Net 6000: Automatic Transit Baggage-Handling System
The Net 6000 is the largest automatic transit baggage-handling system ever implemented in Italy and one of the leading solutions in Europe. It was officially opened on 8 July 2010 at a ceremony attended by Gianni Letta, undersecretary of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Net 6000: Automatic Transit Baggage Handling System
Supplied by Elsag Datamat, the Net 6000 was installed in the area of Rome’s Fiumicino airport covering about 7,000m² just before the beginning of the summer holiday season. It was strategically positioned near the runways to reduce transport times and trolley traffic congestion at terminals, and enabled Aeroporti di Roma (Rome’s airports operator) to handle up to 6,000 bags per hour during the peak traffic month of August.
The new structure mainly addresses ‘transit’ passengers or those arriving from other airports and who have to change the aircraft to reach their final destination. Their bags have to be transferred from the inbound to the outbound flight in the shortest possible time. The Net 6000 reduces the possibility of lost or misdirected bags, ensuring that almost 100% of passengers are reunited with their baggage. It’s no coincidence that Codacons, the Italian association for the protection of consumers’ interests, has reported a huge drop (about 66%) in complaints about baggage mishandling during the summer holidays this year.
The Net 6000 provides all the functions offered by an advanced handling system: bag induction, identification by means of RFID tags and bar codes, X-ray security checks, distribution to loading bays, and tracking and control at individual bag level before loading onto aircraft.
Multisorting baggage-handling system
The heart of the Net 6000 is the Elsag Datamat multisorting baggage-handling system (MBHS), which is one of the top-performing solutions available today. It uses the innovative ‘cross-belt’ handling technology, which is the preferred technology to handle bags, objects that are fragile, have high friction surfaces or are irregular in shape with greatest care.
The transport system is made up of trains of carts, with onboard cross-belt cells that move perpendicularly to the direction of the carts and assist parcel loading and unloading to the assigned destination.
But the innovative technological feature is the high controllability of the cross-belt cells. Thanks to an impressive distributed cell control system, it is possible to select a transported item according to its physical features (size and weight).
The control system can select the right directive among over one hundred of different ones. Activation directives are characterised by peculiar speed and acceleration that allows loading and unloading each item in a perfect way.
The system uses 30% less energy than similar solutions available on the market, making Fiumicino airport (the sixth-ranking airport in Europe by traffic) one of the first in the world to comply fully with ‘green’ power usage directives, now being introduced internationally.
Commenting on the importance of the event, Elsag Datamat CEO Paolo Aielli stressed that the implementation of the Net 6000, which is recognised for its excellence at international level, represents the culmination of an innovation process that has drawn on the company’s technology and process skills in the airport segment, as well as on its experience in automation, security and information and communication technology.
Elsag Datamat has demonstrated that it can provide a response to all the needs of a modern airport, offering an integrated platform of products and solutions for the efficient management of both physical processes (check-in, handling, security controls, sorting and redelivery) and information flows (secure tracking of bags throughout all stages of the process, operation monitoring, critical event management support).
