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Siemens has been awarded a $245-million contract from the United States Postal Service (USPS) for 550 Advanced Facer Canceller Systems (AFCS) 200 to replace and modernize its existing fleet of AFCS.  The current AFCS has been in service for almost 20 years and is used by the Postal Service to cancel first-class mail. The AFCS was initially deployed in the early 1990’s and is primarily used to process first class mail sent by individuals.

The AFCS 200 will use the Siemens advanced color reader (ACR) to detect and lift address and other mail piece information for automatic reading.   

In addition to the design, building, and installation of the replacement machines, the contract includes the delivery of ancillary equipment, spare parts, training, and complete integrated logistics support services. Siemens and USPS engineers worked together to develop a system that integrated all the technical requirements of the USPS with the state-of-the-art developments in mail processing technology.

“We are delighted with the vote of confidence that the USPS has given us, continuing our many years of successful cooperation. The AFCS systems play an important role in mail processing and the new systems will help the U.S. Postal Service to further boost its productivity,” said Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO of Siemens Mobility. “The AFCS remains an essential element in the automated mail process. Siemens has worked closely with the USPS to modernize and streamline the highly sophisticated technology in this machine to extend its useful life another 10 years.”

This will be the first system in the USPS fleet to use Siemens’ channel-gate technology, which actually modifies the path of the letter through the machine rather than deflecting it in a particular direction.  The new technology greatly increases the throughput of the machine and will be a major contributor to the cost savings the USPS anticipates in the deployment of the AFCS 200. 

Production and installation of the AFCS 200 order is expected to be completed by March, 2011.