Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics (SPPAL) has been commissioned by New Zealand Post to equip the country’s sorting centres with the latest mixed-mail sorting machines and extensive corresponding software.
Three new Open Mail Handling Systems (OMS) will be installed in Auckland, the country’s largest city, and in Christchurch, where they will be used for the efficient sorting of letters, flats, newspapers, open and plastic-wrapped magazines and small parcels. With two induction lines, the OMS can process up to 25,000 items of mail every hour.
Siemens will also implement a suite of comprehensive software packages that will control all mail sorting operations across the whole country. New Zealand Post’s existing sorting machines will be integrated into the overall system so that they can interoperate seamlessly with the new software.
Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics (SPPAL) has been commissioned by New Zealand Post to equip the country’s sorting centres with the latest mixed-mail sorting machines and extensive corresponding software.
Three new Open Mail Handling Systems (OMS) will be installed in Auckland, the country’s largest city, and in Christchurch, where they will be used for the efficient sorting of letters, flats, newspapers, open and plastic-wrapped magazines and small parcels. With two induction lines, the OMS can process up to 25,000 items of mail every hour.
Siemens will also implement a suite of comprehensive software packages that will control all mail sorting operations across the whole country. New Zealand Post’s existing sorting machines will be integrated into the overall system so that they can interoperate seamlessly with the new software.
“We view the collaboration with New Zealand Post as a strategic project that sets an important precedent,” said Michael Reichle, CEO of Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics.
The key features of the OMS include the high level of automation for letter and flats sorting, coupled with fast sequencing and sorting processes in an ergonomic environment. The software suite comprises the trend-setting fingerprint technology, the address reading software ORCA (Open Reading Coding Architecture), and the reliable Address Data and Sort Plan Management system (ADM-SPM). The fingerprint technology and ORCA guarantee high read rates with the lowest possible error rate, and reduce overall network costs. The system is designed so that it can be adapted to changes in requirements in the future. Because the machines are connected to statistics software, the customer is able to obtain a comprehensive overview of the system’s capacity utilization at any time.
“We opted for the high-performance technology from Siemens because the OMS is capable of processing the maximum bandwidth of New Zealand mail types and formats, in an ergonomic way. This ensures our people’s health and wellbeing is preserved. We feel that in Siemens, we have an experienced partner that can provide us with an integrated solution that has been proven in many other postal organisations around the world and will provide us with the flexibility to adapt our solution as the volume and mix of mail products changes over time,” explained Nicola Wright, Programme manager Processing Innovation Project, New Zealand Post.
New Zealand Post is a state-owned enterprise and processes almost 600 million items of mail in the country every year. Alongside postal and parcel services, the company also offers various transport and logistics services.
Source: The STAT Trade Times
North Thin Ply Technology (NTPT; Renens, Switzerland) has launched a new composite tube manufacturing process. The patent pending process involves a unique fiber placement capability that has reportedly enabled the first real major technological development in golf shaft manufacturing since the mass adoption of graphite golf shafts in the 1980s.
The fully automated tube winding process enables “perfectly concentric carbon golf shafts that are set to take the golfing world by storm,” the company stated. The shafts were recently launched under the brand name TPT Golf at Evian 2016, having been successfully used by professional golfer Lydia Ko to win her silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
TPT Golf shafts are manufactured using NTPT's Thin Ply Technology lightweight prepreg plies in combination with the new manufacturing process. The result is a perfectly centered and near homogenous shaft giving golfers greater stability during their swing and a better feeling impact that imparts lower spin to the ball - resulting in higher yardage and a lower shot dispersion.
The micro-structure of a thin ply laminate results in higher mechanical properties. Within a golf shaft, or any other tubular product, the use of thinner plies offers nearly unlimited options for fiber angles and fiber type combinations. NTPT’s novel process ensures that each of the carbon plies are laid concentrically, resulting in a symmetrical shaft (or tube) with no spine.
The process also enables a precise control over the ratio of longitudinal plies to off axis plies along the length of the shaft. The resulting uniformity of wall thickness and control of fiber alignment provides a smoothly changing flex profile exactly matching the specific design.
Biomechanical specialist Jean-Jacques Rivet has been instrumental in the development of the range and its performance validation. Golf coach David Leadbetter has also provided technical feedback during the development of the shafts.
Leadbetter says, “In a sport where feel is everything, TPT shafts offer a level of feel to golfers that is completely unique. This is undoubtedly the most technically advanced golf shaft for distance and direction.”
NTPT’s novel composite tube manufacturing process sees its first commercial application on the golf course but the overall potential of this new manufacturing technology includes automotive drive shafts, aircraft struts, windsurf masts, as well as other sports equipment shafts and frames. Those are just a few example applications with the process being ideal for any tubular structures where weight, performance and cost are critical factors.
"We are hugely excited to launch our unique composite tube manufacturing process at Evian 2016 and to bring a truly revolutionary product to the golf market. This is just the beginning of the journey for us, and one in which we can start to see our manufacturing technology being applied to a wide spectrum of performance critical tubular structures,” says NTPT’s CEO James Austin.
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242