Siemens wins 55 million euro order from Royal Mail
9 Jan 2007 , Erlangen : Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) has won a 55 million euro order from Royal Mail, the British postal service provider, to upgrade its Integrated Mail Processor Systems (IMP) for standard letter sorting. The systems will be fitted with new letter flow and reading equipment which will increase throughput by up to 20 percent. Conversion work is due to be completed by October 2008.
The IMP sorting systems from the I&S Postal Automation Division were put into operation between 1996 and 2002 and form the foundation of automatic letter processing at Royal Mail. The systems can perform the entire letter processing functions – such as preprocessing, reading, coding and sorting – in one process operation. Installing the Advanced Color Recognizer system will make new reading technology functions possible. This will enable more letters to be channeled into automated preprocessing and thus reduce manual handling. There will also be further improvements to the letter facing and reading processes. The separation of first and second class mail will become simpler and more efficient. Moreover, the recognition of postage stamps, meter marks, barcodes and electronic stamps will provide automated revenue protection.
The mail flow in the systems will be optimised by fitting new channel gates, and a new gap correction module will ensure that letters follow each other as closely as possible, thus enabling throughputs to be increased by up to 20 percent. This upgrade will minimise the number of letters that have to be processed manually and at the same time reduce handling costs.
When the contract was signed, Dr. Paul Barton, Royal Mail’s Engineering Director, stated that “The decision to upgrade our existing IMP systems will provide a cost effective way of extending the operational life of the IMPs and at the same time enhance their performance and functionality.”
A pilot system will be completed by October 2007. The first load test has therefore been scheduled for the 2007 Christmas rush. The bulk of Royal Mail’s IMP sorting systems will then actually be converted in just ten months between January and October 2008.
Further information about Postal Automation at Siemens I&S can be found under:www.siemens.com/postalautomation
The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) is the integrator of systems and solutions for industrial and infrastructure facilities and global service provider for the plant and projects business covering planning, installation, operation and the entire life cycle. I&S uses its own products and systems as well as process technologies in order to enhance productivity and improve competitiveness of companies in the sectors of metallurgy, water treatment, pulp and paper, oil and gas, marine engineering, open-cast mining, airport logistics, postal automation, intelligent traffic systems and industrial services. In fiscal 2006 (to September 30) I&S employed a total of 36,200 people worldwide and achieved total sales of EUR 8.819 billion.
More information and download under: www.industry.siemens.com
