Walk-It
The ZIP+4 code reduced the number of times that a piece of mail had to be handled. It also shortened the time carriers spent casing their mail (placing it in order of delivery). First tested in 1991, the delivery point barcode, which represents an 11-digit ZIP Code, will virtually eliminate the need for carriers to case mail because mail will arrive in trays at the delivery post office sorted in "walk sequence." The MLOCR reads the barcode and address, then constructs a unique 11-digit delivery point barcode using the Postal Service's National Directory and the last two digits of the street address. Then barcode sorters put the mail in sequence for delivery.Until now, most of the emphasis in automation has been processing machine-imprinted mail. Still, letter mail with addresses that were handwritten or not machine-readable had to be processed manually or by a letter sorting machine. The RBCS now allows most of this mail to receive delivery point barcodes without being removed from the automated mailstream. When MLOCRs cannot read an address, they spray an identifying code on the back of the envelope. Operators at a data entry site, which may be far from the mail processing facility, read the address on a video screen and key a code that allows a computer to determine the ZIP Code information. The results are transmitted back to a modified barcode sorter, which pulls the 11-digit ZIP Code information for that item, and sprays the correct barcode on the front of the envelope. The mail then can be sorted within the automated mailstream.
Handling Paper Flow
Letter mail represents approximately 70 percent of the Postal Service's total mail volume, so development of letter mail equipment has received the most attention. In addition to letter-mail processing, the Postal Service is taking steps to automate mail-forwarding systems and the processing of flats and parcels. The Postal Service also has accelerated installation of automated equipment in lobbies to serve customers better. The backbone of this effort is 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 a self-sticking postage label that has a barcode for automated processing.
Competition and Change
In 1991, overall mail volume dropped for the first time in 15 years. The following year, volume rose only slightly, and the Postal Service narrowly avoided the first back-to-back declines in mail volume since the Great Depression.Competition grew for every postal product. The rise of fax machines, electronic communications, and other technologies offered alternatives for conveying bills, statements, and personal messages. Entrepreneurs and publishing companies set up alternate delivery networks in an attempt to hold down the costs of delivering magazines and newspapers. Many third-class mailers, finding their mailing budgets reduced and their postage rates increased higher than expected, began shifting some of their expenditures to other forms of advertising, including cable television and telemarketing. Private companies continued to dominate the market for the urgent delivery of mail and packages.
