Two are often better than one. Such is the case with the two sliding shoe sorters running in parallel at FedEx Ground's new facility in Cleveland. The sorters have been instrumental in creating efficiencies, gaining processing speed, reducing labor and improving the quality of handling.

The two sorting systems are aligned parallel to each other. This arrangement not only doubles the speed and sorting capacity of a single unit, but also provides some backup in case one of the sorters is down for maintenance. The design allows each dock position to be hit by either sorter. Maintaining such redundancy is critical for a parcel service that promises packages will always arrive on time.

FedEx Ground built its new 229,000 square foot automated facility in Richfield, Ohio to replace four buildings that had previously performed manual sorting. Packages were then sent on to a Columbus hub for distribution around the country. Local packages also took the journey to Columbus and back, adding time and transportation costs. Since adding the Richfield site, over 90% of all cartons now bypass Columbus.

The sliding shoe systems are chiefly responsible for these new efficiencies, including a 20% improvement in labor productivity due to much less human handling. The sliding shoe sorters can perform 15,000 sorts per hour, with current usage at about 12,000. They also are ideal for parcel sorting at high speeds and high throughputs.

"In choosing the sliding shoe sorter, we first looked at our throughput needs, package mix and the labor required to operate the facility," recalls Paul Viccaro, managing director of facilities and material handling systems for FedEx Ground.

Parcels arriving at the facility's docks are immediately unloaded onto conveyors that carry them to upper level sortation. The cartons are divided into two identical processing lines. The lines first pass through the singulators, which orient, align and space cartons for sorting. The cartons next are conveyed through six-sided optical scanners that read destination and tracking information and provide sorting instructions to the two sliding shoe sorters.

When a carton reaches its intended sort lane, the shoes gently push it down a gravity conveyor spur to the dock. The facility can handle 42 trailers at a time that serve hubs around the country. Some 45–50 trailers depart the building nightly. The sorters also divert to eight local van docks for delivery in the Cleveland area.

Extra doors will eventually be added as growth dictates and the sorters increase to their full processing capabilities.

• Sorters and singulators:
  HK Systems, 800-457-9783, www.hksystems.com

• Optical scanners:
  Accu-Sort Systems, 800-227-2633, www.accusort.com