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Sort-Glide Sorters reduce pull-down times, improve ergonomics, and facilitate "one-bundle" delivery during seven week test at Sterling, VA Post Office. - released December 2000
The Postal Service's Gateway Planning & Technology Development Group, who coordinated the test, were pleased with the performance of the Sort-Glide and the collected data. It is hoped that information gathered from this test and others will lead to a complete re-design of the city letter carrier case. |
From October
17 to December 1, 2000 five specially designed Sort-Glide
Sorters were tested by the United States Postal Service in Sterling, VA.
The special sorters included 4 tiers of separations built into one main center
unit, and two wing units (450 total separations). All tiers were equipped
with the patented Sort-Glide drawer for efficient
pull-down. The entire fixture rested on a hydraulically adjustable
base which provided apx. 10" of height adjustment allowing carriers
to position the sorter at a comfortable height with the simple push of a button.
The Sort-Glide system demonstrated several advantages over current casing
methods and others that were tested. Most notable was the reduction of
time required to "pull-down" a case. By eliminating the task of
removing sorted mail from individual separations, pull-downs of 8 minutes per
route, (a savings of more than 20 minutes) were not uncommon. In addition,
the scooping motion used to pick up a manageable stack of mail from the
Sort-Glide drawer tended to be less fatiguing than the pinching motion required
for removing mail from conventional case separations. Finally, when used
with a specially designed folder, which is inserted into the sorter at each
address before additional mail goes in, "one-bundle" management of
mail was possible with very little "fingering" required on the route,
(the folders also aid in the pull-down and scooping process and could eventually
be a source of U.S.P.S. revenue). 
In addition to documenting benefits of the system, the test also proved
valuable in identifying areas that required improvement. During the course
of the test several modifications to the prototype units were made primarily to
handle the high mail volumes seen by this Post Office during the holiday,
pre-election, pre-rate increase period. Future Sort-Glide units will
incorporate these modifications and other improvements to address the unique
needs of the U.S.P.S.