Latvian postal operator Latvijas Pasts has installed its first fully automated item weighing, scanning, measuring and sorting equipment that will enable the operator to process twice as many items in half the time compared with its current labor resources.
To tackle the challenges of increasing customer demand for quick delivery and the limited availability of labor resources for item processing and sorting, Latvijas Pasts has implemented the company’s most ambitious modernization project in recent years, which will enable the operator to process 6,000 items per hour. With the help of artificial intelligence, the new equipment will ensure high-quality processing of items, faster circulation and more accurate billing data, providing detailed information on the size and weight of items.
Latvijas Pasts board chairman Mārcis Vilcāns commented, “Revolutionary change in the sphere of technology has substantially altered the global postal industry. Ten years ago, traditional postal items, such as letters, accounted for the largest share of our services, but with the rapid growth of e-commerce and shopping on various online trading platforms, the functionality of postal establishments and the range of services offered have also changed rapidly in recent years.
“Data exchange, processing and delivery speed, as well as diversity of item delivery locations, are basic demands of a contemporary consumer. In order to meet such demands, human resources alone are no longer enough – significant presence of artificial intelligence is required.”
According to the head of the company, the artificial intelligence incorporated into the new sorting equipment will facilitate continual learning – the more items the equipment sorts, the better it recognizes various labels and their placement on the items as well as the ways in which people tend to write down addresses.
One of the most significant benefits is that the new sorting equipment will substantially reduce the time and human resources required to fulfill a particular task. The new equipment will also help Latvijas Pasts to provide new additional services within the flow of transit items from China, and improve the quality of parcel locker network operation and delivery time.
The parcel processing and sorting line is Latvijas Pasts’ largest investment project in recent years. Its principal manufacturer is BlueCrest and the total investment in the equipment amounts to US$4.75m.
Latvijas Pasts will continue to implement targeted modernization projects including improving the parcel locker network, automating and modernizing customer care and service sales processes in post offices, as well as providing automated transportation solutions in the item processing and sorting center, connecting various item processing locations as efficiently as possible.
