Abstract
The United States Postal Service (USPS) desires quality inspection systems for the stamp manufacturing process to cover printing, finishing, and packaging activities. More than 50 billion stamps are printed in the U.S. annually by gravure, offset, and/or intaglio methods. Errors in stamp production waste resources and affect the cost of a stamp product. Typically, the printing industry has relied on human inspection, but speeds are becoming too high and work too tedious to support 100% inspection. It is clear that automated inspection is needed, but an assessment of the resolution and data rates was required before concept designs could be developed. An intensive research program was undertaken for the USPS to evaluate the feasibility of 100% inspection of postal stamp products and the potential for in-process quality control. Printing, finishing, and packaging preparations were examined to determine inspection requirements, identifying opportunities for inspection and process control, and determining commercial vendor capabilities that meet these requirements. The individual manufacturing problem areas, and some possible solutions, are identified.
