Buytrago Throughput on a High Thanks to Vitronic

July 8, 2009 - PRLog -- Efficiency conscious Buytrago, the leading Spanish express delivery and transport services provider, has equipped its Madrid distribution centre with Vitronic’s camera-based VIPAC identification system. It allows the site to sort parcels for dispatch automatically at high speed, and deliver them to customers on time.

Buytrago employs over 1600 workers and offers a wide range of services, including next day delivery, temperature controlled delivery for shipping perishable goods, and postal insurance. It operates over sixty hubs, which distribute mail to people in their local areas. Madrid is the largest of these.

Parcels arrive at the Madrid hub, where operators load them onto one of eight belt conveyors. These feed a single powered conveyor, over which VIPAC operates.

As parcels travel through the system, VIPAC captures images of five sides using five high-resolution line-scan cameras. Integrated software isolates and identifies barcodes within the acquired images, and instructs the sorter to send items to the correct loading bay for dispatch.

Unlike conventional laser scanners, VIPAC identifies incomplete or damaged barcodes, and achieves a successful read rate of 99%. This allows Buytrago’s Madrid hub to process up to 6,000 parcels per hour.

Daniel Navarro, Buytrago’s Technical Director, is delighted; “Vitronic’s engineers installed the reading system quickly and efficiently. They utilised a weekend production stop, and finished in time for the peak delivery period during the holidays. This is a busy time for Buytrago, and we want to provide our customers with the best possible service.”

Buytrago’s VIPAC system reads barcodes in any orientation on five sides of a package. This solves the problem of random parcel alignment caused by the eight in feed conveyors. Its cameras feature advanced focussing, which allows the software to recognise and separate items travelling closely together.

Daniel continued; “We are very pleased with the technology Vitronic installed in our Madrid hub. Because VIPAC identifies barcodes on five sides of parcels and produces extremely high read rates, it has much improved our sorting process.”

In addition to standard barcodes, VIPAC reads 2D codes, text, supplier numbers, and even human written address information. Achieved using optical character recognition (OCR) techniques, this is a feature exclusive to camera systems.

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Vitronic is a leading supplier of machine vision systems. A global company, it provides advanced technological solutions to a broad range of markets, such as logistics, traffic control, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and industrial robotics.