42 DC VELOCITY APRIL 2019 www.dcvelocity.com
applications
A look at how DCs are using equipment and
services to rev up their operations
CHINA’S FOOTWEAR INDUStry has experienced robust
growth, and one of the country’s
largest shoe producers, Aokang,
recently opened a new distribution center in Shanghai to
support both retail stores and
its online business in eastern
China. Needing an automated
logistics solution to accommodate high distribution demand
in a limited space, the company
contracted with material handling equipment manufacturer Interroll to install a vertical
crossbelt sorter.
“Our idea was to create a dis-
tribution center that benefits as
much as possible from automated solutions so as to
maximize [the operation’s] efficiency. We were planning
for this project for some three years to find the best solu-
tion,” said Guo Yong, general manager at Aokang’s dis-
tribution center in eastern China, in a statement. “The
Interroll vertical crossbelt sorter emerged as the best
choice in terms of space utilization, logistics efficiency,
and reliability.”
What makes Aokang’s automated solution with the
vertical sorter so effective? Part of the answer lies in
the system’s throughput capability. It is designed for a
capacity of 7,000 boxes per hour, including 6,000 car-
tons and 1,000 shoeboxes, with 10 destination chutes
serving 1,500 retail shops and another 10 destination
chutes for online business, providing a capacity of up to
50,000 online orders per day.
Another part is the sorter’s reliability and mechani-
cal strength: Positive drive of the mechanical crossbelt
sorter is achieved via high-performance helical geared
motors, which control the speed precisely and ensure
high efficiency and accuracy, even for sensitive goods.
Both companies say they are happy with the project’s
outcome. “We are very impressed by the excellent per-
formance of the Interroll crossbelt sorter, which makes
sorting extremely easy,” Guo said in the statement.
Dr. Ben Xia, executive vice president of Interroll Group
and the head of Asia operations, added, “We are very
proud to work with such a great Chinese company as
Aokang.”
Shoe manufacturer Aokang needed a reliable and efficient way to handle 100,000 pairs of
shoes daily at its Shanghai DC. Interroll’s vertical crossbelt sorter proved to be the perfect fit.
Sorter kickstarts Chinese
footwear DC
