Sortation Systems for Cases and Totes
Solutions for Low, Medium and High Speed Applications
Sortation systems are used when a fairly high number of cases, totes or pieces need to flow to different destinations, such as conveyors assigned to individual truck docks, truck routes, customer orders or other order consolidation assignments. We offer a variety of sortation technologies to meet the needs of your application.
Low Speed Sortation Systems
Tote systems, smaller case distribution operations, service parts centers and many other facilities require less than 30 items to be sorted per minute. We offer a series of cost effective solutions with low sortation rates:
- Diverter Arms. The most cost effective sortation devices available are diverter arms. Some are shaped like “baseball bats” and come across the conveyor to deflect products at an angle (typically 30°) onto a different conveyor. Other diverters are curved to divert items onto a take away conveyor at 90° while maintaining product orientation. Diverter arms can be manually activated or they can be controlled automatically with scanning technology.
- Right Angle Transfers. A right angle transfer engages the bottom of a unit load, lifting it off the transportation conveyor and transferring it onto another conveyor at a 90° angle. Transfer mechanisms can be chain or belt transfers. Typical rates achieved are 8 – 20 sorts per minute depending on the size and stability of the product.
- Pusher Diverters. Pushers are used to divert products at right angles at slightly higher rates than transfers. Comprised of either an electrically or pneumatically activated pusher, the device moves across the conveyor pushing the items it contacts onto another conveyor at a 90° angle. Typical rates are 15 – 25 sorts per minute.
- Work Transporter. The work transporter is a good solution for work-in-process sortation. Totes or boxes are diverted to work stations set up alongside the conveyor and a return belt underneath conveys product out of the workstation. Rates can be from 2-15 products per minute.
Medium Speed Sortation Systems
As distribution operations grow in size and complexity, sortation requirements generally expand. Medium rate sortation systems are available when rates between 30 and 100 items per minute are required to be sorted in a shipping/distribution operation. We offer two options for your medium speed sortation needs:
- Pop-up Wheel Sorters. Pop-up wheel sorters can be used when rates are moderate and the product has a flat conveying surface. Products must be fairly uniform in size, as products that are too long or short will not divert consistently. Typical rates are 20-60 sorts per minute. Products are diverted at a 30° or 45° angle on relatively close centers allowing for compact location of divert lanes.
- Multiple Belt Sorters. The multiple belt sorter falls between the pop-up wheel and shoe sorters in both rate and cost. Capable of sort rates up to 100 products per minute, the multiple belt sorter can sort at either 30° or 90° angles. 30° diverts are capable of higher rates, while 90° diverts allow for very close spacing of divert lanes to minimize floor space.
High Speed Sortation Systems
For distribution operations requiring over 100 cases sorted per minute, higher speed devices are required and items must be properly spaced before induction onto the sorter. We offer two high speed sortation options:
- Case Induction. In high speed sortation systems, cases need to be properly gapped before being inducted into the sorter. Equipment can range from meter belts to servo-induction conveyors to multi-lane induction belts, depending on the rate.
- Shoe Sorters. Capable of 200 sorts per minute, shoe sorters come in a variety of configurations. The sorters can be tube or slat, single sided diverts or dual diverts, 30° or 20° diverts. A careful analysis of the product and rates is required to provide the best solution for your operation.
High Speed Piece Sortation Systems
In large-scale distribution markets, such as catalogue, apparel and shoe distribution, in which a significant amount of the overall volume is distributed by the piece, a different type of sortation system is required:
- Horizontal Carousel Put Pod
- Horizontal Carousel Sorter
- A-Frame Sorters. Used to facilitate the picking of small individual items, the A-frame is extremely popular with drug and pharmaceutical distribution facilities. As the name implies, individual items are loaded or stacked in two rows of dispensing magazines (one or more magazines per item) that are arranged side-by-side, forming an “A-frame”. A belt conveyor passes through the long tunnel created by the A-frame. As orders are filled, one at a time, items automatically dispensed from the bottom of selected magazines are kicked onto the belt conveyor and are then carried to the end of the tunnel where they fall into a tote.
- Tilt Tray Sorters. Tilt tray sorters are utilized to sort a wide variety of loads, including parcels and envelopes, totes, cartons, individual articles, poly bags, luggage and other items. Sorting rates over 10,000 units per hour are possible. Tilt-tray sorters are applied in many industries including general merchandise distribution, shoe and apparel distribution, specialty retail, catalog and direct sales operations, as well as parcel and freight operations and postal processing centers. Care must be taken with fragile products as tilt-tray sorters generally sort into chutes.
- Cross Belt Sorters. Cross-belt sorters achieve higher rates than tilt-trays because powered conveyor belts are on every carrier in the system. Achieving sort rates of over 20,000 pieces per hour, cross-belt sorters are used in many of the same markets as tilt-tray sorters.
To learn more about our large-cube horizontal carousels and how we can help you improve your order picking operations, contact us today.
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