Leipzig is home to Germany's largest and most modern parcel sorting plant. 19 camera tunnels, each with five autofocus cameras and one fixed focus camera, ensure the smooth distribution of packages and mail along a 6.5 kilometer-long conveyor system. Schneider-Kreuznach lenses deliver pin-sharp images of the address data, barcodes and other information on the parcels.

The parcels run past the cameras at a speed of 1.9 meters per second and are photographed from all sides. "The systems are under constant pressure during production time. The feed conveyors in the sorter hardly ever stop and the cameras have to take several thousand pictures per hour. That's only possible with extremely precise lenses," says Stefan Breidung, Technical Manager at the DHL air cargo hub in Leipzig/Halle.

The special lenses employed in the air cargo hub are normally used for 3D measurements, in space and robotics. "The lenses have to achieve outstanding performance in the sorting plant in Leipzig. The enormous constant load of several thousand images per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is only possible thanks to Schneider-Kreuznach's high¬precision manufacturing," says Thomas Schaich, Head of Sales for Industrial Optics at Schneider-Kreuznach. The lenses have to capture fast-moving objects with a short shutter speed and produce extremely sharp images that can be evaluated using state-of-the-art identification technology from Vitronic.

Leipzig/Halle is one of three DHL air cargo hubs worldwide. The others are in Wilmington (Ohio) and Hong Kong. Since March 2008, around 2,000 tons of freight a day from 60 airplanes and 46 destinations have been processed in Leipzig.