Lockheed Martin has received a contract valued at up to $120 million from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to continue improving automated recognition of handwritten and machine-printed addresses on letter mail. The project involves upgrades to the USPS Remote Computer Reader (RCR) system deployed by Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies at 350 USPS Processing and Distribution Centers.

"The RCR-driven, USPS letter mail address recognition program is a major success story that has resulted in substantial cost savings for the Postal Service and more accurate and efficient mail delivery for United States residents and businesses," said Brian Tanton, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Distribution Technologies business.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin and suppliers will enable the USPS to automatically finalize even more letter mail to address read rates above the current 92 percent.

"We have made great strides in our recognition partnership with the Postal Service through the RCR-related programs over the past 10 years," Tanton added. "Under the new contract, we will continue that effort to improve read rates."

Lockheed Martin plans to increase address read rates with methods that include enhancing existing recognition algorithms, evaluating new algorithms from other sources for integration into the system, and using new directory databases to improve address recognition results. The company will develop, procure, integrate, test and deploy the computer software and hardware needed to improve read rates and will install the upgrades and train staff at USPS processing and distribution centers.

Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin