Finnish postal operator Posti has significantly improved the manual sortation process at two of its key hubs thanks to the deployment of a new solution from Prime Vision, which projects numbers onto parcels so workers can easily see where they need to go.
Computer vision and robotics specialist Prime Vision installed 38 of its Flow Projectors in two of Posti’s sorting centres near Helsinki and Turku. The company noted that the manual sorting process at these two locations is now 40% more efficient.
How it works
Using a laser, the Flow Projector projects any alphanumeric number onto a parcel, making its destination clear for workers. The projector can project multiple numbers at the same time onto individual parcels at the end of a chute or on a moving belt. This allows employees to pick up and sort multiple parcels at once and it eliminates the need to read labels and memorize address or route lists, allowing employees to do their jobs effectively, regardless of experience.
According to Prime Vision, the Flow Projector owes its name to keeping the flow going during sorting. “When workers can see numbers on the parcels, they need to do fewer actions than before,” the company noted. “They immediately see in which bin, container or truck the parcels belongs. For example, they do not have to read the label or look at their handheld.”
Posti & Prime Vision partnership
Posti was first interested in Prime Vision’s projectors in late 2021. Then in spring 2022, the postal firm began testing the solution. By autumn that year, all 38 projectors were functional, helping Posti with sortation during peak season.
Posti’s Sorting Technology Lead, Janne Remesaho, said: “The main benefit is that the workers have their hands completely free to do the chute sorting, instead of using a handheld. Another benefit is when the projector shows the same route on multiple parcels, the chute worker can pick them up all at once instead of having to go through them one by one.”
Tommi Rantanen, Director of Logistics Technology and Data at Posti, added: “A work instructor who had been working with the Flow Projectors for a few weeks, then went back to a normal chute, where he had to work again with the handheld. He said that going back to the old way felt cumbersome and kind of unnatural. The muscle memory to just pick up parcels and put them away was so much smoother.”
