The post is really getting moving

In Austrian Post’s largest mail logistics centre, an approximately eight-kilometre-long, fully automated conveyor line was to be equipped with modern control technology. The goal and also the challenge: significantly increased plant availability This has a particularly high priority – in accordance with the “Universal Service Ordinance,” mail items must reach the recipient at the times that the ordinance specifies. So the conversion work could only be carried out at the weekend, in the tightest time frame. As the general contractor, Pilz was responsible for all conversion and modernisation work. Today, the new technology and safety concept managed by the PSS 4000 automation system ensures greater flexibility and safety. What’s more: a conversion with practically no downtime!

The automated conveyor and sorting plant in Vienna-Inzersdorf handles up to 46,000 letters per hour and must function smoothly around the clock. Emergency stop pushbuttons along the entire conveyor line, and at the transfer stations in particular, ensure that the operating personnel can stop the system quickly and intervene if there is a problem. However, the entire plant immediately came to a standstill in the event of an emergency stop, so the aim was to find a practical safety solution that also complied with the standards. For this reason, the conversion was planned to divide the conveyor into four areas. Today this ensures that only the area directly affected comes to a standstill if a transport container becomes wedged. What’s more, Pilz’s technology update was safe in every respect: in each individual phase of the conversion work, it was possible to fall back on the old system – PSS 3000 – until the newly installed system was working perfectly.

• No production downtime during the conversion phase: system implementation ran practically in parallel with operations
• Simple conversion from PLC controller PSS 3000 to its successor controller from the automation system PSS 4000
• Higher plant availability: now, only the affected area is shut down after an emergency stop

As Austria’s leading logistics and postal service provider, Austrian Post offers services in mail, parcel delivery and direct mail, as well as branch and banking services. It operates 16 mail and logistics centres nationwide with around 28,000 employees. With its extensive network of branches and logistics centres, the logistics and postal service provider serves both private and business customers. The headquarters of Austrian Post is in Vienna; the company became legally independent in 1999.