OWEGO, NY, 13-DEC-01 -- The U.S. Postal Service awarded Lockheed Martin a contract modification to continue improving recognition systems that read addresses on machine printed and handwritten envelopes. The contract value will be determined by performance improvements delivered as continuous software upgrades are made through 2004. The contract, called the Letter Recognition Improvement Program (LRIP), is for modifications and upgrades to the U.S. Postal Service's Remote Computer Reader (RCR) system deployed by Distribution Technologies, a Lockheed Martin business unit based in Owego, N.Y. Distribution Technologies has been the prime contractor on this system since December 1994.

LRIP supports the U.S. Postal Service's goal to increase read rates for letter mail to greater than 90 percent on machine printed mail and more than 80 percent on handwritten mail by 2004, achieving significant annual savings. Current read rates are 87 percent for machine print addresses and 75 percent for handwritten addresses. Lockheed Martin will be compensated based on the magnitude of the actual improvement it is able to achieve overall in increasing the read rate and decreasing the error rate.

LRIP's goal is to reduce the number of envelopes that require manual processing by upgrading the RCR and other letter mail recognition system components, said Nancy Miller, director of Recognition Systems for Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies. Unlike previous upgrade programs, LRIP targets the entire U.S. Postal Service letter mail stream. Our goal is to provide advance technology solutions at a reasonable cost that further automate the daily mail sorting process, Miller added.

In addition to developing recognition software, Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies is responsible for installing software upgrades and training U.S. Postal Service engineering technicians and supervisors. While an initial software upgrade has been delivered for a U.S. Postal Service field test, with deployment targeted prior to the 2001 holiday mailing season, the majority of the LRIP upgrades will be implemented between 2002 and 2004.