Siemens has been awarded a contract with a total order volume of approximately €160 million from the United States Postal Service to replace and modernize its existing 550 letter sorting systems. The one currently being used is also a Siemens system and has been in service for almost 20 years. The contract includes the delivery of ancillary equipment, spare parts, training and complete integrated logistics support services. Production and installation is expected to be completed by spring 2011. The letter sorting system was initially deployed in the early 1990s. The automatic system will use the Siemens Advanced Colour Reader to detect and lift the address and other mail piece information for automatic reading. The new technology greatly increases the throughput of the machine and helps to maintain the systems more easily. Siemens has the greatest installed basis of letter sorting systems worldwide.