BÖWE SYSTEC AG 2015-03-11
The Baden-Württemberg mail service provider BWPOST uses leading-edge sorting technology from BÖWE SYSTEC.
Stuttgart-based BWPOST is the biggest private mail service provider in Baden-Württemberg with an annual processing volume of over 85 million mailpieces. In the middle of 2013, it expanded its machine pool and commissioned a Simex Letter system, the high-performance sorting solution from Augsburg-based BÖWE SYSTEC. Following excellent productivity ratings for the first system, another Simex Letter system was installed in November 2014.
With its long-established market and logistics structures, BWPOST GmbH & Co. KG is now one of Germany's biggest mail service providers. Each year, the company delivers over 85 million mailpieces for around 3,000 customers. Various participations and system alliances - e.g. as a partner of the "P2 Die Zweite Post GmbH & Co. KG" mail service association - meaning that BWPOST can offer its services worldwide, not just in Germany. The company's sorting office in Stuttgart is also a hub for mailpieces sent to Baden-Württemberg from various regions of Germany, which are then bundled together and forwarded to their final destination. Leading-edge sorting technology is required to ensure that the mailpieces reach their destination quickly and reliably.
Previously, BWPOST had been using four Böwe Bell + Howell sorting systems. In order to expand production capacities in line with the ever-increasing volume of mailpieces and to elevate the sorting process to the leading edge of technology, one of these systems was replaced by a high-performance Simex Letter sorting system in 2013. This sorting system is the result of a cooperation between BÖWE SYSTEC - one of the top global providers of solutions for modern print and mailroom centers - and Siemens, the world market leader in the field of mail sorting systems. It combines Siemens' internationally established machine technology and the excellent reading software used by virtually all major mail service providers today with flexible software for the private mail market. The latter is the commercial domain of Augsburg-based BÖWE SYSTEC, which is familiar with the process requirements of private mail service providers and has the software solutions demanded by this customer base. "Thanks to its high reading and sorting rates, outstanding operational availability and negligible VC and error rates, the Simex Letter is perfectly suited to continuous operating environments, making it a revolutionary concept for the private market," says Frank Lehner, Head of Distribution and Sales Support for Germany at BÖWE SYSTEC GmbH. "Its stability minimizes downtime and maintenance costs, and only goes to underscore the economic efficiency of this system," adds Lehner. BWPOST CEO Oliver Wolters can only agree with this assessment: "Investing in this sorting technology from BÖWE SYSTEC and Siemens Logistics and Airport Solutions puts us on an equal footing with the market leader in terms of technology, too."
Thanks to the Simex Letter, the Baden-Württemberg-based mail service provider can achieve throughput rates of over 47,000 mailpieces per hour, and even up to 42,000 items an hour for mixed mailpieces (including those in DIN C4 format). Special channel diverters patented by Siemens help keep the mechanical reject count low. Siemens' industry-leading OCR technology guarantees outstanding reading rates throughout the sorting process, recognizing addresses automatically and enabling the mailpieces to be sorted correctly. "The extremely high reading rates and accuracy in reading were key arguments in our decision to opt for the Simex Letter," explains Frank Grund, Head of Operations at BWPOST. For example, the outstanding barcode reading rates mean that all mailpieces that have already been captured and barcoded by partner companies can be sorted and processed for onward dispatch at maximum speed.
Thanks to its modularity, the Simex Letter can be tailored precisely to the individual needs of every customer. For example, the integrated graphics printer for barcode and block printing has been further developed in line with BWPOST's requirements. With its particularly high resolution, the printer is now capable of producing jet-black barcodes in perfect optical density, enabling BWPOST's partners to post-process these barcodes with ease.
Another feature geared to the specific needs of BWPOST is the separator card function. "It allows us to change customers or separate mailpiece streams according to the type of service - e.g. information mail, express or premium mail - using a separator card without having to stop the machine," explains Frank Grund. With conventional systems, each change would require the machine to stop for up to seven seconds, with total downtime of as much as one to two hours in the course of a day. Thanks to the separator card function, this value can be reduced to zero.
The Simex Letter installed at BWPOST has 96 two-tier sorting compartments arranged on one side of the machine - a significant ergonomic improvement compared to the four-tier designs of many other sorters. Siemens has placed the upper compartments at a slight angle which makes them easier to empty. This slant, along with the height at which the compartments are arranged, is the result of extensive ergonomic studies. All this ensures optimum working conditions and ease of operation for the BWPOST staff - often only one person is required to operate the machine. "Our employees are also delighted by how smoothly and quietly the new sorting system operates; it really is much less noisy than other systems we've been using to date," says Frank Grund.
The new BÖWE Sort software adds outstanding user friendliness to the system's ergonomic design, thus contributing to an increase in productivity. For instance, it supports the simple and intuitive preparation of sort runs as well as the straightforward configuration and monitoring of integrated devices such as printers or scales. The ability to visualize the machine layout means that localizing and recovering errors, e.g. paper jams, is a simple matter. "The intuitive nature of BÖWE Sort means that our operators require very little training in system software and operation training - the software only has to be explained once, then it's available for all future tasks," says Frank Grund with a smile. "Thanks to this easy-to-use software, we also require far fewer adjustments to the settings than before."
Installed in the middle of 2013, the high-performance sorting system has really impressed BWPOST management with its performance and outstanding TCO. For this reason, a second Simex Letter was installed in Stuttgart in November 2014 with the aim of further expanding production capacities and standardizing processes in the long term. "We can look back on many years of fruitful collaboration in a true spirit of trust with the sorting department of BÖWE SYSTEC in Oberursel. And their people did a great job again when it came to installing the two new sorting systems. I'm really happy with our two new systems and can only advise other mail service providers to switch to this sorting system, too," concludes Frank Grund. "Our investment in the Simex Letter paid off very quickly, thanks to the sheer quality of the machine as demonstrated by its outstanding productivity and reliability and low maintenance."
Press Release BÖWE SYSTEC
> Download (292 KB)
Postmaster-Magazin 3/2015
> Download (109 KB) (german)
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