4. Material Handling
Material Handling continues to be a significant target of opportunity for technology investments to reduce operating costs and improve productivity and efficiency. The primary objective will be to pursue appropriate material handling solutions that produce quantifiable benefits, meeting our minimal corporate investment criteria, while providing capturable savings.

In 2001, the Postal Service completed deploying and commissioning the Universal Transport System (UTS). This system will serve as a test bed for material handling technology development and applications to complement its ability to automate the movement of letter and flat trays. These trays of mail are transported, based on operational need, to each separate area in the plant where mail is processed and then from the last processing operation to dispatch. Featuring state-of-the-art material handling technologies and information systems, this equipment will enable the Postal Service to contain work hour growth while providing improved work and information flow within our processing plants. Research and development of complementary technologies for receipt and dispatching operations that integrate with the UTS will be done to determine appropriate technologies and applications to help the Postal Service reduce allied material handling costs and improve productivity.

The Postal Service has completed deployment of new rectangular array robots and Automatic Airline Assignment systems. Additional material handling technologies that have been universally deployed in 2001 include equipment that will automatically sleeve (providing the covering) for different types of letter mail trays. When mail is ready for dispatch from the facility, trays of mail must have sleeves and strapping applied to secure the mail during transport, and we can now automate this process.

In addition to improvements in the handling of our unit-loads, development is ongoing for automating some of the handling processes that continue to be largely manual operations. The Postal Service is researching the handling of flat mail, such as magazines and periodicals, with human assist technology to reduce costs and improve the ergonomics and safety of these repetitive processes. Research and development are underway to produce flat tub lidding technology so that this technology can go in-line with many of our deployed dispatch systems. Development has also continued in the areas of ”unsleevers” and “unlidders”. This equipment will remove the shipping strap from the tray that holds the sleeve/lid in place. The mail tray will then be held in position with robotic arms while a separate mechanical device removes the tray from the sleeve or the lid from the tub. These pieces of equipment will automate those current manual tasks required to prepare and present both letter and flat mail trays for their various downstream processing operations as well as for dispatch. This will provide for a more automated and controlled processing environment.

Beyond the development of new technology applications, efforts to support field initiatives for breakthrough productivity and cost reduction of allied material handling labor are supported by the field fixed mechanization activity. In this venue, technology such as the low cost tray sorter and modifications to deployed systems are under consideration to support operating requirements.

        a. Automated Seamless Dispatch System
The Automated Seamless Dispatch System automates, streamlines, and organizes mail dispatch operations. The program integrates three primary material handling components — the Automatic Tray Sleeving (ATS) system, the Automatic Airline Assignment (AAA) system and the Robotics Containerization System (RCS) — for the continuous flow of mail trays through dispatch.

The ATS automatically sleeves all sizes of fiberboard or plastic letter trays used in Postal operations. Deployment of 123 systems began in 2001 and will be completed in 2002.

The AAA system automatically assigns sleeved and strapped letter mail trays and flats tubs to airline flights. Deployment of 220 systems began in 2000 and will be completed early in 2002. A related material handling device, the Semi-Automatic Scan Where You Band (SASWYB), provides a semi-automated means to scan the distribution label, weigh the item, generate a Dispatch and Routing label to be attached by the operator, and discharge the mailpiece. Deployment of 125 systems is underway and will be completed in 2002.

The RCS automatically sorts and loads letter trays and flat tubs into mail containers or onto pallets for dispatch. Deployment of 100 systems has been completed.

These systems are critical new components that support dispatch operations and will be integrated with UTS and other systems to provide information-rich, automated material handling operations.

        b. Mail Cartridge System and Direct Connect System
The Postal Service continued development of the Mail Cartridge System (MCS) and the Direct Connect System (DCS), which are the results of prior research efforts associated with the Integrated Buffer System. The MCS automates the feeding and sweeping of Delivery Bar Code Sorters and will recirculate local mail for two-pass sorting. By replacing the DBCS sort pockets with lightweight barcoded cartridges, it allows robotic sweep-side equipment to remove full cartridges and sort them onto racks according to their destination. MCS will eliminate work hours associated with feeding and sweeping the DBCS and reduce sweeping errors. A pre-production MCS was successfully tested in 2001 and adapted to process incoming secondary mail using only one operator. It will continue to be run in this mode until July 2002. Due to production cost estimates that exceed potential savings, there are no plans to pursue a production phase.

The DCS automatically transports mail from an Advanced Facer Canceler System (AFCS) and feeds it into a DBCS. A prototype system has been successfully tested in Ft. Myers, FL. Due to the current USPS financial condition, a production program is on hold.