Value Proposition

Integrated Control Architecture Helps

Solutions
FedEx® Improve Reliability and
Integrated Control
•
Architecture Reduce Costs
– Simplifies system programming
with single control platform
– Replaced outdated VME
programmable control system
– Provides synchronized control
for 83 conveyor lines

• RSViewa® 32™ HMI and

RSBizware™ Software
– Historical and real-time trending
– Extensive graphical capabilities

• RSSql™ Software
– Links sorting system to
enterprise systems
– Effectively centralizes data
storage

Background technology used to move packages. All

Results
• Improved Monitoring and
Diagnostics
– Reduced downtime and
maintenance costs
• Increased Daily Efficiency
– Improved information flow
throughout the plant
– Reduced day sort operational
staffing requirements by 50
percent
• Improved Reporting and
Tracking
– More accurate decision making
– Faster response to identify and
correct problems
– Improved productivity
www.rockwellautomation.com
Although material handling can be a critical
element in controlling costs and delivering
value, most manufacturers do not consider
themselves material handling experts.
Instead, they are automotive experts,
clothing experts, beverage experts, etc. But
for postal and express delivery companies,
material handling is their core business.
Therefore, for these companies, finding and
installing the fastest, most reliable and most
cost-efficient material handling equipment is
a necessity.
As the world’s largest express transportation
company, FedEx® Express, headquartered
in Memphis, handles an average daily
volume of approximately 3.2 million
shipments with a service area that includes
over 220 countries and virtually every
address in the United States. Approximately
3.2 million packages are processed at the
company’s primary package sorting hub
located at the Memphis International Airport
each day.
The Memphis operation houses more than
300 miles of conveying systems and about
30,000 pieces of equipment and control
packages enter the hub on several main
conveyors before merging into the facility’s
primary matrix sorting area. Here, operators
place the packages label-side-up onto one
of 83 automatic sorting conveyors. As the
packages move along, they are mechani-
cally diverted (based on bar code scans) to
21 secondary sort locations where they are
sorted again and again until they come
down to one conveyor representing one city
or destination. The packages are then
loaded back onto planes with other
packages that have a destination in the
same locale.
The existing control system for primary
sorting consisted of an outdated (vintage
1980s) VME-bus-based programmable
control system that was becoming
increasingly difficult to maintain and support.
To make changes to the system, engineers
had to create customized programs for each
control function. Reconfiguring or replacing
any part of the system was costly and time-
consuming because the hardware had to be
disconnected, remapped and rewired. In
addition, troubleshooting was an ongoing
challenge because the system offered

