The U.S. Postal Service has awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. an $874 million contract to build machinery that will sort flats in the order in which they are delivered.
The Flat Sequencing System, designed along with USPS engineers, sorts mail in delivery sequence at a rate of 16,500 pieces an hour, helping letter carriers start delivering mail earlier in the day.
A pre-production system will be installed and tested in Dulles, Va., in August, and nationwide deployment of 100 systems will begin in Summer, 2008.
Last year, the USPS delivered 53.2 billion flats, of which 8% were first-class mail, 17% periodicals, and 75% standard mail.
Network
