FedEx Unveils Its Largest Facility Worldwide – Fully Automated

This week, FedEx Corporation unveiled a new, state-of-the-art, automated sorting facility at the Memphis World Hub. The LEED Certified building, which is now fully operational ahead of the holiday peak season, spans 1.3 million square feet across four levels, includes11 miles of conveyor belt, has a space dedicated to moving bulky, non-conveyable shipments, and can sort 56,000 packages per hour.

The facility alone can process more than half the volume from the primary sort, which enables quicker sort times and the ability to transport customer packages to their final delivery destination faster.

“The Memphis World Hub is the heart of the FedEx global network, and this dynamic, new sort facility is equipped with the latest data-driven technology that enables us to strengthen our hub operations,” said Lisa Lisson, president, Air Operations, FedEx. “Modernizing the Memphis World Hub is a key step in our network transformation to help our customers compete and win with the world’s most flexible, efficient, and smartest logistics network.”

The new automated sorting facility at the Memphis World Hub, known as Secondary 25, is same size as three football fields.

Interior view of new automated sorting facility at the Memphis World Hub, known as Secondary 25.

Packages of all shapes and sizes are sorted to positions between floors by sliding down one of 460 spiral chutes.

A package moves through a six-sided scanning tunnel. Six-sided scanning technology allows for more efficiency and increases the accuracy rate of the package being sorted to the correct outbound load position for the first time.

A package moves through a six-sided scanning tunnel. Six-sided scanning technology allows for more efficiency and increases the accuracy rate of the package being sorted to the correct outbound load position for the first time.

FedEx team members in the Hub Operations Command Center (HOCC). The staff in HOCC has clear visibility into every package entering the facility.

The staff in the Hub Operations Command Center (HOCC) has clear visibility into every package entering the facility.

The facility is fully automated, which will reduce sort times, improve reliability, and allow packages to be sorted in one building during weather events. It incorporates state-of-the-art technology, including six-sided scanning, which allows for packages to be scanned on all sides to capture size and barcode information for accurate sorting. It also includes new weighing and dimensioning systems and is equipped with 1,000 cameras to monitor the flow of packages to ensure efficient movement through the operation.

The facility upgrade includes a new Hub Operations Command Center that is three times the size of the original and serves as the centralized control function overseeing all operations at the Memphis World Hub.

The FedEx World Hub is the largest sort facility in the FedEx global network, with 13,000 team members, spanning 940 acres with 171 aircraft gates and 84 miles of conveyor belt. The hub has the capability to process 484,000 packages per hour.