Automated Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting Technologies for the United States Postal Service

Chicago Software Solution develops Electronic System Acceptance Tool (eSAT) to move USPS beyond manual reporting into highly modernized, efficient data capture and reporting.

Chicago, September 2009 / --
The United States Postal Service is the backbone of the nation’s correspondence delivery system. The USPS is America’s third-largest employer and it operates the largest vehicle fleet of any civilian organization in the world. Over the last several years, the USPS has pushed to adapt to changing business conditions by bringing increased automation, effective technologies, and better facility management into its overall business strategies.

Today, the USPS’s technologies include mail sorting systems that automatically sort millions of mail pieces down to the precise order that the mail carrier walks his or her route. These systems accomplish this Herculean task using complex sorting algorithms in conjunction with scanning, optical character recognition and barcode printing and reading technologies. Although sorting systems are designed to function within a range of tolerances, the sheer complexity of the overall system necessitates a method for collecting and analyzing performance data to assess whether or not the equipment is meeting the required standards. Prior to Chicago Software Solution’s development of eSAT, the USPS Testing and Evaluation group collected performance data on handwritten forms and then entered the information into data sheets, putting a significant workload on employees.

CSS presented a solution concept based on the USPS’s Testing and Evaluation Group’s vision and requirements for improved evaluation of this equipment. Chief among the team’s objectives were seamless integration of data collection, back-up, remote data transfer, analysis, and reporting. The intended result was to decrease labor hours and travel, minimize errors, increase turnaround, and reduce other miscellaneous costs associated with a large field acceptance.

Using its experience in enterprise solution development, CSS developed the eSAT application components: a mobile device-based structure for the electronic data entry side and an administrative toolset for accessing settings, configuration, and list management. For report management, CSS undertook a rigorous and security-intensive development procedure that culminated in the development of a web-based reporting system. In all, more than 70 USPS employees are currently utilizing eSAT in order to validate the performance of various systems in a “live mail” environment.

eSat Results:

• Immediate results available for engineering evaluation.
• Costs associated with manual processes were eliminated.
• Reduced employee workload with respect to data collection.
• Improved acceptance reporting.

Chicago Software Solutions has years of experience developing successful enterprise-level projects integrating sophisticated equipment and processes with handheld, mobile, and PDA solutions and integrating them into comprehensive web applications.

About Chicago Software Solutions
Chicago Software Solutions is an experienced custom software development and networking firm. For more information about Chicago Software, visit www.chicagoit.com or email info@chicagoIT.com.