The United States Postal Service awarded Siemens Dematic a $240 million contract for the Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) in 2006 to optimize its letter forwarding process. The order also included the national deployment of a new change-of-address forms processing system.
In 2010, USPS awarded Siemens Industry Inc. of Arlington, Texas, a contract valued at $79,986,000 for Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) software and computer hardware enhancements.
Recently, USPS awarded SIEMENS POSTAL PARCEL AND AIRPORT LOGISTICS LLC a contract to update the Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS). According to USPS it has a “requirement for continuation of the Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) to provide additional performance improvements to the system and address end of life issues with the software operating system which runs the application.” PARS Phase 5 is for software performance improvements. The contract is worth $34,779,250.00. Siemens up until last year was one of USPS’s top ten suppliers. But last year Siemens’s fell from #5 to #32 in rankings.
Also, 21st Century Software Inc. was awarded a non-competitive contract modification for hardware engineering support services through September 30, 2015. The value of this award is $2,330,874.00. 21st Century Software Inc. is the incumbent supplier for research and development activities and support primarily related to flats sorting machines. Most of the contract value is for engineering labor support services for development of system enhancements to the Flats Sequencing System (FSS) and to the Automated Flat Sorting Machine (AFSM100); however, there are some limited opportunities for hardware subcontracts for the prototype kits that 21st Century develops.
Intralox LLC- $2,351,119.00 – High Speed Universal Sorter
The Washington Post reported that USPS awarded Northrop Grumman a contract valued at $30 million. However, Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract with 5 other companies which totals $30 million.
As a side note, some readers were surprised USPS is still awarding Northrop Grumman contracts after they filed a lawsuit in 2012.
Northrop Grumman claims in the lawsuit that USPS owes it about $180 million. The Postal Service claims the company owes it $341 million. The lawsuit is still ongoing with exchanging documents and getting ready for witness depositions. After the lawsuit was filed in 2012, USPS awarded Northrop Grumman a 3-year,$30 million contract to operate its central repair facility in Topeka, Kan. Northrop Grumman has operated the facility continuously since 1978. Northrop Grumman is ranked seventh in the annual list of USPS top suppliers for FY 2013.
Worse than distributing credit cards to employees ! Fact is credit cards are better as money would be spent widely and not in some crooks pocket ! ! What a crock ! ! !
PARS has been a fairly effective program, but it falls short because management does not train new carriers how to handle mail that needs to be forwarded or returned for various reasons. In fact, I was told by a CCA during the academy they would not receive any training whatsoever on proper mail handling and they could “look it up” on the internet if they wanted to.
In my day, back in the mid 1980’s, carriers who screwed up mark up and forwardable mail could be disciplined and management actually took time to teach us how to handle every piece the right way. This is no exaggeration – I have had to explain the throwback case and forwarding process to more than one manager. There is no emphasis or interest in getting the right mail to the right box. Despite commercials that tell the viewer they are the number one priority, that is the biggest load of horseshit I’ve heard yet.
Managers and by extension, newer carriers who have no interest in handling mail properly are geared to throw it all out on the street, do it fast as possible, skip lunch and breaks, and the hell with the misdelivered mail. Management considers those who complain to be jerks who are making their (management’s) jobs difficult.
What can you do as a customer to avoid your mail being mishandled? First, if you are a direct mailer, catch up on your address lists. I see mail coming in all the time especially from insurance companies and credit card outfits whose data bases are ten years old or worse, and virtually none of that mail will reach its intended target if handled by someone like myself who knows what to do with it. Catch up your lists and pay more attention to whom you’re pitching your ads to. Car lots love to send out some of the worst handling mail out there, with stupid keys attached or some other gimmick, to neighborhoods where the majority of residents couldn’t afford a new vehicle if they wanted one. You’re just wasting trees and money. That’s just one example. Know your target.
The customer should always turn in a change of address when moving, even if it’s to another apartment in the same building, another trailer in the same mobile home park, or from one side to the other in a duplex. We don’t forward your mail without a change of address, period. I have so many people move around I can’t keep up with them. We don’t have a magic list of current residents at the PO. It’s your responsibility to tell us when you move. Don’t let the PO screw your mail up any more than it already does.
And how about some movement on new vehicles? I do not expect to see a new LLV before I retire in a little over two years, but our image with those beat up trucks is terrible. Not to mention they’re death traps.
fss sucks!
I thought we were broke ?
Oh, that’s right; when mgmt. kickbacks, bribes, and payoffs are involved, we’re not.