The high-speed sortation systems are used in the industry or in the warehouse, when an inventory or product palettes should be sorted quickly by size, to containers, in order to be shipped. The most important thing with these systems is to support really high speeds, as about 100 products every minute. But, this also depends on the size of the packages or products, but it’s estimated that one good-working machine will sort at least 27,000 products every hour.
In most cases, these sorters consist of moving trays, that will slide the products smoothly to their shipping container. There are a few types of this system, but in general, every warehouse is choosing the size and functionality according to their needs and the type of palettes, cartons, and packages they need to sort.
Having a system like this means you will need a whole team of engineers who will maintain the process, and be there when something happens, so they can react immediately, without delays on the job. On the other hand, it will help you save on labor for manual sorting, so when you see it, you won’t have to hire a lot of people so you can balance the whole process. The machines will always bring better results for a shorter time and high efficiency. The sensors built in it will detect the package by the dimensions or other parameters given, and then place it where it needs to be.
There are many benefits, especially when it comes to materials handling. Visit the Slate River Systems website to learn more. You will probably be surprised how a wide range of using these machines have. A well-designed system means it will be able to reach the (realistic) goals you have and optimize the amount of production and the need for human resources for a task to be completed. So, we can say that one sorting machine is a more trusted partner in this process compared to any human worker. No one is underestimating the ability of humans to complete complicated tasks, but when it comes to heavy and fragile materials, it’s always better for these people to construct something useful, and let the machines do the rest.
When buying it, you must find a manufacturer and provider near you, who will be there to maintain the technical aspects of the system. As we said, you will have to hire educated people who will also monitor the process, and stay on a high-alert during their work time. Some companies even offer advanced monitoring systems, when the machine alerts them something is wrong, and their team will arrive immediately to fix the problem before you even realize something went wrong.
Price vs. performance
High-speed systems are an expensive investment. On the other hand, you know what performance you want to reach, and when you tell your expectations to the designers, they will exactly know what type of machine you really need. Slow-speed sorters are cheaper and use simpler mechanisms to work, and they are maybe good for some smaller businesses. But, no one wants a too slow machine, and businesses often invest in high-speed solutions.
There are also other aspects that you have to pay attention to. If you have to transport fragile contents, for example, you have to look for sliding solutions, instead of pushing ones, and it’s better to use low-speed sorters because the high-speed ones can be very risky for those materials.
According to some expectations, from the high-speed sorters, it’s expected that they can divert and sort 150-400 packs every minute, something that can’t be done manually. One of the examples of efficient solutions is the tilt tray, then crossbelt, and bomb bay sorting machines, which work pretty similarly.
Tilt tray – When the items arrive, they are released one by one on the different trays, and it “travels” to the determined “destination”.
Crossbelt – It works similarly to the tilt tray, with the difference that the items are not placed on a tray, but in a carriage system, that then sorts them in their location.
Bomb bay – The trays are split in order for every item that needs to be sorted “finds” the wished destination, and the container is placed below the sorter.
Sometimes, these sorters can be combined, in order to accomplish even higher efficiency. Again, fast sorting systems are not very good for fragile items, because they can be damaged when dropped in the container.
So, in this paragraph we can conclude that when you need to sort and ship fragile materials, that can easily be damaged through the packaging and sorting process, then you may have to go for slower solutions, that at the same time are less expensive than the faster ones.
How it works usually?
The sensors are doing all the job. They may be constructed to detect the size or volume of the item and sort it in the right trail. Another way is to install a barcode scanner, that will scan the codes on every package or carton, and sort them according to the information that the system gets from the code. So, the best combination is a scanner and sensor that detect the parameters, and then let the system decide in which way to let the package go.
These systems also are proof that electrical and mechanical engineering can be merged together, in order for one machine to work perfectly. It requires a lot of human labor to design these sorters and a team of engineers who will work together on it. Including all those simple elements in a complicated machine requires time and money, but it leads to a complete product that the industries can use. Also, the monitoring process should be run all the time. But, at least, you will know that there won’t be unnecessary breaks, when everything can be fixed in less than an hour, except when a bigger problem occurs. So, we hope you understand the topic better now, and that we helped you explore it deeper, so you can improve your business’s overall performance.
