LOCKHEED MARTIN TO MODERNIZE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE’s SMALL-PACKAGE PROGRAM

LOCKHEED MARTIN TO MODERNIZE U.S. POSTAL SERVICEÆS SMALL-PACKAGE PROGRAM    The U.S. Postal Service has selected Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor for a $300-million program to modernize the Postal Service’s small package processing capabilities.
   Under terms of the contract, Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies will lead a team of subcontractors during the design, building, deployment and installation phases of the program, as well as providing support and training for personnel.
   As part of the new Automated Package Processing System, Lockheed Martin will build and deploy 74 Postal Service package processing systems nationwide, beginning in 2004.
   The new program will provide the U.S. Postal Service with an integrated, end-to-end system capable of automatically sorting high volumes of first-class packaged mail, more than 9,500 packages an hour with machine-printed or handwritten addresses.
   Tom Day, the U.S. Postal Service’s vice president of engineering, cited “Lockheed Martin’s proven credentials as a systems integrator on other programs we’ve worked together.”
   Lockheed Martin Distribution Technologies, based in Owego, N.Y., is a business unit of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration Owego, a business segment of Lockheed Martin Corp. in Bethesda, Md.