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It is said that neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor hail will keep a postal worker from delivering the mail. Indefatigable spirit aside, an improperly designed sortation system can stop the mail dead in its tracks.
Enter Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies. The leader in the design, integration and production of processing systems provides sortation solutions for the high-volume needs of some of the world’s largest distributors, including those of the U.S. Postal Service. Part of this solution has been the installation of more than 345 of their Small Parcel and Bundle Sorters (SPBS) in various postal processing and distribution centers since 1987.
Advancements in system technology combined with the evolution of the client’s needs necessitated an overhaul of 192 of the SPBS to address input/output limitations. Connect Tech was there to help Lockheed Martin meet this objective, which involves an extensive software and hardware upgrade under the PC 104 Control System Upgrade Program.
“We’re very pleased with the efforts Connect Tech put forth to make us successful,” said Joe Burnett, Program Manager, Parcel Sortation. “Connect Tech was very responsive, and actually provided us with the solutions we needed when we ran into challenges.”
Reliable communication hardware is essential to the success of the newly designed system, and Lockheed’s engineers chose an eight-port Connect Tech PC/104 adapter, customized to meet their design parameters. “Each sorting system has between 100 and 132 outputs,” Mr. Burnett explained. “The
Xtreme/104 RS-232 allows us to add liquid crystal display (LCD) readouts to the output bins, to communicate information on zip codes and other sorting criteria.” In addition, Connect Tech’s Blue Heat RS-232 boards are installed in the PC to facilitate communication with label printers, a new hardware feature of the machine.
With the first article testing slated for September, Mr. Burnett explained “the timeline is very critical to the customer.” Connect Tech provided “an outstanding performance” by custom designing, manufacturing and shipping the required hardware in a mere 23 days.
The upgrades ultimately will replace an obsolete control system. In addition to the benefits inherent in the original design, Mr. Burnett said the new design will offer a number of enhancements. “A standard real-time system, it will enable the user to obtain new management reports, offer online maintenance support, and will allow for a migration path for the future.”
The upgrade will allow the processing of increased volumes of mail, and enable information to be communicated to other internal subsystems. It will also provide the option to install barcode reader cameras. The installations will be completed by the end of 2001.
Connect Tech is a leading manufacturer of standard and intelligent multi-port serial adapters for PCI, USB, ISA and PC/104 bus compatible computers. This tradition of providing flexible, cost effective solutions is built on expertise in the design and manufacture of serial communication hardware and software. Connect Tech offers solutions for multi-user, multi-channel data collection, distribution and processing applications such as office automation, factory automation, point of sale, and scientific instrumentation.
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