OSM Worldwide went 'automation mode' to beat a hiring crunch at its USPS parcel hubs

In a July 18, 2023 Supply Chain Dive interview, OSM Worldwide president James Kelley said the parcel consolidator had 'significantly upgraded' its shipping capabilities into US Postal Service facilities. OSM, one of a handful of USPS-approved shipping and returns consolidators, recently bought sortation systems for its regional hubs in Dallas and York, Pennsylvania. 'The one in York, Pennsylvania, is running already, and that does about anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 packages an hour,' Kelley said.

In March 2023 OSM also announced a commercial partnership with Ambi Robotics, which is deploying its AI-powered AmbiSort A-Series system at OSM locations in Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas. The robotic sorter picks and sorts polybags, flats and boxes, and one operator can oversee three to four systems. 'We're in an automation mode this year,' Kelley said.

The push was a direct answer to the labor market. 'I think that everybody's fighting for the same person, so that's been more of a struggle than anything else for us,' Kelley said — automation keeps volume flowing where warehouse hiring falls short. OSM targets lightweight e-commerce parcels that ride the Postal Service's predetermined routes to destination delivery units, letting retailers use existing last-mile infrastructure faster and more economically.

Automation came paired with restraint on footprint. Kelley said competitors added dozens of warehouses during the pandemic demand surge, then were left with excess capacity as volumes shrank; OSM, with hubs in Chicago, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Dallas and York, stayed deliberately light so it could compete on cost. He floated Ohio and Salt Lake City as candidates for the next facility wave in 2024.

The York, PA sorter runs 20,000–30,000 packages an hour; Ambi's AmbiSort A-Series lets one operator oversee 3–4 robotic systems across Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas.

The investment targets the exact constraint — warehouse labor nobody can hire — instead of chasing volume with more square footage.

One operator overseeing 3–4 robots changes sortation's labor math, easing dependence on a market where every warehouse recruits the same workers.

OSM paired automation with footprint restraint, avoiding the excess capacity competitors were left carrying as parcel volumes shrank.

A consolidator's economics made automation pay differently: throughput through USPS destination delivery units is the product, so sorter speed is directly sellable capacity.

Automate the bottleneck labor can't fill, and stay light while rivals overbuild: OSM matched robots to its hiring crunch and kept five hubs where competitors carried excess warehouse capacity.

As of the July 2023 interview, the York system was live at 20,000–30,000 packages an hour, Dallas systems were purchased, and Ambi deployments were slated for Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas. Kelley said 2024 could bring new facilities in Ohio or Salt Lake City. The article gives no financial results.