USPS posted the following notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website:
The United States Postal Service is requesting information to pre-qualify parties interested in providing software engineering services for the Flats Sequencing System (FSS) for the Technology Acquisition Management (TAM) organization at United States Postal Service (USPS) Engineering.
The FSS is designed to sort flat mail into Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) for the letter carriers of one or more zones through a two-pass sequencing operation. The USPS has identified the need to be able to maintain, modify and enhance the software.
General requirements:
The USPS TAM organization seeks to secure a dedicated contract with an organization experienced in the type of engineering support required to maintain the FSS.
The USPS will retain title to all intellectual property developed under contract.
Sources sought for this effort are those suppliers who have a minimum of four-years experience in the following:
• Experience in FSS system/subsystem software
• Experience in software development languages, including C++, C, and C#
• Experience in Oracle and SQL database development
• Experience in Web Application development
• Experience in PLC development
The main purpose of this effort is to:
• Enhance FSS functionality, maintainability and usability
• Provide adaptive support
• Provide extended system field support
• Provide support in improving current FSS SRS, RTM, SDD and STD
• Provide training and documentation to enhance USPS maintenance capabilities and to support USPS personnel
• Provide knowledge transfer from Vendor to USPS
The ideal supplier will have resources with prior FSS software engineering experience.
source: Federal Business Opportunities
Northrop Grumman Corporation, the Postal Service’s second largest supplier was awarded a $874.6 million fixed-price contract in 2007 to provide 100 Flats Sequencing Systems (FSS) The contract called for installation of FSS production units at USPS facilities nationwide beginning in 2008 with the remaining FSS installations scheduled for completion by 2010.
Northrop Grumman announced on March 22, 2011:
Northrop Grumman Corp., one of Maryland’s largest employers, said Tuesday that 145 Elkridge-based employees will lose their jobs because the U.S. Postal Service contract they have been working on is ending. [ source: Baltimore Sun]
be careful rob the fix it man the usps is in the process of hiring software engineers for the new FSS you cant fix whats not their rob?
It’s good to be an E.T. I’ll fix the robots too 🙂
Rob likes unemployment. Say bye to the robots on the way out, Rob.
To everyone who is about to bash the fss:
Look around at how many mailhandlers and clerks are on the floor at your facility compared to 10 or more years ago. The ones that aren’t there anymore are the ones who said, “those LSM’s will never work!” followed by “those OCR’s wil never work” followed by “those BCS’s will never work” followed by “those DBCS’s will never work” etc. about any new piece of processing equipment. The FSS is new, it has bugs, but it will work. Mailhandlers and clerks are scared as hell, carriers too. As they should be. Everyone complains that the p.o. needs to remain viable, well this is how it will happen, if you don’t automate, you disintegrate. Period. Anyone who works for the p.o. that doesn’t have a skill set other than driving a forklift, loading a ledge, or stuffing boxes in a sack needs to wake up and improve their personal employability, rather that try to say this new machine (that already has over a billion dollars invested in it) will never work. IT WILL!
Today our flats were not all standing upright, some of them were at a 45 degree angle. This system sucks! Our supervisor even came out and told us to leave the property, as we tried to fix our flats before delivering them. They just want us to take this garbage to the customers like it is.
I have to park somewhere and fix the mess before I can deliver it! Come on Super lotto!
The FSS really gets me excited!