Accu-Sort® Systems has installed an AV40002.0 camera-based sortation system at the Finland Post Parcel Sorting Center in Helsinki. The new system eliminates manual handling by handing off camera-captured images to an optical character recognition (OCR) imaging system that reads parcel address labels.

Multi-side camera tunnels over an FKI tilt tray system capture parcel dimensions, bar code data, and high-quality images for an OCR and video coding system supplied by Prime Vision. This is the first high-speed parcel sortation application able to send full-resolution images including embedded tracking data across a standard Ethernet network.

Prior to this system, the Finland Post used a manual process in which every label was read and manually keyed into the system. This process was slow and introduced numerous opportunities for error.

Unlike other systems that require the installation of a costly fiber optic network, the AV4000 is capable of pre-processing the images so they can be sent via a facility’s existing Ethernet network. The installed solution – including tunnels with volume and bar-code reading cameras and integrated OCR – costs significantly less than comparable solutions, making it attractive for smaller postal, parcel, and retail sorting operations.

“The installation helped Finland Post increase throughput and accuracy while it decreased costs,” said Maik Fuchs, product manager at Accu-Sort Systems. “Because packages never leave the system, the installation has eliminated almost all manual package handling.”

In addition to the AV4000 camera tunnel system, Finland Post also installed a mobile image capture solution to read labels on roller cages, pallets, and non-conveyable items coming into the facility. Unlike any other hand-held readers, the Accu-Sort AccuVision® HandsFree™ CCD camera provides an image good enough to be read by an OCR system. At Finland Post, the camera reliably reads carbon copy labels which include handwriting. Another unique advantage is a reading field large enough to capture an A5 label (8.3” x 5.8”). Because the camera has an exceptionally deep depth of field, operators do not need to position the camera precisely, enabling faster processing.

Technicians installed the camera on a movable overhead arm so operators can move the camera in a five meter radius. This increased productivity and safety: operators can move out of the way of forklifts and continue working.

"In what we believe to be a world first, we have extended all the benefits of OCR and video coding to packages that are manually processed on the shop floor in addition to those on the automated sorters,” said Fuchs.