Are you thinking about a sortation solution for your Long Beach warehouse, distribution center or production facility? The most popular types of sortation systems vary greatly in capability and cost. Below we provide a high level assessment of the advantages and drawbacks of the three most prominent kinds of sortation equipment.

Cross-Belt Sorter & Tilt Tray Sorter

Cross-belt and tilt-tray sortation systems deliver similar functionality and are commonly associated when covering sortation automation. In reality they are quite different solutions.

Tilt-tray sorters are made up of trays mounted to carts that are transported on a continuous-loop conveyor. Items are added to the trays at one or more induction stations on the loop through manual or automated processes. When an item arrives at its sorting location, the tray that is transporting it tilts and transfers the item toward a chute.

Cross-belt sorters are powered belt conveyors mounted to carts running on a continuous conveyor loop. Comparable to tilt-trays, cross-belt sorters move products onto a chute when they reach the right sorting location.

Advantages: Cross-belt and tilt-tray sorters offer the greatest sorting speed and can deal with a wide range of product types when compared to other sortation solutions. They are a terrific option for operations that manage a variety of SKUs. These types of systems are likewise reasonably quiet and permit a more pleasant work environment for warehouse personnel.

Disadvantages: The speed, capacity and versatility or these sorters come at a price-- they are among the most costly sortation solutions available.

Shoe Sorter

Sliding shoe sorters use a "shoe" mechanism connected to the conveyor surface that nudges and diverts materials onto an alternate, after-sort conveyor. Shoe sorter solutions are fed by a unified flow of items that may be a mixed feed from numerous upstream areas of a facility. These types of sortation systems are extensively used in shipping applications.

Advantages: Sliding shoe sorter systems can accommodate a fairly high peak rate, often several hundred units per minute, depending upon the unit dimension and weight. Additionally, a vast array of products can be handled because of the simplicity and versatility of a positive divert approach.

Disadvantages: Shoe sorters are more costly than other options like pop-up wheel sorters. In addition, divert centers are not easily movable, making the system challenging and expensive to modify. These systems often generate more noise than tray or belt solutions and are consequently not as worker compatible as other styles of sorters.

Pop-up Wheel Sorter

Pop-up wheel sorters are a common option due to the fact that they are relatively affordable and simple to implement. Wheels or rollers are integrated with a belt conveyor. When an item must be diverted, the wheels momentarily raise to shift units at an angle to an alternate, downstream conveyor.

Advantages: Pop-up wheel sorters are adaptive, so segments can be quickly added or removed when the line requires reconfiguration. These systems can likewise be significantly less costly than other sorter choices.

Disadvantages: These kinds of sorters offer significantly less speed and capability than tilt-tray, cross-belt or shoe options. They will certainly increase efficiency, but may not multiply throughput like other solutions. Because pop-up systems don't use a positive divert, the kinds of items they can process are reduced.

Automated Sortation Systems Near Me

To get more guidance on sortation choices, phone an automation professional at Raymond West today!

Raymond West
Long Beach Service Area:
Long Beach, North Long Beach, Wilmington, San Pedro, Lomita, Torrance
Phone: (562) 444-1222