The USPS
Board of Governors approved funding for two equipment upgrades to the
Advanced Facer Canceller System.
Automated Sorting Enhancements-The Board also approved funding
for two upgrades to equipment that aligns and postmarks letter mail. The
first enhancement to the Postal Service's Automated Facer Canceller
Systems (AFCS) is an Inkjet Canceller (IJC) that uses inkjet printers
and commercial off-the-shelf computer software to apply postmarks with
text and graphics. The IJC will replace today's mechanical "die hub"
postmarks that require the labor intensive task of changing dates
manually. (USPS Press Release 9/9/03)
The USPS has a fleet of 1086
Advanced Facer Canceler Systems (AFCS) at USPS Processing and
Distribution Centers (P&DC) throughout the country. The AFCS is a mail
handling system that faces letter mail by locating the stamp, meter, or
indicia. The AFCS also cancels letter mail, sprays an identification
(ID) tag, lifts the image, and sorts letter mail to a set of bins for
further processing. Individual mail pieces are picked-off at the Feeder
of the AFCS at a throughput rate of approximately 36,000 mail pieces per
hour. On occasion, the Feeder picks off more than one mail piece at a
time resulting in what is termed as a "Double Feed." A double feed
requires additional handling downstream of the mail distribution process
because at some point the extra mail piece of the double feed is
rejected by mail processing equipment or letter carrier. The rejected
mail piece of the double feed will need to be reintroduced into the mail
distribution process. This additional handling adds costs and decreases
service performance for the USPS. Therefore, the USPS requires a Double
Detector that can be added onto the AFCS to detect and reject double
feed in order to eliminate the additional handling required downstream
of the mail distribution process.
The United States
Postal Service intends to purchase 1,086 Advanced Facer Canceler System
InkJet Canceler (AFCS-IJC) Modification Kits.
The inkjet canceler will use ink jet printing technology to apply
cancellation information on each mail piece by spraying tiny ink
droplets at high velocity under computer control. The computer control
will ensure automatic update of cancellation dates and provide precise
time stamping of individual letters. Generally speaking, the inkjet
canceler will be a retrofit kit for the AFCS. The Inkjet Canceler will
consist of the following subsystems: 1) Deck Plate Assembly 2) Two (2)
Print Head Assemblies 3) Ink Reservoirs and Ink Delivery System 4)
Control System with corresponding cable assemblies for I/O and power 5)
Two (2) Interface Boards with I/O connectors 6) Optional Encoder and
Encoder Roller Assembly
The second AFCS enhancement, known as a Doubles Detector, identifies two
mail pieces inadvertently stuck together as one. This "doubling" effect
is caused by high humidity, static adhesion, or excessive envelope
adhesive and results in processing delays. The Doubles Detector will
greatly reduce handlings and mis-sortings by using a high-speed camera
and software to identify these occurrences. A contract is expected to be
awarded in December. Deployment will begin in August 2004 and be
completed by August 2005.
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