Parcel

By moving from forklifts to the K.Hartwall LiftLiner® tugger train, Posti Group managed to not only increase its productivity by almost 40%, but also to increase the safety of its employees.

Forklifts are widely used in parcel operations today to move different load carriers. However, the need for greater throughput is making sorting centres more congested and forklift movements are becoming an increasing challenge for many parcel operators.

Growth of parcel volumes is putting pressure on the labour intensive parts of the operations where most of the parcels are handled individually. Bringing robotics and load carriers together can help posts reduce their reliance on manual labour in the sorting centers.

The term “Loose load” describes the loading of cargo directly into a truck or container without the use of load carriers. Today, loose loading is widely used for both bulk transportation and parcels as it maximises truck fill. But see what PostNord has tested.

While sorting automation has been key to improve operations, labour costs can still account for the majority of operating expenses, and often as much as 30% of space in every trailer is empty during transit.

Because flagship automated sorting systems are undeniably glamorous, it is easy to overlook the huge potential efficiency improvements that can be achieved by optimising manual handling operations and maximising cubic fill.

Loose loading of parcels between terminals is a very common way of operating within Postal – and for good reasons. As a large part of the overall logistics costs is tied to transportation, assuring the maximal cubic fill especially for long distances in trucks or containers is smart and cost efficient.

As stated in the latest strategy update last June, Posti aims to be the number one provider of postal and logistics services to its customers in 2018. They have also stated that the most important financial target is to maintain good profitability and keep one step ahead of the ongoing fast transformation of the postal industry.