Multiline optical-character reader

MLOCRs work by capturing images of the front of letter-sized mailpieces, and extracting the entire address from each piece.

It looks up the postal code within each address in a master database, prints a barcode representing this information on the mailpiece, and performs an initial sort.

A Delivery Bar Code Sorter is repeatedly used at each point in the USPS system to read the barcode and sort the mailpiece to a tray corresponding to the next leg of its journey towards its final destination.

The United States Postal Service is the largest user of these machines[citation needed]; however, large volume mailers and mail consolidators also have their own MLOCR systems to barcode outgoing mail, in order to receive significant postage discounts.

An option called FASTforward[1] can be added to an MLOCR that allows it to automatically forward mail to a new address.