BEUMER teams with San Francisco Airport to provide first US tote-based ICS for baggage handling

BEUMER Corporation has been awarded a design and build contract for the first US tote-based, Individual Carrier System for baggage handling at San Francisco International Airport.

BEUMER Corporation – part of the BEUMER Group, a global supplier of automated baggage handling systems – has been chosen to partner with San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and its design-build teams to provide schematic design services for a new common-use individual carrier system (ICS) for baggage handling. As part of the airport’s Terminal 1 (T1) Redevelopment Programme, this is the first tote-based baggage handling system to go into operation in a US airport.

First tote-based baggage handling system at a US airport

The design-build teams will take the airport’s Development Plan for the baggage handling system through design and construction. Using an iterative design process, the teams will develop and implement a tote-based system solution which meets the requirements of the airport and all other stakeholders.

Currently, Terminal 1 has multiple baggage systems, each of which is independently operated by a separate carrier, which is a legacy model from when airlines owned, maintained and operated their own baggage systems. Many airports around the globe are now migrating to a common-use model. This allows airlines to share the cost of using a single system, while providing a more efficient operation for the airport, greater flexibility for the airlines and a consolidated security checkpoint for compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations.

This is the first time in the US that a baggage handling system provider has been invited to participate in the programing phase of a baggage handling project. BEUMER Group’s role will be to help to recommend the system components that should be used at each stage of the baggage handling process.