Corporate Headquarters
Rockwell Automation, 7
limited diagnostic capabilities. Adding to the
support challenge was the fact that there
were only a few people in-house who were
familiar with the control system’s complex
programming language.
“The existing control system was difficult to
program and not easily expandable, and
access to replacement parts was becoming
a big concern,” said Dave Kraehmer, control
systems project engineer, FedEx. “Without a
reliable source for replacement parts, we
were constantly struggling to maintain the
system and were putting our delivery
operation at risk of incurring substantial
downtime losses.”
To meet its needs for a flexible, high-
performance control system, FedEx decided
to replace its outdated VME-based system
with the Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix® control
platform from Rockwell Automation. The
integrated control architecture helped
simplify system programming and
configuration and provides FedEx with
greater expansion flexibility, improved
troubleshooting speed and accuracy and
reduced maintenance costs.
Challenge
One of the biggest challenges engineers
faced was the need to install the new control
system across each of the 83 conveyor lines
without disrupting the time-critical sorting
process. There are two sorts — one begins
around 10 p.m. and the other begins around
10 a.m. Because sorting occurs at the hub
within a finite window of time, the facility has
no time for shutdowns. All the loading,
unloading, routing and sorting must take
place in this timeframe. If not, schedules are
missed, packages are late and the company
is subject to delivery failures. Even five
minutes of downtime could create a
logistical nightmare.
www.rockwellautomation.com
Corporate Headquarters
Rockwell Automation, 777 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1400, Milwaukee, WI, 53202-5302 USA, Tel: (1) 414.212.5200, Fax: (1) 414.212.5201
Headquarters for Allen-Bradley Products, Rockwell Software Products and Global Manufacturing Solutions
Americas: Rockwell Automation, 1201 South Second Street, Milwaukee, WI 53204-2496 USA, Tel: (1) 414.382.2000, Fax: (1) 414.382.4444
Headquarters for Dodge and Reliance Electric Products
Americas: Rockwell Automation, 6040 Ponders Court, Greenville, SC 29615-4617 USA, Tel: (1) 864.297.4800, Fax: (1) 864.281.2433
Publication Number MATIVP-AP553A-EN-D February 2005
“We expect our equipment to deliver
100 percent performance every day, which
is a very high standard to meet,” Kraehmer
said. “When equipment does fail, one or two
minutes of delay can cause a ripple effect
across multiple flight schedules and impact
numerous markets.”
To minimize the impact to its operation,
FedEx established an installation schedule
that called for upgrading three conveyor
lines per week. As one set of lines was
completed, another set would need to be
taken down as part of a systematic,
continuously rolling 35-week installation
process.
Solution
At the heart of the solution are 83
ControlLogix controllers used to automate
the conveyor lines. The controllers process
all of the scanned data coming into the
system, which has to be synchronized to the
packages that are moving down the line.
The controllers also manage all diverter
functions, track bar code readings, and
compute and maintain production statistics
for the entire primary sorting system.
Each line is equipped with a workstation
running Rockwell Software® RSView® 32™
human-machine interface (HMI) software
running on a PC with an Allen-Bradley 6185
industrial monitor, linked to the controllers
via Ethernet. The workstations display a
wealth of operating data including sort rates,
divert rates and bar code information that
identifies where packages are located within
the system. This gives operators a real-time
view of equipment and operational status
and allows managers to quickly see how
well the various lines are performing.
“With historical and real-time trending and
extensive graphical capabilities, the RSView
software gives us advanced monitoring
functionality that we didn’t have before,”
Kraehmer said. “If a problem arises, each
device in the system has its own diagnostics
screens, and operators can drill down
through these screens to see exactly what is
going on for that item.”
FedEx also uses Rockwell Software
RSBizWare™ solutions, including RSSql™
and Historian™, to log nearly 100,000 data
points per day for historical trending using
statistical process control. Using production
charts and bar graphs, they can easily see
which lines are performing poorly, enabling
them to speed troubleshooting and prioritize
maintenance schedules. Allen-Bradley
SoftLogix™ controllers serve as data con-
centrators, reading the data out of the
ControLogix controllers and storing it for use
by Rockwell Software RSSql. The RSSql
transaction manager software links the
sorting line system to enterprise systems,
effectively centralizing data storage and
creating a central access point for
generating production reports.
Each time an operation is performed,
controllers process the data in real time and
send it, via RSSql, to a central database.
RSSql allows FedEx to create transaction-
based links between databases and control
systems without complex programming.
Transactions can be triggered either on pre-
determined schedules or as the result of
events taking place within the sorting
system.
The RSBizWare Historian software allows
FedEx to track and trend data and gener-
ates a variety of detailed, graphically rich
reports. If there is a problem, managers can
go back and see when it started and how
long it has existed, enabling them to
transition to a more predictive maintenance
approach.
Copyright 2003 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Rockwell Automation Global
Manufacturing Solutions™ group designed
the FedEx-specific SQL database that
Historian uses. GMS also set up all of the
transactions to capture their data and
developed the custom reports that are
generated via Historian based on input from
FedEx.
These reports are used by Operations,
Maintenance and Engineering to quickly
assess performance after a sort. Each
report contains only information that is
relevant to a specific job function or respon-
sibility. These reports previously were
developed manually on a daily basis or did
not exist at all. Historian allows them to be
delivered via a Web server application that
completely automates the process.
Results
Upgrading to the ControlLogix platform has
proven to be a good decision for FedEx. The
improved monitoring and diagnostics
capabilities have helped reduce downtime
and maintenance costs, and standardizing
on Allen-Bradley and Rockwell Software
products has minimized the technology
learning curve.
“The system saves time and resources by
seamlessly moving data throughout the
plant, and the flexible control architecture
allows us to expand or add applications with
little complexity or expense,” Kraehmer said.
“And equipment support and access to
spare parts is no longer an issue because
we’ve based the system entirely on Allen-
Bradley products.”
With better control of its process, FedEx is
able to maximize uptime and has improved
information flow between bar code
scanners, diverters and other serial devices
and enterprise-level databases. The
compiled information is also valuable in
helping FedEx evaluate production
decisions and identify areas for improve-
ment, and then track progress based on the
data. In fact, the improved control efficiency
has also enabled FedEx to boost
productivity while cutting its operational
staffing requirements in half during the day
sort.
“Our total outbound delay minutes are
closely monitored,” Kraehmer said. “One
surprise failure can make a difference on
whether or not we reach our annual goals.
So a big benefit is the real-time monitoring
that allows operators to identify problems
early and prevent downtime events from
occurring. And if something fails, we’re able
to get it back up and running within
minutes.”
The results mentioned above are specific to FedEx’s
use of Rockwell Automation products in conjunction
with other products. Specific results may vary for other
customers.

www.rockwellautomation.com

Corporate Headquarters
Rockwell Automation, 777 East Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1400, Milwaukee, WI, 53202-5302 USA, Tel: (1) 414.212.5200, Fax: (1) 414.212.5201
Headquarters for Allen-Bradley Products, Rockwell Software Products and Global Manufacturing Solutions
Americas: Rockwell Automation, 1201 South Second Street, Milwaukee, WI 53204-2496 USA, Tel: (1) 414.382.2000, Fax: (1) 414.382.4444

Headquarters for Dodge and Reliance Electric Products

Americas: Rockwell Automation, 6040 Ponders Court, Greenville, SC 29615-4617 USA, Tel: (1) 864.297.4800, Fax: (1) 864.281.2433

Publication Number MATIVP-AP553A-EN-D February 2005 Copyright 2003 Rockwell Automation, Inc. All rights reserved.