XN000022-1985-12-17 — Page 4

FUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1985

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PLANS FOR THE SORTING SYSTEM FOLLOW COMPLETION OF A STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF ELECTRONIC LETTER SORTING FOR THE HONG KONG POST OFFICE THAT HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT BY THE BRITISH POSTAL CONSULTANCY SERVICE -- BPCS -- IN 1984, AND COMPLETED EARLIER THIS YEAR, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, AT A COST OF $511 000.

AT PRESENT LETTERS ARE SORTED MANUALLY AND, DEPENDING ON THE IR DESTINATION, THEY MAY HAVE TO BE SORTED SEVERAL TIMES, A RESULT, THE PROPORTION OF STAFF COSTS IS GROWING IN RELATION TO OTHER FORMS OF EXPENDITURE, REFLECTING THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF STAFF EMPLOYED TO COPE WITH THE GROWTH IN POSTAL TRAFFIC.

IN 1984-85 STAFF COSTS REPRESENTED 51 PER CENT OF TOTAL EXPENDITURE AS COMPARED WITH 41 PER CENT IN 1979-80. OVER THE SAME PERIOD THE VOLUME OF LETTER TRAFFIC HANDLED INCREASED BY 42 PER CENT FROM 370 MILLION ITEMS TO 524 MILLION ITEMS, REQUIRING AN EXTRA 132 SORTERS AND SUPERVISORS.

FOR 1985-86, A TEN PER CENT INCREASE IN MAIL TRAFFIC IS ENVISAGED, AND ADDITIONAL STAFF WILL BE REQUIRED ANNUALLY TO PROCESS THE EXTRA TRAFFIC.

AS POSTED MAIL CONTINUES TO INCREASE, THIS PROBLEM COULD ONLY BE SOLVED BY THE INTRODUCTION OF A SYSTEM OF MECHANISED LETTER SORTING.

AS

THE PROPOSED NEW SYSTEM WOULD BE DESIGNED TO READ ADDRESSES TYPED OR MACHINE PRINTED IN ROMAN TYPE, WHICH ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 50 PER CENT OF THE TOTAL LETTER MAIL TRAFFIC, THUS AVOIDING THE NEED FOR A POSTCODE SYSTEM IN HONG KONG.

POSTCODE SYSTEMS ARE NOT FAVOURED AS THEY HAVE NOT BEEN SUFFICIENTLY WIDELY USED BY THE PUBLIC DESPITE PROMOTIONAL EFFORTS BY A NUMBER OF POSTAL ADMINISTRATIONS.

LETTERS REJECTED BY THE OCR EQUIPMENT BECAUSE OF UNREADABLE ADDRESSES -- SUCH AS THOSE THAT ARE HAND WRITTEN, OR WHEN ADDRESSES ARE NOT WRITTEN IN REGULAR FORMAT, OR ARE IN CHINESE CHARACTERS WILL BE DIVERTED TO VIDEO CODING DESKS.

OPERATORS WILL EXTRACT ALPHANUMERIC INFORMATION IN A STANDARD ISED FORMAT FROM THE ADDRESSES TO ENABLE THE VIDEO CODING MACHINES TO PRINT THE RELEVANT BINARY CODES ON THE ENVELOPES. THEREAFTER THE ITEMS WILL BE SORTED ON THE AUTOMATIC LETTER SORTING EQUIPMENT IN THE SAME MANNER AS THE CCR CODED MAIL.

THE BPCS HAS CONFIRMED THAT IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO CONVERT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE OCR SYSTEMS TO READ CHINESE PRINTED CHARACTERS, IF AND WHEN SUCH A FACILITY BECOMES COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. THIS WOULD ENTAIL ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE AND THE TENDER SPECIFICATION WOULD INCLUDE PROVISION FOR SPARE CAPACITY TO HOUSE THE NECESSARY SOFTWARE.

JAS SIMILAH