Quick and Intelligent Baggage Sortation

Beckum/Germany, April 1, 2009. – With transit and transfer times becoming ever shorter, airports require a quick and reliable baggage handling system. The new terminal at Oujda-Angads International Airport in Morocco is no exception. For this reason, the French main contractor on the project, Alstef Automation, selected the autover baggage handling system from Beumer for the airport. Beumer is the world’s leading supplier of intralogistics solutions in the fields of conveying, loading, palletizing, packaging, sortation and distribution systems. The company will be supplying and installing a 440-meter-long rail system with 44 Beumer autoca DCVs (destination coded vehicles) and the required IT infrastructure. The Beumer specialists will also be putting the system into operation and training the airport staff on its usage. The system can sort 1,240 pieces of baggage per hour and is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. The contract is worth around €3 million overall. A new airport terminal was required because the airport operator is expecting a growth in tourism accompanied by an increase in passenger numbers. Special attention will be paid to earthquake safety during the implementation of the project.

The Beumer autover system conveys, stores and sorts the checked-in baggage. It does this quickly, reliably and cost-effectively while also treating the baggage with care. The system consists of a simple static rail with intelligent Beumer autoca. These are equipped with on-board controllers and their own drive systems. Operating at speeds of up to 10 meters per second, they move through the track system autonomously, quietly and independently of each other. A central computer issues instructions to each Beumer autoca, whose on-board control system then works out the ideal route to its destination. The system has high availability levels and is extremely low-maintenance due to the contactless power and data transfer systems used.

Once a passenger has checked in his or her baggage at a counter in Oujda-Angads International Airport, the check-in conveyors transport the piece of baggage to a Beumer autoca. The item is then transported to the first security screening stage where it is automatically passed in for inspection. The Beumer autoca picks up the piece of baggage again after the security check. If it is designated "safe" after the first screening, the Beumer autoca takes it to one of the 18 terminals. If not, the Beumer autoca transports the piece of baggage to the next screening stage. If the suitcase also fails this inspection, it is then transported to the manual inspection station. If it is designated "safe" it is then also passed on for sorting. The transportation rail was optimally adapted to the layout of the airport and features a total of nine inclining and declining sections with a maximum gradient of 13°. A maintenance area has been integrated into the system, allowing the baggage transporters to be quickly and cost-effectively maintained as required. They are then quickly made available to the system again without any effect on the normal operation of the airport.

The Beumer autover system is already in use at a number of international airports such as Dubai, Montreal and Toulouse.

www.beumer.com