Through this hub and 15 depots, GLS Netherlands remains close to its customers throughout the country. Due to the structure of its national network, it can offer reliable parcel shipments in The Netherlands with a turnaround time of 24 hours and even faster express shipments. Moreover, GLS with its own national companies and partners covers 41 European and seven U.S. states and is connected to all the major business centres of the world.
In 1999, Vanderlande delivered the material handling solution to GLS. Over the past decades, it has been updated and extended to enable further growth, but is still fulfilling its requirements. However, repairing or replacing components has become more difficult due to the scarcity of spare parts and longer repair times. This was the case for the camera stations on site.
To mitigate risk, GLS Netherlands asked Vanderlande to replace all of its existing camera stations with new, state-of-the-art units. The scanners in the former camera stations could only read a limited number of barcode labels. The new camera stations recognise all 1D and 2D matrix codes and forward this information to the destination server, which results in more parcels being sorted directly to the correct destination.
Work to replace the camera stations has already started and will be completed in July. Most activities have been carried out during weekends to ensure that operations on site could continue as usual. After installation and commissioning, Vanderlande has personnel standing by on site during the first operational hours.