Italy’s largest postal distribution network Poste Italiane has built a new hub that can use automation to sort 250,000 packages per day.
The hub at transport exchange Interporto Bologna, built with an investment of €50 million, has a total surface area of 75000 square metres.
Relying extensively on what Poste Italiane calls “new generation robots,” it will have a staff of 600 people and features 5500 square metres of solar panels, which reduce annual emissions by 225 tonnes of CO2.
CEO Del Fante said: “The hub is a strategic infrastructure that allows us to continue along the path of the great transformation of our core business of correspondence and parcels and to enhance the better the growth potential of ecommerce.
“Working in synergy with the most widespread distribution network of Italy, enhancing the opportunities offered by the digitalisation of services in support of development, grasping the advantages offered by the convergence between digital payments and mobile telecommunications, the centre of Bologna will make it possible to carry out the development and innovation path outlined in the industrial plan Deliver 2022, providing a decisive contribution to the spread of ecommerce and digitalisation in the country.”
The Italian carrier aims to support online shoppers and retailers by expanding its delivery options and offering services such as click and collect.
The option is available through an existing service on the Zalando web portal which allows customers to book a home pick-up of parcels.
