The Carol Stream P&DC was completed in April 1992 at a cost of $67 million dollars. The facility is approximately 760,000 square feet located on 63 acres of land. We process over 4 million pieces of mail daily servicing the 601 and 603 ZIP areas.
The facility is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art mail sorting technology. At the present there are 5 MLOCR/ISS's (Optical Character Readers). These MLOCR machines are equipped with ISS's (Input Sub Systems) which electronically lifts images of letter-sized mail, records and stors the image in an IPSS (Image Processing Sub System). The MLOCR/ISS can read and process up to 36,000 pieces of m ail per hour.
There are 10 BCS/OSS's (Bar Code Sorters) with Output Sub Systems, which spray a barcode on the mail and sorts it to the appropriate separation for delivery. This machine can also process up to 36,000 pieces of letter-sized mail per hour.
There are 6 AFCS/ISS's(Advanced Facer Canceler System) (Input Sub System). This is a micro-processor-controlled system. It cull out small pieces not meeting USPS letter mail specifications, such as oversized, too stiff or too thick. It faces, cancels and sorts the mail within specifications. It is capable of a throughput of over 32,000 peices per hour.
For flat mail processing, the plant currently has 2 FSM1000's and 3AFSM100's. The FSM 1000 processes flats that are too heavy or slick to be processed in an automated environment. The AFSM100 is the latest technology for flats processing and incorporates an OCR barcode reader and image processing capabilites. The AFSM100 is capable of a throughput of 15,000 pieces per hour.
The AFSM VCS (Video Coding System) is a comprehensive system designed to process mailpiece images in a single automated stream while maintaining high Postal Service delivery standards.
Carol Stream has 2 SPBS's (Small Parcel Bundle Sorter). This system provides for the sorting of small parcels, bundles and irregular parcel post into 100 separate output locations. This piece of machinery has the capacity of 11,000 pieces per hour. The mail that is loaded onto the induction station is automatically weighed and a beam of light detects whether the mail piece is too wide, too long or overheight for processing.
The plant is equipped with docks on both the South and the West sides and together we have a total of 60 bays to facilitate truck transportation.
The Carol Stream plant ahs a variety of other machinery in support of the movement of the mails such Mechanized and Non-mechanized machinery in the CFS unit (Central Forwarding System). The terminals are used to forward mail to customers that have moved, only if the customer has filled out a form 3547-Change of Address requesting this service.
Other mechanized equipment that supports the operations are a Sack Sorter with 25 container loaders, a Tray Transport System, 7 sawtooth platforms, 5 roller tables, a Universal Container Dumper and a fully equipped Computer Control Room to manage mail flows.
The Postal Service handles 43% of the worlds's mail volume. We deliver more mail in one week than FedEx and UPS combined delivers in one year.