DESIGN OF SEMIAUTOMATED MAIL PROCESSING FACILITIES

This paper presents a two-level approach to designing and analyzing se mi-automated mail processing facilities. The strategic issues related to equipment selection and capacity expansion are examined at the uppe r level with the help of a large scale mixed integer linear program. T he general formulation is characteristic of a multistage, multicommodi ty network, and contains over 7500 variables and 6500 constraints. Sol utions provide input to a SLAM-based simulation model that is used to investigate operational issues related to resource scheduling, service standards, and growth in mail volume. The Northern Virginia Area faci lity serves as the baseline for the study. Results are presented for a proposed bodying a host of new concepts and equipment. The first is a n upgraded multi-line optical character reader (MLOCR) which is capabl e of scanning the entire address field, looking up a corresponding 11- digit ZIP code in a national directory, and bar-coding the envelope ac cordingly. The second is a remote video encoding system (RVES) which w ill perform the same functions as the MLOCR, but with an operator at a console to process handwritten addresses. with this new equipment, it will be possible to sequence almost 80 percent of the letter mail to the order in which it is delivered by the carrier. This is expected to reduce the amount of in-office activity by up to 45 percent, and save over $6 billion a year when implemented nationwide.