Highly automated sorting is a prerequisite for an efficient, fast and cost-effective postal service, otherwise there is a risk of delays, extra charges and errors. However, every day, items are posted that are not machine-readable due to their physical characteristics, font or typography. A certain amount of manual work in residual sorting is therefore unavoidable. But keeping this to a minimum is vital.
Truly "non-machine-readable" cases make up only a very small proportion of the mail, and almost 100% of these items can be fed back into the automated process with the right technology. This automation avoids unnecessary costs for manual sorting and staff bottlenecks, as well as shortening throughput times and eliminating incorrect sorting.
"A large proportion of the mail items previously rejected from the mail sorting systems can simply be fed back into the automated process with the help of the digital workstation"
Thomas Amend, CEO Körber Supply Chain Logistics GmbH
For Deutsche Post, Körber implemented their Address Digitization Station (ADS), at which precisely these items can be re-read with software support and the address details digitized for further automated processing. Each of the systems has a camera and an optional handheld scanner for reading the address field, as well as an integrated label printer.
Körber's proprietary, AI-supported, automatic address reading system ARTread captures both typed and handwritten addresses quickly and precisely. Stamps, stickers or other interfering factors are filtered out, ambiguous information is interpreted or supplemented and provided to the operator as a suggested complete address on the intuitive touchscreen.
"You can very quickly tell if any new technology will be a success by looking at how the employees react to it. The Körber ADSs are an excellent example of how modern workstations can meet all requirements for ergonomics and user-friendliness, and their introduction has enabled the successful implementation of further automation options."
Dietmar Doll, VP Technology Post and Parcel Deutsche Post AG
Manual work on the ergonomically designed ADS is therefore limited to the physical process of placing the item under the scanner, affixing the new label and diverting it for further automatic processing - significantly less effort than is required for manual sorting.
An intensive pilot test in January 2024 was followed by a nationwide rollout across Deutsche Post's mail centers. A total of 120 systems have been in use since July 2024, and on average Deutsche Post employees are able to return the majority of rejected items to automated sorting, or, as they now call it, "heal" them. A nice word for a technology that has truly arrived in the workplace.
