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. Development and production activities during 2002 included equipment for flats, receipt, dispatch, and material transport operations within our processing plants.

During 2002, Phase I of the Universal Transport System (UTS) completed acceptance testing in Fort Myers, FL. This system expands the processing of product lines beyond that of traditional Tray Management Systems, which only process letter trays and flats tubs. The UTS handles these product types as well as sacks, parcels, bundles, and mail cartridges. Phase II requirements, including AFSM 100 support, prototype flat tub unlidders, and letter tray unsleevers were integrated with the UTS prior to acceptance testing. Featuring state-of-the-art material handling technologies and information systems, this equipment enhances the ability of the Postal Service to contain work hour growth while providing improved work processes and information flow within the processing plants.

Research and development of flat tub lidding equipment was completed, and competitive testing of different models preceded the preparation and planning for nationwide deployment of this new technology in 2003. When mail is ready for dispatch from a processing facility, trays of mail must have sleeves and flat tubs must have lids with strapping applied to both to secure the mail during transport. The Postal Service can now automate this process. Conversely, when mail arrives at a processing facility, the strapping must be cut so the sleeves and lids can be removed for access to the mail for processing. Development of the prototype flat-tub unlidding and mail tray unsleeving technologies have been completed and field-tested for operational reliability. Preproduction activities will proceed with national deployment to follow in 2003–2004. Deployment of the unlidding and unsleeving technology will target opportunities for cost reduction and avoidance in receipt operations and will provide ergonomic benefits.

The Postal Service continues to pursue cost reduction opportunities in flat mail manual handling operations with Human Assist technology while improving the ergonomics of these repetitive processes. Testing of prototype lift assist devices is promising. Flat sorting machines equipped with the devices, are operating with crews reduced from five to four persons. Additional applications have been investigated, including extending the technology to handling new larger containers from major mailing customers. The new, larger containers have removed the need for shrink-wrapping before sending to the Postal Service and removal of shrink-wrapping upon arrival at postal processing centers. This application has been explored in cooperation with printers and mailers through workgroups of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC).

The Postal Service has identified next-generation material handling systems and subsystems that are in concert with opportunities outlined by the Breakthrough Productivity Initiatives (BPI) program. Equipment, developed as a result of this program, will expand the list of approved modules for tray transport, staging, subsystem processing, and communications. This equipment will primarily target cost reductions in incoming and outgoing dock operations, and receipt and dispatch operations inside processing facilities.

A major accomplishment of the past year has been the successful transition from using common carriers to transport Priority Mail to using a combination of FedEx planes and an enhanced ground network. This required updating some of the material handling equipment in order to produce identification and tracking codes that could be used by the new carrier. By quarter 4, the reduced reliance on common carriers for air transport has resulted in record service levels for Priority Mail, and a more predictable outcome. Consequently, there has been a greater awareness of the value of the information generated by the new coding strategies, with benefits in the improved manifesting and work-in-process tracking than previously available. This has implications for use in transportation modes other than air transport. These opportunities will be the subject of research and development efforts in 2003.

The Postal Service has made significant investments in designing, deploying, and using many new material handling technologies in the past few years. There is now a formal program for supporting these investments to ensure that the maximum life-expectancy is achieved and the equipment is upgraded with software and hardware enhancements as appropriate technologies become available in an industry that will benefit our processing operations. Three technologies with deployment activities during 2002 are as follows:


a. Low Cost Tray Sorter

The low cost tray sorter (LCTS) sorts letter trays and flats tubs in a variety of different inbound, outbound operations in processing and distribution centers (P&DCs), bulk mail centers (BMCs), and air mail centers (AMCs). These systems are configured to the unique needs of each particular processing facility. Deployment of this equipment began in 2002 and will be completed in 2003.


b. Automatic Airline Assignment

The Automatic Airline Assignment (AAA) system automatically assigns sleeved and strapped letter mail trays and flats tubs to airline flights. Deployment of 220 systems was completed early in 2002. A related material handling device, the Semi-Automatic Scan Where You Band (SASWYB) unit, provides a semi-automated means to scan the distribution label, weigh the item, generate a dispatch and routing tag to be attached by the operator, and discharge the mailpiece. The Postal Service deployed 125 SASWYB units in 2002.


c. Automatic Tray Sleever

The automatic tray sleever (ATS) is a feed-paced machine that automatically applies sleeves to all sizes of fiberboard or plastic letter trays used in Postal Service operations. The standard ATS configuration is a double-sided unit, which can apply two sleeve-types at a time from two pre-loaded sleeve cartridges. Deployment of 123 ATSs began in 2001 and was completed during 2002.