An Post delivers with BS Handling Systems

As parcel volumes in Ireland continue to grow, An Post has responded with a major investment in automation at its Portlaoise Mail Centre. The project – delivered by BS Handling Systems’ partner, EAE Solutions – has significantly increased both processing efficiency and capacity, enabling An Post to handle its highest-ever volume of Christmas parcels in 2024.

Eoin Sweeney, Engineering Project Manager at An Post, led the automation project. “In 2024, EAE Solutions won a competitive tender process we had for the automation of parcels,” says Eoin. “Since then, we’ve found them to be a very innovative company with in-depth technical knowledge and experience.”

An end-to-end automation solution

Working closely with EAE Solutions, An Post installed a slimline sorter system designed to handle a wide variety of parcel types, from standard e-commerce boxes to smaller and more difficult items.

“We sort our larger items, smaller items, and difficult items in our parcel stream,” explains Eoin. “We found the slimline sorter to be perfectly suitable for this. We’ve increased our capacity and efficiency across these parcel streams and have also significantly increased our e-commerce parcel stream in Portlaoise as a result.”

The solution provided by EAE Solutions ticked every box, and then some. “What we got in this project was not just a machine, but a fully fledged system and solution to the issues we had to deal with here,” says Eoin. “They really moved quickly with us and showed a good degree of flexibility and speed to get the machine up and running as quickly as they have.”

Fast implementation, immediate impact

With the sorting solution operational in time for peak season, the benefits were clear almost immediately.

“With this project, we’ve been able to drastically increase both the efficiency and capacity of the parcels process in Portlaoise,” says Eoin. “And with that, we’ve been able to deliver the highest volume of parcels this Christmas from An Post than we ever had.”

According to Eoin, speed and responsiveness were key to the project’s success: “EAE Solutions were able to quickly take onboard our specific needs for this project. Rather than just meeting the minimum requirements of the tender, they looked at our full end-to-end process and delivered a solution that truly met our operational goals.”

A professional, forward-thinking partner

For An Post, the project was not only a successful investment in automation, but also the beginning of a valuable partnership.

“EAE has proven itself to be both a professional and innovative company to work with,” says Eoin. “We both learned a lot in this project – both An Post and EAE Solutions – about what it takes to deliver a quick and efficient solution to an acute problem.”

With additional automation opportunities on the horizon, Eoin sees this as just the beginning: “I look forward to working with EAE Solutions on future projects we have upcoming.”

EAE Solutions recently formed an exclusive UK partnership with BS Handling Systems. Under this agreement, BS Handling are now the turnkey integrator for EAE Solutions in the UK.

For more information on EAE’s sortation solutions, call +44 (0)116 289 4958 or email enquiries@bshandlingsystems.com.

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