+
+
Postal Automation.
Automation is a way of letting a machine do often monotonous work. The main work processes are the in broad categories of stamping, cancellation, sorting and distribution. But automation has affected almost every area of communication via the transport and delivery of mail objects as it has affected most other forms of communication. Automation is also an important part of the Swedish postal history.
|
|
+
|
In
post offices the following tasks may be automated: transport, segregation,
facing, cancelling stamps, stamping, class sorting, destination sorting,
quality of service marking and distribution.
Annotation:
Shortcut to some parts on this page.
Transorma at the bottom of the page
This page
will show some examples of how the automation of the postal
services has affected covers and letters through the years.
The
gradual transformation to Årsta, which started in the autumn of
1998, was nearly complete by March 2000. On the 1st of
April the same year, the Klara terminal was abandoned as a letter
sorting office. The Klara terminal had been used since 1987. The new
Årsta terminal was inaugurated by Carl Cederschiöld on the 22nd of
May 2000.
Stamping
is applying post-paid marks to contract-handled and bulk mail.
There are
several different ways to simplify "stamping" a letter.
Official matter, Port Paye´, Bulk mail, Meter stamping and
different Franking machin. Meter Franking machine were first used in
Sweden on the 1st of October 1926.
Cancellation
- Stamp
canceling
machines
Canceling stamps is
applying an ink mark to deface them and destroy their value.
In Sweden the postmarking
of letters to cancel stamps has been done mechanically since 1891
when O.R. Lennholm constructed his machine, which was used in
Stockholm until 1905. It was followed by several other kinds of
machine-cancellers. (There is more information in Swedish: SFF:s
Specialhandbok Nr 24 by L. Bergman G. Dahlstrand and O. Svahn.
In order to be able to
cancel stamps by any method the letters have first to be faced.
Facing is turning the mail
so the address is all facing one way ready for canceling or
stamping.
Also
in order to manage the whole process and to make it accountable -
Quality of Service QOS marks are also applied.
Quality
of service marking is the marking of the date and time of processing
and identification of the processing office to enable quality
statistics to be checked on any item. It is often done at the same
time as cancellation.
There are
several types of sorting process required to deal with mail which are:- Segregation
is the separation of pillar-box posted mail into small packets, large flat
envelopes and small envelopes which are sorted in different ways.
Class sorting
is separation into classes such as first (urgent) and second class etc..
Destination sorting is sorting into classified transport streams towards
the eventual destination and may involve printing of a sorting codemark (a
machine-readable address) on the mailpiece.
As
early as the 1930, Holland started to use a sorting machine called
“Transorma”.
This design of machine was also tested in about ten other countries
including Sweden. In Sweden the test was unsuccessful and the machine was
never used for full service. Machine sorting was also used in the old
times of Stockholm Bans. In the early 70s there was a Telefunken sorting
machine that sorted 2.500 letters per hour using manual coding. It was
followed by AEG, NEC and Alcatel, machines that were combined to segregate
different letter sizes, stamp, read addresses, code, and sort. The latest
system, the
"IRM", has the highest speed of operation and
capacity.
POSTEN 970917 01:01 ÅRSTA
Look in Filatelisten Nr:2 1998 page 81(in Swedish) Posten has changed all the bar
code (Codemark) readers in their Alcatel/Mannesman machines (SSM) and GSM's and FSM to FL-Readers manufactured by Wessex
Technology. Posten have done this because of the great reading
performance and low maintenance. Wessex had a previous project
with Posten in 1995/6 where they changed all the readers in the
NEC Machinery. Under the orange BSM-code an InkJet-printer will right date, time
and place in black.
Look at VideoJet
example further down this
page. RE-mail by Posten and some Travel bureaus, Turistporto,
DHL (in Swedish).
Britain
is a country that has tested a lot of sorting-systems. Examples
are:- Transorma, Six Position letter sorting machine 6PLSM) Single
position letter sorting machine (SPLSM),
Elliot and other Code-Sort systems, UK OCR prototype, AEG OCR
systems, OCR-Video systems and currently Integrated Mail Processors
(IMP). The 20-years old PMSC
(Postal Mechanization
Study Circle) is studying all types of systems, from all over the
world.
Mailnews for Sweden 2003. Next year (2004) there will be a new advanced Toshiba
TT-1000 Mail-Sorting System installed in Sweden. Distribution is
the final process of transporting the classified mail to the destination.
In most
originating sorting offices it will control the type of package the mail
is put in, eg. bundle, bag, container and form of transport, eg. postman,
conveyer belt, truck, train, plane etc. the mail is loaded on. At the
receiving (distribution) office the mail has to be sorted again to bundles
for each address. 1996-04-01
the realization of ”Det nya Brevnätet” (The
new letter-net) started to reduce the 56 post terminals to 13
head terminals and 6 service terminals. At this time they also
started to use the technique more seriously and a logistic
“letter-net” was built up between the 13 terminals. Because of
this, the number of machine stamps are reduced. The sorting machines
(IRM) have become both quicker and more powerful. New stamp cancelling machine- – Ink-Jet printer. Stage one (I). The philatelist
who had the luck to have friends in Gothenburg, Malmö, Norrköping or
Uppsala could possibly discover a totally new cancelling machine on Christmas
cards in 1998. If we for instance look at Poseidon (the statue) in the
Gothenburg cancelling machine, we can tell he has become smaller, on his
right hand side we can see five wave lines, which end up with a
"post horn" in a 13 mm circle.
