The Automation Age

A new generation of equipment has changed the way mail flows and has improved productivity. Advanced facer-canceler systems face, cancel and sort mail. Multiline optical character readers (MLOCRs) read the entire address on an envelope, spray a barcode on the envelope, then sort it at a speed of nine or more envelopes per second. Wide field of view cameras can read a barcode virtually anywhere on a letter. The remote barcoding system (RBCS) processes images from letter mail that OCRs cannot read because of print quality or idiosyncratic handwriting and transfers the information to remote encoding centers. First tested in Tampa, Florida, in 1992, the centers now process approximately 6 billion address images a year, versus 24 billion at their peak. Improved computer technology can process more than 86 percent of all addresses.

The ZIP+4 code has reduced the number of times a piece of mail is handled and has shortened the time carriers spend casing their mail (placing it in order of delivery).

First tested in 1991, delivery point barcodes, which represent an 11-digit ZIP Code, have virtually eliminated the need for carriers to case mail because it arrives in trays in the order of delivery. The Postal Service has installed more than 8,900 delivery barcode sorters and carrier sequence barcode sorters nationwide to perform this task.

Letters constitute approximately 70 percent of United States mail, so the Postal Service has given a great deal of attention to letter sorting equipment. Recently, the Postal Service began automating systems to forward mail and process flats (larger pieces of mail that are sorted without being bent). The first fully automated flat sorting machine (AFSM 100) for processing periodicals and oversized envelopes was installed in Baltimore in 1999. The AFSM 100 has a video encoding feature to read addresses that the computer cannot decipher and to send an image of the piece to a data conversion operator at an RBCS site. The operator reads the address and keys in the information that allows the piece to be sorted properly. Deployment of the first AFSM 100s began in April 2000 and ended in April 2002 with 534 systems installed at 229 mail processing facilities nationwide. Each AFSM can process 300,000 flats a day — almost three times as many as the equipment it replaces.

In 1999, the Board of Governors approved funding to integrate robotics into its major processing plants. In 2000 and 2001, 100 robotic containerization systems were installed to automatically sort and load trays of mail to containers or pallets for transportation.

In 2002, the Postal Service initiated deployment of the wide field of view camera to replace the wide area barcode reader on delivery barcode sorters. The camera can read “electronic postage” and recognize barcodes on certified mail, which will enable value-added services such as tracking and tracing a piece of mail from induction to delivery.

Beyond the Processing Plant

The Postal Service has accelerated the installation of automated equipment in lobbies to better serve Post Office customers. In the 1990s, the backbone of this effort was the integrated retail terminal (IRT), a computer that incorporates an electronic scale. It provides information to customers during a transaction and simplifies postal accounting by consolidating data. Postage validation imprinters have been attached to the IRTs to produce self-sticking postage labels with a barcode for automated processing.

In 1998, the Postal Service started rolling out the POS (Point of Service) ONE system. Eventually 60,000 retail terminals will be installed in 20,000 facilities. By providing state-of-the-art computer technology and connecting retail units through phone lines or satellite connections, POS ONE provides managers with real-time information and provides customers with faster, more efficient service.

The Postal Service also has taken advantage of personal computers to help small business and home office users. In March 1998, the Postal Service authorized tests of PC Postage. These products, developed and distributed by USPS-approved vendors, produce Information Based Indicia, digitally-encoded, two-dimensional barcodes that postal customers can print directly onto envelopes or address labels. PC Postage gives customers access to postage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from the convenience of their home and office computers.

In March 1999, the Postal Service launched Delivery Confirmation to provide the date, time, and ZIP Code of delivery for Priority Mail and parcels. Customers call a toll-free number or visit the Postal Service’s Web site for this information. More than 300,000 handheld scanners have been deployed to letter carriers to support Delivery Confirmation. In 2001, the Postal Service added Signature Confirmation, allowing customers to request a copy of the signature of the individual who received the mailpiece.

In 2002, the Postal Service officially launched Confirm service to provide tracking information to participating letter and flat mailers. Mailers print an identifying barcode, known as a PLANET Code, on their mail. Automated equipment reads the barcode and makes information available to the mailer via the Internet on the time, place, and operation that handled the mail.

The last presidential commission met in 1967. By 1970, Congress subsidized 25 percent of postal costs and the Post Office Department was in the red. In August 1970, the Postal Reorganization Act was passed, creating the U.S. Postal Service under the basic economic assumption that continuing growth in mail volume and revenue would support continued infrastructure growth. Today, that regulatory model is no longer valid. In a March 2001 letter to the President, the Postal Service Governors said that significant statutory reform would be necessary for the organization to continue to provide consistent and satisfactory levels of universal service to the American people.

We are at a point in our history when it’s time for the next phase in postal evolution. And this time we need help.

— Postmaster General John E. Potter

President George W. Bush issued an executive order on December 11, 2002, establishing the President’s Commission on the Postal Service.

The task of the nine-member bipartisan Commission was to identify the operational, structural, and financial challenges facing the Postal Service; examine potential solutions; and chart a course to help build a healthier financial foundation. Postmaster General Potter described the work of the Commission as consistent with — and complementary to — the Postal Service’s Transformation Plan.

The Commission’s agenda included gathering input from postal stakeholders, including congressional leaders, union officials, Postal Service employees, customers, and other representatives of the nation’s $900 billion mailing industry. The Commission’s charter called for the preparation of a report to the President in 2003 that would articulate a proposed vision for the future of the Postal Service and recommend legislative and administrative reforms needed to ensure its future viability.

Commission members

Harry Pearce and James Johnson were named as Commission co-chairs. Pearce is chairman of the board of Hughes Electronics. Johnson is vice chairman of Perseus, L.L.C.

Other members included Richard Levin, president, Yale University; Dionel AvilÈs, president, Aviles Engineering; Don Cogman, chairman, CC Investments; Carolyn Gallagher, former CEO, Texwood Furniture; Norman Seabrook, president, New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association; Robert Walker, CEO, Wexler Group; and Joseph Wright, CEO, PanAmSat.

Industry support for the Commission

Mailing industry groups have praised the creation of the Commission. Among many endorsing the commission were the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, Magazine Publishers of America, Mailers Council, and Newspaper.