Ukrainian private leader of postal service introduces robots for sorting parcels

By the end of the year, Nova Poshta will robotize zones of freight and small shipments at ten of its sorting centers, currently robots are already involved at 20 facilities.

Nova Poshta informed that depending on the weight of the parcel, the company uses different types of robots. So, in the areas of sorting small shipments (up to 2 kg), a robot train is used, consisting of two sections. ”This is a proprietary development of Nova Poshta and the manufacturer SBR, which has no analogues in Ukraine. The worker puts the parcel on the robot, which takes it to the scanner and moves it to the box, which is responsible for a certain geographical direction. The robots work on a special platform with a monorail, which at the same time serves as their charger. The use of such robots has doubled the productivity of sorting small parcels. Now there are 272 such robots in operation,” according to the company's press release.

Axis robots from the Ukrainian company Deus Robots are reportedly used to sort shipments up to 30 kg. ”They got this name because they can rotate around their own axis. From an unloading belt, the parcel goes to the robot. Then it drives with the parcel to the scanner and then puts it on a roller conveyor, from which the parcel goes directly into a special delivery bag. Thanks to their dexterity, such robots can work in different sorting areas”.

In addition, Nova Poshta added that the company continues to improve the robotization of cargo terminals. So, in November, a terminal with a fully robotized cargo area was opened in Dnipro. ”Some 50 robotic carts, manufactured by SBR, move goods inside the terminal from the unloading area to the loading one. They move on a magnetic belt and can simultaneously carry up to 300 kg and pull 1,000 kg. Such robots can transport up to 5,000 goods per day, which increases the terminal’s productivity by 30%”. In total, the company already uses 180 robots at various cargo terminals.”

While increasing the volume of shipments in Nova Poshta, we strive to remain the fastest delivery in Ukraine and create a flexible system for increasing the sorting capacity using robots. The robotization of sorting terminals allows increasing the productivity without additional workloads for employees. In addition, by automating the processes, we achieve greater accuracy in sorting parcels, as we are able to avoid possible mistakes by reducing the influence of the human factor.

Oleksiy Taranenko, director of the development of Nova Poshta

Robots are already working in centers in Kyiv, Kharkov, Dnipro, Odessa, Boryspil, Melitopol, Pokrovsk, Novomoskovsk, Starobilsk, Korosten, Stry, Sambir, Kovel and Stoyanka. The company plans to create a fully robotic sorting center.