This machine
should be a Pitney Bowes U700. Since it has got two ink-jet-sprayers (or
?), there might be a small displacement between the upper and lower half
of the cancellation. The frame around the picture can sometimes even be
missing. Occasionally "Poseidon" has been re-used as late as in
March and April. (More in the magazine Filatelisten no.5, 1999, p. 294
only in Swedish)
Link to picture: Stage two (II).
The next test
was made in Klara. This time with eight
wave lines and a slightly
bigger post horn (18mm). This is the same kind of machine that has been
tested and used elsewhere e.g. in England.
Take a look at an English letter and you will recognize the eight wave
lines. This test took place on only one day, the 20th of February 1999.
However, rumours tell us that it has been tested later too. Surely more
than one day was needed to tune up these technically complicated new
products?
Stage three - IRM.
A person who is
used to sorting can handle 750 letters per hour. The new IRM-machine
can handle 32.000 letters per hour. Though it takes almost 25 people to
run it.
(On some
machines in UK some operators can reach 3000 per hour - nearly one per
second!)
IRM
= Integrated Raising- and sorting-machine. (Integrerad
Resnings- och sorteringsMaskin)
SRM
= only Raising-machine. (Resningsmaskin)
There are different lengths on the 8
wave lines. 20mm, 40mm and 60mm. (Look at picture Uppsala
IRM 106.) The official start of Uppsala should have been on the 7th
of June 1999, but was delayed until the 17th of June 1999
because of a mishap with the machine.
On the 17th of May 1999
the installation of the Tomteboda IRM101 was completed. It was followed by
Uppsala IRM106 (1999-06-17), Malmö IRM114 (1999-06-28), Västerås
IRM? Etc. All together there are now15 new machines to be started, at a
rate of approximately one every month. They should all have been running
by May 2000. Let's just hope the new Millennium gives us cancelling-fans a
few nice surprises.
The "Skvadern"
in Sundsvall will probably be back. Unfortunately the Borlänge and Hässleholm
terminals will disappear, but the latest one will make the IRM in Malmö
busier.
IRM IRM Eight (8) wave
lines will become five (5) ?
A new variation
with only five
wave lines has been
seen. It looks a bit like the one I talked about in phase one. This has
only been seen on the back of an A5 envelope on which it said: At the same time the word IRM is taken away
leaving only place and number. The other terminals will start using five
instead of eight wave lines in the
beginning of October. Malmö OE LETTER 1999-08-04. Which application
area does this have? The
wave lines
disappear totally: In December
1999, the wave lines between the picture and the post horn, had totally
gone. Anyway on the C6 envelopes this is done to make sure the text on
printed matter do not get covered by the cancellation.
We
can now establish that there are three variations with eight wave
lines, four with five wavy lines (20, 40 and 60mm)
and those without wavy lines.
and now ?
Now I know that this was a "accident at work".
Today 2001-08-01 all terminals are "no frame and 4 wave lines".
EU-meeting in Göteborg
2001.
I have got 2 of those EU-letter for sale. Merry Christmas cancellation 2002.
Automatic sorting. The
previously tested ink spray printer is still used in the GSM and IRM
machines. The post sack is emptied on the belt conveyer and in just a few
seconds the post is sorted in blue boxes at the other end of the conveyer
belt.
Manual
sorting
2000-01-01
the printed block in the machine stamp of the old PVI type is
changed. This is done in most of the terminals. On the right hand side of
the picture block there is now 3-4mm long, wave lines and a post horn
(17mm) instead of the earlier round Posten Sverige (2,5mm). You
could in these, see six figures that showed the date of cancellation. In
certain places, with a different machine type (Hasler, Krag) they still
use printed blocks with six figures.
The new machine
has got eight figures, of which the first two (20) are permanent.
Besides, the Borlänge and Hässleholm (Snapphanen) terminals are going to
disappear in August 2000, but the envelopes still need to be cancelled by
a new stamp of the good old PVI-type.
Snapphanen Ptm
02-04, below, shows the three different Hässleholm machine prints.
New sorting machine in Arlanda ? Letter from "De Dd Cymru
SE Wales" to Gothenburg sorted
"POSTEN 2000-11-14 ARN 034". Look
at picture "Arlanda 034" above. All covers from foreign
countries will be sorted at Arlanda.
POSTEN
1999-05-17 02:30 GÖTEBORG 040
The little black text at the
bottom of the envelopes will from week 917 look like the above if it for
instance has passed through machine 40 in Gothenburg. The date/year must
be complete. In computer language you normally see YYYY-MM-DD.
This though, is still (2000-02-10) not used everywhere. Besides, the IRM
machines have come too.
Written 11-11-1999
This day is an odd day,
meaning that all of the digits in today's date are odd, 19-11-1999.
The next odd day after today will
be 11-11-3111 (over a thousand years away), which WE will
never see. Now you have a reason to
celebrate, as it will be your last odd day on earth!!!
Have a nice
Odd day!
The next even day will be 02-02-2000
(the first one since 28-8-0888).
Thanks to Bob de Vekey
Examples of sorting machine marks from other
countries.
Pree-Paid letters: 1998 - 2002
The cover are in 228x162 mm (C5) and 323x229 mm (C4).
2002 (type 3) there are at least 15 types of envelopes
in different styles. Letters for inland and letters for abroad. Links to:
|
FL-Reader by 
Hybrid
post. Now you can order a Christmascard
from your computor, coming physical to
the receiver/addressee.
