Atlanta-based international shipping company United Parcel Service Inc. is renovating the conveyor platform and belt system to its Spokane Valley store at 1016 N. Bradley Road to the tune of $18.8 million, according to permit application details filed with the city of Spokane Valley. 

Aegis Sortation, a Middleton, Kentucky-based company that designs and makes sorting and automation equipment is tasked with installing the conveyor system in collaboration with Memphis, Tennessee-based Farist Installation Co., permit information shows.

A representative with Aegis Sortation says demolition work was completed in September, followed by construction and installation of several new conveyor platforms. He anticipates the project will be completed in about a year. The overall network upgrade is intended to modernize and make the facility more efficient.

The conveyor belts will be added later to the finished platforms, according to permit information. 

Once installed, the new system will process 19,000 packages per hour.

Matthew Skeen, a representative with UPS, says the current facility, located northwest of Interstate 90, was built in 1999 and is 72,000 square feet. 

According to the company’s website, the Spokane Valley location is a designated customer center that offers self-service kiosks, drop-off and pick-up services, limited packaging supplies, and printing of mobile shipping labels. 

The remodel comes as a UPS distribution facility and customer center is scheduled to open in the West Plains this fall, as reported by the Journal of Business. Located at 9210 W. Harlan Lane, south of the Spokane International Airport and northeast of the Amazon.com Inc.’s West Plains fulfillment center. Permits filed with Spokane County indicate that UPS is installing a package handling conveyor into the building, which will include support space for material-handling operations on the main floor.