Platform / Induction Balancing
Keep every induction lane at target rate
Sortwyre monitors pieces-per-hour per induction lane, flags imbalance in real time, and generates rebalancing recommendations so your induct team acts before the sort loop backs up.
Fundamentals
What is induction balancing?
Induction is the process of placing parcels onto the sort conveyor. In a multi-lane induction setup, each lane feeds independently into the sort loop. When lanes carry unequal loads, total throughput falls even when the sorter itself has capacity.
How Sortwyre measures PPH per lane
Sortwyre ingests sort event telemetry from your WES via OPC UA or MQTT. Each scan event at the induction point is attributed to its originating lane. PPH is calculated on a rolling 5-minute window and compared to the configured target rate.
- Rolling 5-minute and 15-minute PPH per lane
- Configurable target rates by shift and sort type
- Real-time comparison across all lanes in one view
- Historical PPH trend per lane for shift analysis
Imbalance detection logic
Sortwyre flags lane imbalance when any lane's PPH drops more than a configurable threshold below the fleet average. Default threshold is 15% below average. Alerts are surfaced in the dashboard and optionally routed to the shift supervisor's interface.
- Configurable imbalance threshold (default: 15% below average)
- Alert priority based on magnitude and duration of imbalance
- Correlation with downstream chute recirc events
Recommendations
Rebalancing recommendations
When imbalance is detected, Sortwyre surfaces an actionable recommendation. Not just an alert — a specific staffing adjustment that ops can act on in the current shift.
Staffing adjustments
Recommendation to move 1–3 inductors from an overloaded lane to an underloaded lane. Calculated based on current PPH variance and projected throughput gain.
WES feedback loop
Sortwyre exports imbalance signals to your WES via REST. Your WES can use this data to adjust automated induction rate controls — closing the feedback loop without manual intervention.
Shift-level reporting
End-of-shift report shows cumulative throughput impact of imbalance events. PPH-hours lost to imbalance, broken down by lane and time window.
Throughput impact estimate
Each imbalance alert includes an estimated throughput cost — e.g. ~8,160 PPH currently lost to lane 4–5 shortfall. Quantifies the cost before ops decides whether to act.
Run a throughput pilot in your FC
Connect Sortwyre to your WMS or WES in under 6 weeks. No hardware installation, no conveyor downtime.