Fives delivers DHL Malpensa sorting system

Fives Group has successfully automated the new DHL Express Italy hub at Milan Malpensa Airport on time despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The French-based group’s parcel handling and sorting system is handling up to 38,000 items per hour at the €110 million hub, which went into operation last autumn and was officially inaugurated on March 5.

As a partner of DHL Express Italy, Fives designed the ultimate solution based on proprietary next generation technologies to meet the customer’s requirements. DHL Express Italy selected Fives’ cross belt technology which stands out for its high speed and extraordinary accuracy.

The Malpensa solution integrates the following innovative systems:

• 4 GENI-Belt cross belt sorters with a development of more than one and a half kilometers
• 30 GENI-Feed high capacity induction lines
• 11 X-ray machines
•  313 destinations
• Over 2,250 meters conveyor belts and rollers

Explaining the hub sorting operations, Fives said the cross-belt sorters receive parcels and envelopes from the high capacity introduction lines and transport each item with extreme accuracy and speed to the assigned destination, where it is gently discharged into the outlet without tilting or rolling. The conveyor systems connect the sorting equipment with all other handling and processing points inside the hub.

Fives Intralogistics, part of the Smart Automation Solutions division of Fives Group, describes itself as a leader in designing high performance technologies and in developing automated solutions for material handling in a wide variety of applications.

The company said its GENI-Belt sorter “is the backbone of thousands of distribution and shipment centers all over the world”.