Exeter mail centre boosts capacity to 7,000 parcels an hour

Royal Mail has installed a new high-speed Parcel Sortation Machine at its Exeter Mail Centre, as part of its continued drive to improve efficiency and meet growing demand for next day deliveries.

The Mail Centre, which covers the EX and TQ postcode areas, already processes an average of 4,000 parcels an hour. The new PSM will increase the Exeter centre’s processing capabilities by 3,000 parcels per hour.

The PSM has been installed just in time for the busy Christmas shopping period, when the number of parcels processed at the Centre is at its highest. Around twice as many parcels and letters are sent through Royal Mail during the festive period compared with other months, as people send Christmas cards and shop for gifts online.

A PSM is an intelligent system of conveyor belts and scanning technology that automatically sorts parcels more quickly than manual sorting. Over the last eight years, Royal Mail has successfully rolled out 38 PSMs in 29 mail centres across the UK.

Ian Percival, Exeter Mail Centre Optimised Production Leader, Royal Mail, said: “Our new PSM has arrived at the perfect time – just in time for Christmas! It’s a great example of how Royal Mail is modernising and transforming to suit our customers’ changing needs.”

Neil Chaplain, Engineering and Process Design Director, Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail’s ongoing investment in automation is helping us to modernise and significantly improve efficiency. The rollout of these new PSMs will help us to meet the increasing consumer demand for next-day parcel delivery and will help contribute to our efforts to provide a consistently reliable service.”