After a period of preparation and engineering, Technische Unie signed the contract to purchase the DPS on 1 June 2007. Building work started in September – while operations were still ongoing, and at the busiest time of the year to boot! Project Manager Ron Kars: “We made proper arrangements up front: safety is our number one priority, keeping operations running number two, and only then comes the project. What we can do during the day we do during the day, but a lot of the activities take place at night and on weekends."

Ergonomic benefits
The DPS will transform the sorting process. Ron: “Soon our personnel will no longer be sorting the articles in customer bins underneath the sorter. DPS takes the articles to the personnel, so they can be picked straight into the customer bin.”

For the personnel DPS represents an improvement in their working conditions. “DPS has major ergonomic benefits,” says Ron. “At present the process below the sorter still means heavy work and long walking distances, but soon that will no longer be the case."

Good information
The transition to a new system is naturally bringing about a lot of changes. “From the time the plans started to take shape, we have been keeping our staff fully informed at all times," says Ron. “We gave presentations and produced a special information booklet. We also launched newsletters covering the latest developments and there is even a special website with a webcam on the cards. Between Christmas and New Year, when the DPS was not being worked on, we gave guided tours. More than 140 of our staff came to see it.”

If everything goes according to plan, the initial phase of the DPS will be operational at the end of the year. Phases two and three of the project will be completed in 2009 and 2010.