Israel Post Invests Over 60 Million Shekels in E-commerce Automation

Israel Post is investing over 60 million shekels in an automated parcel sorting system. The new system is expected to be fully operational at the Post's sorting center in Modi'in in about a year and a half, in time for the peak season of orders from international websites during the 'shopping holidays' of winter 2026. The system will allow for faster and more accurate handling of the reception, sorting, and delivery of packages, reducing the need for manual handling and significantly improving process efficiency.

The system will be adapted and integrated into the Post by the German company Beumer, considered a global leader operating hundreds of sorting systems in global shipping and postal companies. Upon completion of the project, the system will be capable of sorting huge volumes of up to 350,000 packages per day, thus reaching a potential reception and sorting capacity of over 100 million items per year. The project is led by a team of experts from the Post, headed by the Deputy CEO of the Supply Chain, Yaniv Kamhi.

David Leor, CEO of Israel Post, said: 'Israel Post is the leading shipping company in Israel, and as such, we are committed to always being at the forefront of technology and service, with the ability to handle increasing volumes of activity. The investments we have made in recent years in service and automation, in the order of hundreds of millions of shekels, are a promise to our customers that we are investing first and foremost in them and in our ability to provide them with excellent and advanced service. In recent years, we have focused on revitalizing the Post and transitioning to a competitive market concept where innovation and the customer are at the center. Now, with the thousands of dedicated Post employees and after the company has been privatized and operates as a leading business entity, we have the resources and the business backing to implement and complete the changes and upgrades required for the customers and for the company's growth.'

The new system will complement existing sorting systems at the Israel Post's sorting center in Modi'in, in which tens of millions of shekels have been invested in recent years. The Post's sorting center is the largest and most advanced in Israel, with the highest capacity for sorting packages and distributing them through the Post's transportation system, couriers, and mailmen, for direct delivery to the recipient's address and to more than 1,400 delivery centers and post offices across the country.

The upgrade of the Post's sorting system includes an automatic sorting system for online trade items up to the end point at the delivery center, end-to-end package monitoring, a significant reduction in the number of manual touches on the package at the sorting center, a significant improvement in the process of transferring items from point to point at the sorting center with continuous movement from the item reception and intake ramp to the distribution loading stations. In addition, robotic systems for automatic loading of packages will be integrated into the project, to increase efficiency and minimize errors resulting from 'human touches'. All this with the aim of coping with the expected growth in international and local online trade in the coming years while increasing the Post's market share, thanks to adherence to international service standards.

The volume of online trade in Israel continues to grow, with a continued increase in orders by Israelis from international and local websites. In 2024 alone, more than 75 million online trade items arrived in Israel in personal imports, i.e., packages ordered by Israelis from shopping websites abroad. About 70% of these packages came from Chinese websites, led by Ali Express, while the rest of the packages were sent from Europe and the USA, from websites like the British NEXT and the American Amazon. In light of this trend, the new sorting system of Israel Post was designed to be able to cope with increasing volumes of activity in the coming years.