Ten years of successful container handling with SyncroTESS

Swiss Post entrusts INFORM with further development of the yard management system which was first installed ten years ago

For ten years now INFORM’s software solution SyncroTESS has successfully optimised the entire container handling process at Swiss Post parcel centres in Daillens, Frauenfeld and Härkingen. In order to adapt the existing system to today’s demands and further improve system ergonomics, Swiss Post has assigned INFORM to further develop the system.

Ten years ago, at the time of building the highly modern handling centres, which are equipped for intermodal transport and each have their own rail yard, Swiss Post also implemented an innovative transport management system: in the scope of the project „Paketpost 2000“ (parcel post 2000) all three parcel centres in Daillens, Frauenfeld and Härkingen were equipped with SyncroTESS. The system has since then successfully monitored, managed and optimised yard management at every Swiss Post parcel centre, meaning the daily movement of around 1.000 swap bodies, the entry and departure of 150 trucks, as well as approximately 40 trains with 200 waggons, as well as 500 crane moves by 2 railway cranes per centre.

In order to cope with the demands which have been constantly increasing over the last ten years, Swiss Post, together with INFORM, plans to expand and further develop the system this year and next. SyncroTESS is to be extended via an interface in the Swiss Post parcel cage management system. At the beginning of this year, the company introduced a system, which determines how full each parcel cage is. For greater efficiency in transport and the related increase in productivity, in future SyncroTESS will monitor the efficiency of swap bodies loaded with parcel cages and thereby give Swiss Post the opportunity to optimise transport capacity at each destination. 

In addition, existing communication between parcel bases and parcel centres will be changed over to a web application. Until now, operators at the parcel bases have communicated with the parcel centres via the software module „Extan“. This module for external order entries is the longest running application at Swiss Post which has not been modified. The now newly introduced module „WebEXTAN“ allows orders to be entered directly into SyncroTESS via a browser application. Another important innovation is the reorganisation of RDT communication with on-site vehicles and cranes: the narrow band RDT system, which has been used for the last ten years, is to be replaced by a modern WLAN system. With these changes Swiss Post will be able to continue keeping things on the move in years to come.

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