The express transport company Federal Express Corporation (FedEx) has been using an AI-controlled sorting robot at its air freight location in Cologne for several weeks. This was reported in a press release dated June 13. According to the company, the sorting robot is the first of its kind used by FedEx in Europe and is intended to underscore the company's ambitions to digitize operations and build an intelligent logistics network.
Supporting employees in the sorting process
The Cologne location is the largest of seven air freight locations of FedEx in
Germany and employs over 900 team members. According to the press release, the sorting robot by manufacturer Hellebrekers B.V. is mounted in a protective cage on one side of the sorting system for small parcels, where incoming packages are fed. It supports team members in the sorting process and ensures that they can take on other and more complex tasks, it says. According to FedEx, it is mainly used for sorting documents and smaller parcels up to four kilograms, can sort up to 1,000 shipments per hour, and cover around
90 destinations simultaneously.
“E-commerce is one of the growth drivers in our industry,” says Boris Stoffer, Managing Director Network Operations Germany for FedEx. “AI-assisted technologies help us better manage and handle our shipments and offer our customers an optimal service experience. This strengthens our competitiveness. Another positive effect is that our team members benefit from the use of modern technologies. The robotic arm relieves them physically by taking over repetitive, high-volume tasks.”
“This robot-controlled sorting system is evidence of FedEx's commitment to innovation,” says Georgiana Constantin, Manager Planning & Engineering
Innovation & Properties Design. “Our customers come first for us – and innovations help us provide them with first-class service.”
In 2020, FedEx began installing four robotic arms in its hub in Memphis, Tennessee, to automate the sorting of small packages, according to the company. In 2022, additional sorting robots were deployed at the FedEx South China E-Commerce Shipment Sorting Center in Guangzhou and the hub in Singapore. In addition, the company operates robot-assisted product sorting in 17 other US sorting facilities, including in New York, Las Vegas, and Ohio.
