FSM 1000 Flat Sorting Machine at the United States Postal Service

[worldpeaz]

That used to be done by humans when I worked for the post office in the 70's. I worked on the LSM machine (which drove me literally nutz) and then would go back to parcel post or sort by hand. These machines sure wiped out a lot of jobs.

[zeekzilch]

@worldpeaz

I remember the Letter Sorting Machines (LSM) as well. I was a mechanic and then an Electronics Technician on them until they were replaced by OCRs (Optical Character Readers). Prior to that the work room floor was a "sea" of people sorting mail by hand!

[diegoreds]

I love way the machines are Just SCRAPPED instead of sold to Countries to help pay 5 Billion for new machines & new buildings that hold them... The Higher ups of USPS at work???? RETIRE NOW instead of going on Assignment to get higher Retirement Benifits,,, Fof Shame...MOTTO "Intimidation is the key to Control of Temps."

[zeekzilch]

@diegoreds

I agree, the machines should be sold but maybe it's old technology that even the 3rd world doesn't want?

[coastercrazy999]

9:59 look at all those slides whey

[zeekzilch]

@coastercrazy999

I'm sad to report that most of these FSM 1000 machines will be taken out of service this year...

[warpedapple]

do you enjoy those cards some magazines have in them that fall out? do they jam up the sorter much?

[zeekzilch]

@warpedapple

I, personally, don't work on the FSM 1000 so don't have firsthand experience with the card issue. However, I suspect it is a problem because the machine is obviously designed for much larger pieces so the small cards can easily fall and slide into portions of the diverters, etc.

[channelhismojo]

That really seems slow. Shouldn't you push the mail up to the pickoff?

[zeekzilch]

@channelhismojo

Yes, you're correct - that is pretty slow. But, if you look closely at 0:29 you can see the clerk's hand pushing the feeder into position to make it faster...

[MarioBruceFox]

We had one of those at our facility in Fresno, CA. But that was replaced by the AFSM 100. Now we have an FSM 2000 that jams every 5 seconds and they're finally getting rid of it, that stupid frustrating machine. In a few weeks we will have nothing but AFSM 100s left. One of them is like a robot.

[zeekzilch]

@MarioBruceFox

I've heard people in other parts of the country with similar complaints. Hopefully we'll all end up with more reliable equipment!

[WettCigarette]

DPSing Flats would be really stupid for the average town city.....there arent enough flats to justify it!!! Sorry to say, but VOLUME is DOWN!!!!

[zeekzilch]

@WettCigarette

Sad to say but you're right - I doubt the volume will ever return, either...

[vboy131]

I've installed these 1000's starting 1997. Great machine before the auto induct was added. Ahhh the memories

[zeekzilch]

@vboy131

This particular machine still has the manual stations but they'll be removed sometime soon!

[pressmin]

Those are anchient. We have 1 one those and 3 AFSM 1000

[zeekzilch]

@pressmin

I think you meant to say you have three FSM 100s? The 100 is a much more advanced model than the 1000 shown here...

[csmpeoil]

that is a much quieter fsm than the one in peoria. in fact the whole place is quiet. you must be tour 2.

[zeekzilch]

I believe this video was taken during the first part of Tour 3. Either way, there's only one FSM at this facility so that's probably why it's so quiet compared to Peoria.

[csmpeoil]

Peoria has one FSM too, but combined with 8 DBCS machines running simultaneously I can understand why it's quieter at your location. BTW, how many feeders does your FSM have? I see one. Peoria has three. They'll never upgrade to a FSS due to space limitations.

[zeekzilch]

This particular machine has one "auto" feeder and 4 manual feeder stations that have been disabled. There are 5 DBCSs on the floor but none were running that early on Tour 3 when this video was recorded. Also, no room (or money!) for the big/new FSS!!!

[noria87]

I started out keying on the FSM 1000 in 1998, before they added the feeder, and then also worked on the AFSM 100. Thanks for this.

[zeekzilch]

Thanks for the nice note!

[csmpeoil]

yeah I should have been more specific by stating three auto feeders. apparently they were manual before transitioned to auto. They really need to test these things better before going live. I can't tell you how many times a night an ET is called to fix it . Someone told me Carol Stream does have a FSS. Probably the only one in the state.