Abstract: A sorting facility for items to be sorted, such as postal items, parcels, packages, baggage, suitcases, etc., includes carrying elements, conveyor paths at which the carrying elements are transported to target positions, to empty the items from a carrying element into a target position, a facility controller controlling movement of the carrying elements along the conveyor paths and emptying at the target positions, and a decentralized functional unit receiving process information regarding the conveyor paths and/or the carrying elements and, by comparison with nominal process information, detecting deviation from the nominal process information and reporting it to the controller. The functional units, which monitor the facility or surroundings, have computer-aided intelligence detecting and reporting deviations to the controller. Faults and/or impending faults, which can only be detected with difficulty or not at all, even in sorting facilities, are detected reliably and be reported timely to the controller.