite Hite. As well as increasing capacity it is designed to enable City Link to flex up to meet the demands of e-commerce traffic growth.
The new system will occupy less than a quarter of the floor space at the 150,000 sq foot hub and have no impact on the current manual sortation or cross docking operation.
The carrier wants to maintain operational flexibility, allowing bulkier freight and fragile items to be processed alongside standard.
Installation of the new equipment is due to commence this month, and is expected to become fully operational in early July.
City Link’s sortation system has been designed to allow the processing of larger freight, up to 1.5m in length, through a double deck design.
City Link’s processing and linehaul director Bob Powner said: “Not only will it enable us to further improve the security and reliability we provide to our customers on a daily basis, but it will also provide us with flexible additional capacity at peak periods, when the pressure of consumer volumes can mean carriers aren’t always able to meet the year-round service expected by their business customers.
