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Team Osan implements new mail tracking system

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Christopher A. Marasky
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  A little yellow slip in your mailbox means a package is awaiting pickup for members of Team Osan, but now there's something new about those little yellow slips.

Where once there were hand-written instructions on the location of the parcel for pickup, there is now a bar code and detailed postal information.

On July 1st, the Osan Post Office deployed the A2B tracking solution, making it the first to implement the automated tracking system in PACAF. The program will aid the post office in the distribution of packages by streamlining many of the manual processes.

Previously, as packages were received, they were placed on a shelf. From there it was annotated with important information, such as arrival time and the address of the recipient. The information was then transcribed onto the yellow slip, which was placed in the member's mail box, and the box set on another shelf to match the information on the slip.

With each clerk's different handwriting, and having to write hundreds of slips each night, the slips often became illegible. This often resulted in slips going to the wrong mail box, or increased time locating the package for pickup.

With the new system, as the packages come into the post office, they are tagged with a Julian date and a bar code. Clerks then scan the bar code on each package with a hand held computer scanner and type in the recipient's box number.

The name on the parcel is then verified against a computer database and stored on Trackpad, a computer database the post office uses. The bar code for the storage shelf that the package is located on is then scanned as well.

Once all the parcels have been scanned, the hand-held data is downloaded, and the parcel notification slip is automatically generated and printed out.

The new slips are the same size as the hand-written ones were, but are now printed with a standardized printout.

Members of Team Osan's postal office seem to be embracing the new system and the potential that it holds for the future as well.

"It is a program that is going to help us in the long run, by organizing our packages and decreasing the possibility of a misplaced package," said Senior Airman Bradley Williams of the 51st Communication Squadron postal flight and the Osan expert on A2B.