Postal Service to Buy Sorters From Burroughs

Burroughs Corp. will receive up to $29 million to build as many as 44 letter-sorting machines under a sole-source contract, the U.S. Postal Service announced recently.

The contract was not put out for competitive bids because Burroughs will be able to start delivering the machines a year faster than if the bid process was used, the Postal Service said.

Twenty machines will be purchased immediately and the other 24 will be built if required by mail volume.

Burroughs, based in Detroit, built the other 886 multiposition sorters used by the Postal Service and won those contracts by submitting the best bid.

The exact price per machine for has not yet been negotiated.

Growth in letter-mail volume has brought the urgent need for the machines, the Postal Service said.

The agency handles 140 billion pieces of mail a year, most of it mail that can be machine-sorted. There is a 6% annual growth in the number of letters being handled.