Royal Mail has unveiled its first automated parcel-sorting machine in Northern Ireland, which is capable of processing 157,000 parcels per day.
The parcel-sorting machine, which was officially opened by Brandon Lewis MP, then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland, is a system of conveyor belts and scanning technology that automatically sorts parcels to be dispatched.
A similar machine was installed at the company’s Southampton facility in April and Chester in March this year.
Based at Royal Mail’s Newtownabbey site, the system can sort up to 7,500 parcels per hour and process a variety of parcel shapes and sizes with weights of up to 20kg (44 lb).
In June, Royal Mail opened its new North West Super Hub in Warrington, which can process more than 800,000 parcels a day.
Its Midlands Super Hub, located in Daventry, is expected to open in summer 2023 and, when operational, will reportedly have capacity to process more than one million items per day.
With a 30% domestic increase in parcel volumes compared to pre-pandemic levels, the installation directly supports Royal Mail’s focus on e-commerce and meeting rising customer expectations.
Simon Thompson, CEO of Royal Mail, said: “We are now a parcels business that delivers letters.
“As part of our transformation, we are accelerating parcel automation by investing in the latest technology to deliver an even better service for our customers, wherever they live in the UK.
“Our new Northern Ireland parcel sorting machine will help drive growth, providing our team the long-term job security they deserve.”
Royal Mail plans to further automate its processes. In March 2022, it claimed to have automated 50% of all parcels, compared to 33% in 2021.
Furthermore, the company said it plans to achieve 70% parcel automation by 2022-23, with an overarching target of 90% parcel automation by 2023-24.
