Date: 20.01.2022
Isle of Man Post Office (IOMPO) is pleased to announce that it has partnered with DMT Solutions UK Limited trading as ‘BlueCrest’ to provide a parcel automation machine and on-going support/maintenance services.
The project forms a key part of IOMPO’s five-year strategy for its operational division and marks a significant investment for the business. The machine will allow for the introduction of streamlined processes and develop new ways of working through the use of technology for parcel sortation. The machine is being manufactured by BlueCrest from its USA site, and will be transported and installed within the IOMPO Headquarters in Douglas. Once commissioned, during the autumn of 2022, it is expected to process inward and outward packets and parcels. IOMPO has been successfully operating a letter sorting machine since 2012.
The parcel automation machine will incorporate optical character recognition technology to read postal addresses in order to automatically sort items into postal routes, for delivery around the Island. This type of technology is commonly used by other postal authorities and larger parcel delivery businesses. It will be the first machine of its kind on the Island. During the manufacturing stage, the machine will analyse sample addresses, fonts, positioning of labels and handwriting styles to teach the technology to automatically read typical addresses on the Island, allowing the machine to sort items at its optimal rate. A sample of postal name and address images from items received by IOMPO will be securely provided to BlueCrest, accessed by the USA site, for this stage of the project.
Simon Kneen, Chief Executive of IOMPO said, “This is a significant investment agreed by the Board, which is a key part of our strategy to become the leading parcel delivery business on the Island. As our letter sorting machine was key to the efficiency of letter sortation when first introduced ten years ago, so we expect our parcel sorting machine to be so too, as parcel volumes have grown significantly in recent years and are forecast to continue to grow in the years ahead. Online shopping is now the norm for the majority of our Island’s residents, with even more using this method of shopping since the Covid pandemic. These are exciting times for IOMPO and I look forward to the machine arriving on site and being introduced later in the year.”
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