Sorter kickstarts Chinese footwear DC

China's footwear industry has experienced robust growth, and one of the country's largest shoe producers, Aokang, recently opened a new distribution center in Shanghai to support both retail stores and its online business in eastern China. Needing an automated logistics solution to accommodate high distribution demand in a limited space, the company contracted with material handling equipment manufacturer Interroll to install a vertical crossbelt sorter.

"Our idea was to create a distribution center that benefits as much as possible from automated solutions so as to maximize ... efficiency. We were planning for this project for some three years to find the best solution," said Guo Yong, general manager at Aokang's distribution center in eastern China, in a statement. "The Interroll vertical crossbelt sorter emerged as the best choice in terms of space utilization, logistics efficiency, and reliability."

What makes Aokang's automated solution with the vertical sorter so effective? Part of the answer lies in the system's throughput capability. It is designed for a capacity of 7,000 boxes per hour, including 6,000 cartons and 1,000 shoeboxes, with 10 destination chutes serving 1,500 retail shops and another 10 destination chutes for online business, providing a capacity of up to 50,000 online orders per day.

Another part is the sorter's reliability and mechanical strength: Positive drive of the mechanical crossbelt sorter is achieved via high-performance helical geared motors, which control the speed precisely and ensure high efficiency and accuracy, even for sensitive goods.

Both companies say they are happy with the project's outcome. "We are very impressed by the excellent performance of the Interroll crossbelt sorter, which makes sorting extremely easy," Guo said in the statement. Dr. Ben Xia, executive vice president of Interroll Group and the head of Asia operations, added, "We are very proud to work with such a great Chinese company as Aokang."