The Project: Improve Efficiency with Material Handling Automation

E-commerce growth and expedited shipping demands have posed challenges for distribution centers. To keep up, many centers are implementing automation solutions to maximize throughput and reduce fault recovery time.

A global parcel services leader outsourced PLC program development for their sortation systems, but faced a tight timeline. E Tech Group was hired to quickly develop and troubleshoot the programs, as well as lead system startup and testing.

The Solution: Create a Custom PLC Sorting Solution

The parcel operations required extensive fault monitoring and suppression, as well as package flow rate tracking, to maximize throughput and reduce system downtime. E Tech Group prioritized the commission of the primary sorter systems, including diagnosing and correcting errors and setting up communication between the PLC and the customer’s warehouse management system. They also set up numerous conveyor belts that were required to run with the package tracking logic.

The Results: Maximized Operations on a Quick Turnaround

E Tech Group completed changes to the primary sorter systems and stayed on board to support testing and commissioning of the remaining parts of the primary sorter line. With our programming support, the system became fully operational within a few months. This helped the parcel services leader to maximize its large-scale distribution center operations. As a result, E Tech Group was later invited to lead the development, startup and testing of the second phase that included an additional five sortation systems.