Airport_Business_February-March_2020 - 18

BAGGAGE MATTERS
Chin said construction has consisted
of three distinct phases: the building,
the South Terminal BHS system, then
the new central terminal BHS system.
Due to a highly phased construction,
airport passengers have noticed little
inconvenience from the extensive
construction. Now that the construction
is reaching its end, it will be business as
usual for passengers despite the slew of
new technology as the check their bags
at Miami.
"We are proud to partner with
the TSA on this cutting-edge facility,
which is one of many enhancements
coming soon as part of our airport-wide
renovation and expansion. Improvements
like the new baggage handling system
will help MIA maintain its position as the
busiest airport in Florida for international
passengers," said Lester Sola, MiamiDade Aviation department director and
CEO, at the system's unveiling in Oct.

Beyond the Bots
Tom Gebler, account director for airports
at SICK, anticipates AGVs having a
growing presence in bagging handling
systems in the near future.
"I honestly think that there will be
increased uses for AGVs in baggage
handling systems. I think you're going
to see a lot more of it in the next five or
ten years," said Gebler.
And while the future looms, in the
immediate airports are improving their
baggage handling systems and increasing
efficiency by implementing technology
that's tried and true in new ways - RFID
and optical technology.
RFID, which stands for radiofrequency identification, has been used
for years in the postal and retail industries,
but didn't begin gaining traction in
baggage systems until the late 2000s.
"RFID has been around as a
technology for actually quite a while.
I'd like to say that it's been possibly one
of the most oversold technologies in its
more infancy years, but it's really kind of
come on strong as a great technology for
identifying items. One of the big benefits
in baggage for using RFID is that you
don't need a line of sight to read the tag,"
said Gebler.
The tech works by utilizing readers
and antennas that emit a cloud of
electromagnetic energy. This energy

FLOWING INTO THE FUTURE
As Miami implements AGVs and other
airports harness radio waves, in the
Netherlands work is being done to create the
near-fully autonomous baggage handling
system of tomorrow. Named Bagflow, the
system was unveiled by Vanderlande at inter
airport Europe in 2019 and is described as "a
scalable and modular concept," integrating
the complete journey of a bag.
"Our comprehensive approach has led to
the creation of a modular and innovative
concept that seamlessly integrates the
complete journey of a bag. Each module
can be applied on an individual basis and
means that any airport can benefit from the
inherent flexibility (mobile infrastructure)
and scalability (easily expandable solutions)
it contains," described Sven Platschorre,
Vanderlande commercial solution manager,
airports. "For this reason, Bagflow can be
applied at airports of all sizes, although we
expect that the larger airports will be the
early adopters of this solution."
Platschorre said that some of the features
that differentiate Bagflow are:
A baggage system that enables
differentiation in handling: efficiency for
'cold' (early) and 'warm' (normal) bags and
priority for 'hot' (time-critical) bags.
Airport-wide baggage controls: this will
enable an integrated operational approach
to the total baggage process, provide full
tracking and tracing of bags through the
entire process, align passenger and bag
flows, support real-time decision-making
on bag flows and allow seamless integration
with external data sources to benefit end-toend operational control.
Automation of the ground handler processes
through the integration of new technologies:
this includes autonomous vehicles for unit
loading devices (ULDs), transport that can
grow seamlessly alongside an airport, or
robots that automatically load luggage
and take the heavy lifting out of baggage
handling.
Airports will gradually adapt these
innovations into their processes, extending
from the baggage handling system toward
the handler processes in the terminal and
finally on to the apron. The nature of the
airport business dictates that the change will
be an evolution rather than a revolution.
"Traditionally, baggage handling automation
is located inside an airport terminal.
However, new technologies and an end-toend philosophy can extend this automation
towards the handler process, both inside the
terminal as well as externally. In order to
make the required improvements in the total
baggage process, three areas of innovation
are necessary," Platschorre said.

18 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020

Bagflow combines a number of
Vanderlande's prior airport innovations, such
as: Tubtrax a high-speed individual carrier
system; Adapto Bagstore, a shuttle-based
automated system with built in baggage
sorting features; Bagload, an automated
baggage loading robotic arm; Vibes, a
software suite that supports all steps of an
airport's baggage handling operations; and
Fleet, an autonomous vehicle, offering a
flexible and sustainable baggage logistics
solution.
All add up to what is Bagflows most defining
feature: it's heavy use of automatic system.
"Adding automation and switching to
a 'pull' process provides more effective
utilization of resources and saves space
and our integrated Vibes software allows
airports and airlines to significantly improve
bag performance. In this way, we can lower
the total operational cost and at the same
time create a seamless travel experience for
the passenger," Platschorre said. "It is the
seamless combination of multiple systems
that creates a total future-proof solution."
Platschorre continued: "The benefits of
Bagflow can be seen right across the airport,
even including the ground handlers, who
will see their jobs change in a positive way.
Increased automation levels will remove
a great deal of heavy lifting duties, thus
improving working conditions significantly.
Increased automation will also allow
employees to focus on bags that need special
attention, which in turn will facilitate higher
performance levels and enhanced passenger
satisfaction."
Bagflow as a complete system has yet to
be implemented, but several of the robotic
modules that make up Bagflow have been
sold and are in operations at airports. Other
modules, such as Adapto Bagstore, have
been sold and are also in the process of being
implemented, Platschorre noted.
At inter airport Europe, Bagflow proved
promising enough to be crowned the winner
of the inter airport Europe Excellence Awards
in the interFUTURE Special Award category.
"By offering airports and airlines full control
over the baggage flow and making optimal
use of all assets, this innovative, energy
efficient and ergonomic solution will
contribute to a stable and resilient baggage
flow, and more sustainable operations,"
said Platschorre. "Vanderlande's approach
is based on a strong collaboration with
airports and end users. End-to-end thinking
facilitates a bag process that is continually in
tune with the actual demands of an airport
and helps them to manage rapid growth and
keep costs under control."
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