British postal service Royal Mail has unveiled what it describes as its first new large parcel conveyor at its Gatwick Mail Centre, with the intention of supporting the automation and customer tracking of larger parcels.
The conveyor can reportedly manage parcels with weight of up to 30kg (66lbs), which the company claims will improve its tracker postage offering.
The machine was built to process 3,000 large parcels per hour, and is equipped with a dimension, weight and scanner system for bulkier parcels. The company hopes this will offer them a pool of data from which it can more efficiently pack and route collection vehicles and cut carbon emissions.
The conveyors handle parcels classed as Format 3 and 4 – meaning measuring a maximum of 610x460x460mm and up to 30kg in weight, equivalent to the size of a packaged microwave oven.
Read more: Royal Mail unveils first automated parcel-sorting machine in Northern Ireland
A second large parcel conveyor will join Royal Mail’s South Midlands Mail Centre, with further additions potentially coming in the future, according to Royal Mail, as part of its ambition to become a parcel-led business.
Royal Mail is pursuing an automation agenda, and claims to have reached a milestone in March 2022 of 50% parcel automation, compared to 33% the previous year. The business hopes to achieve 90% parcel automation by 2023-24.
Grant McPherson, chief operating officer at Royal Mail, said: “We are working hard to transform the Royal Mail operation to process all parcels more efficiently so that we can deliver an even better experience for our customers.
“By investing in machines that can process bulkier and heavier parcels, we are putting in place the building blocks for higher levels of customer tracking and transparency.
“This new large parcel conveyor is just another example of how we are investing in reinventing Royal Mail for the future.”
In June, Royal Mail opened its new North West Super Hub in Warrington, which can reportedly process more than 800,000 parcels per day.
