SDI puts books in order
August 1st 2005

SDI Greenstone has installed a high speed custom-designed automated sortation and conveyor system for Belgium book distributor La Caravelle. Handling 18,000 individual books a day the system enables La Caravelle to despatch orders on the same day as they are received.

Distributing to around 1500 Benelux outlets, La Caravelle processes up to 600 orders each day. As orders are received at the Brussels DC, the required titles are picked from the bulk store and placed into cartons that travel along powered conveyors to the sorter’s three induction stations. The books are taken from their cartons and publishers’ barcodes are read by in-line scanners as they pass onto the sorter carousel, carried on trays.

Beneath the carousel are 111 drop stations that La Caravelle assigns to individual stores. A carton is placed at each drop station.

The system’s software protocol, which links the DC’s order processing and is triggered as items are scanned at the induct points, automatically counts the progress of each tray-set round the carousel. As the tray passes drop zones software activates solenoids to tilt the trays, releasing the books into cartons.

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