Success in International Competition Helps Boost Overseas Sales and
Increases Presence of Toshiba's Automatic Mail-Processing System in EU Market

Tokyo -- Toshiba Corporation today announced that its German subsidiary, Toshiba Europe GmbH has won a major contract to provide La Poste, the French postal service, with an advanced mail-processing system that will promote increased efficiency and reliability in mail delivery.

Under the terms of the contract, Toshiba Europe will deliver a minimum of 40 units of culler-facer-cancellers model TSC-1000 series, each integrating a high performance optical character reader (OCR) and able to process more than 30,000 pieces of mail an hour. The contract has a term of three years, and if La Poste exercises its option to purchase up to a total of 100 units, it will have an approximate value of 66 million euro.

A culler-facer-canceller first culls out (segregates) mail items that cannot be machine-processed as letter-class items, such as flats, newspapers and packets. The machine then scans both sides of a mail piece to recognize both postage stamps and addresses. It then cancels the postage stamp and sorts the mail pieces to category and/or destination according to the recognized information, in accordance with the sorting plan presently in use.

Toshiba's ability to develop and integrate the latest advances in LSIs, computer hardware and control software into advanced automated systems allows Toshiba to develop and deliver fast, reliable and accurate mail-processing systems that have won the support of postal authorities in Japan and beyond. In Europe, a key market for mail-processing systems, where cost-efficient operations are a primary concern, Toshiba has established itself as a technology and market leader. In July 2003, the company won a major order from the Swedish postal service that it is now in the middle of fulfilling.

Commenting on the importance of securing the major contract from La Poste, Mr. Mamoru Suzuki, President of Toshiba Europe GmbH, said, "By working closely with postal service agencies in Europe and around the world, Toshiba has pushed forward R&D in automated mail-processing systems for over 35 years. We will make sure that La Poste and its customers in France benefit from our latest systems by helping to assure that the mail reaches its destination smoothly, quickly, and with lower operating costs. "

La Poste issued an international call for tenders in September 2002, and after extensive evaluation of proposals awarded the supply contract to Toshiba Europe. Toshiba will start to deliver TSC-1000 systems to appointed destinations in France in May 2005.

Features of the Toshiba TSC-1000 Mail-Processing System