How to Read
Our Annual Report
2000 Highlights
Letter from
the Postmaster General/CEO
2000 Year
in Review
Delivering
the Future
The Governors
of the Postal Service
Audit Committee
Financial
Section
How to Read
Our Financial Statements
Quick
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2000 Annual Report
- page 41 of 70
In 1971, we moved 87
billion pieces of mail. In 2000, we moved over 208 billion pieces
of mail. Since 1971, the volume of mail we move has grown 139%,
yet the number of postal workers needed to move all that mail has
grown just over 23%. How do you move 208 billion pieces of mail
(that's almost 668 million pieces of mail every day, including Saturdays),
and move it quickly, economically and accurately without hiring
thousands of additional workers? Well, you develop specialized technology
to move this growing volume of mail, technology that helps you
keep your costs down and your quality of service high. And you have
to keep investing in technology, so you can continually improve
your productivity.
Over the years, we have worked hard to develop
the technology we need, not just to keep up with the growing
volume of mail, but to move the mail as efficiently as possible.
Today, we use over 15,000 pieces of automation equipment to
move the mail. In addition to the new Automated Flat Sorting
Machine (AFSM 100) described on page 30, we operate a wide
range of machines that use the latest technology. And we're
developing new machines and improvements to existing machines
all the time so we can be even more efficient.
Here is just a small idea of how we use technology to move
the mail. As thousands of letters pour into a processing center,
workers feed them into a machine we call an Advanced Facer
Canceler System with Input Subsystem. This machine arranges
each envelope so that the address faces in the same direction.
Then it cancels or postmarks the stamped mail and separates
it into three groups: mail that already has a bar code, mail
that has a machine printed address, and mail that has a handwritten
address.
Prior to sorting, the Advanced Facer Canceler System lifts
the image of each handwritten address and sends it to the
Remote Bar Coding System where the image is used to develop
and apply bar codes for use in subsequent sorting operations.
Mail with a machine printed address is sent to a Multiline
Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) machine that reads its address
and applies the correct bar code. The image of any piece of
mail rejected by the MLOCR is lifted and also sent to the
Remote Barcoding System for processing.
The images sent to the Remote Bar Coding System are initially
processed by our Remote Computer Reader (RCR) equipment. It
attempts to interpret the image and when successful, the letter
can be bar coded on a sorter using the information provided
by the RCR. Images rejected by this equipment are sent to
remotely located workers who view the address images and key
in the information required to print a bar code. Bar codes
are subsequently printed on these letters as they are processed
on our bar code sorters.
We have many other kinds of machines, each type designed to
perform specific functions that were once performed by thousands
of workers. All of these machines help us move the mountains
of mail that pour into our thousands of post offices and acceptance
points all over the continental United States, and in Alaska,
Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, the Virgin Islands and other places.
Every day we make sure that the hundreds of millions of pieces
of mail you entrust to us get to where you want it to go,
and we get it there as quickly and economically as possible.
Without the investments in technology we've made in the past,
we couldn't handle the volume of mail we do today. And that's
why we need to invest in technology today: so we can handle
the even greater volume of mail you'll entrust to us tomorrow.
next
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From one flat at a time...
...to 17,000 per hour
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