1.3 Postal Mail Sorting
Computer are also used to improve productivity in public services. Postal mail sorting is a good example.
1. The envelopes are put into a computerized machine called CFC(Culler-Facer-Canceller). Its tasks:
∙ It only takes in those within a certain range of thickness’ length and height;
∙ It then arranger the accepted letters such that addresses face the same side;
∙ It has a sensor to detect the envelopes and to print a postmark on the stamp such that it cannot be re-used;
∙ It has an OCR(optical character recognition) program to read the hand-written postal codes on the envelopes;
∙ It prints a barcode’ called the ID tag’ at the back of the envelope for identification.
2. The envelopes go to the BCS (barcode sorting) machine. The BCS machine:
∙ reads the ID tag and retrieves the postal code;
∙ prints another barcode, called the destination code, that represents the 6-digit postal code.
3. The envelopes go to the DBCS(destination barcode sorting) machine. The DBCS machine:
∙ reads the destination code;
∙ sorts the envelopes into their respective postal codes.