Postal News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2002
Contact: (202) 268-2155
Release No. 02-043
New, 'Smart' Flat Sorting Equipment Triples Sorting Rates, Reduces Labor Needs And Saves $292 Million Annually
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A senior postal official today detailed the success of new "intelligent" flat mail sorting equipment that deciphers hard-to-read addresses while sorting three times as fast as previous equipment. The system, known as the Automated Flat Sorting Machine 100 (AFSM 100), will save the Postal Service $292.5 million this year.
In making his presentation during the Board of Governors monthly meeting, Manager of Processing Operations Walter O'Tormey reported that the two-year nationwide deployment of 534 AFSM 100s that began in April 2000, and placed equipment in 239 mail processing facilities, was just completed last month.
"One of the Postal Service's long-term goals is to move flats processing - traditionally one of the most labor intensive - from a manual and mechanized environment to one that is automated," he explained. "The Automated Flat Sorting Machine 100's innovative design offers several features not previously available including automatic feeders, a tray take-away conveyor with adaptability to robotic handling, and on-line video encoding for processing non-readable flat mail images."
Previously flat mail was sorted by hand or on mechanized equipment. Flat mail typically is comprised of large envelopes, magazines and other periodical mail measuring no more than 15 x 12 inches, and no thicker than 3/4 of an inch.
Sorting Smarter and Faster with Fewer People
The AFSM 100s replaced the mechanized Flat Sorting Machine (FSM) 881s. The 881s were extremely labor intensive. Operators were required to feed mail manually, piece by piece; a slow process. The AFSM 100, by contrast, is equipped with three automated feeders to eliminate the need for manually feeding individual flat mail pieces. It uses technology to read a wide range of addresses, including handwritten addresses and bar codes. This increases sorting rates by roughly 10,000 pieces to a total of 15,000 pieces per hour, approximately three times faster and at a third of the cost of the Flat Sorting Machine 881s. This speed enhancement, coupled with a staffing reduction of more than half the Flat Sorting Machine Operators resulted in a total flat productivity increase of 27 percent -- a cost savings of $292.5 million annually. Moreover, the software behind the address recognition system imbedded into the AFSM 100s keeps hard-to-read addressed mail in efficient automated mail processing and away from costly manual sorting.
Future Improvements
O'Tormey said holding down costs on flats processing is more important now than ever. "Further technology enhancements to increase machine throughput, improve address recognition, consolidate image processing, enhance feeder systems, and the addition of identification tags and tray handling systems are areas that we are pursuing.
While the Automated Flat Sorting Machine program has been very successful, we plan to add to that by managing complement, standardizing production methods, developing technology enhancements, reviewing bundle and pallet make-up requirements, and working with mailers to contain costs in end-to-end flats processing."
Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 137 million homes and businesses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $65 billion, it is the world's leading provider of postal services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume -- some 207 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year -- while serving seven million customers each day at its 40,000 retail locations nationwide.
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