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Prime Vision was founded from a Netherlands National Postal and Telecommunications Corporation (PTT) research department. Our research efforts date from the dawn of the computer age when we were tasked to seek ways to automatically read handwritten money transaction forms. Prime Vision was one of the first companies in the world with a solution capable of reading handwritten characters.

The High Yield Character Reader (HYCR™) was invented in 1961. This product has been continuously improved over the years and a modern version of HYCR is at the heart of our leading edge Optical Character Recognition (OCR) engine today. Our OCR engine was developed and optimised to read handwritten script. Many companies that are active in the OCR market have products with algorithms suitable for machine printed text; Prime Vision started with developing algorithms for reading hand print instead of machine print, a much more challenging task. This explains why the Prime Vision engine is not only a high performing engine, but also performing differently. Making the engine perfectly suited for a so-called secondary engine: an engine that can read the rejects of other OCR engines on the market.

The first complete address reader for the Dutch Postal Service is developed. It is used as a secondary address reader engine, utilised after the well performing Siemens address reader. Almost 50% of those mail items that couldn’t be read by the first engine are recognised by the new Prime Vision address reader. Over the following 15 years the engine is continuously improved and extended. Additional features are added such as reading foreign mail, International Business Reply Service, postal cards, recognisers many special labels, customer bar codes, and many more.

The project “CODAL” for ING Bank is a break through. Prime Vision is the first organisation in the world that succeeds in developing a recognition engine reading documents with a higher quality level than two people keying-in the same data field. Previously, money transactions had to be handled manually by two independent data entry keyers; costly in both time and money. In summary, Prime Vision’s solution offers a fully automated and computerised system, higher accuracy, and faster processing time, all at a fraction of the cost of the manual system. Still today there are very few financial institutions who can process their bank documents without human interaction. Prime Vision sets the standard for high quality recognition.

The PTT organisation splits into two independent companies: KPN (the telecom operator) and the TNT Post Group (TPG, the postal operator). The former PTT Research organisation (including Prime Vision) becomes part of KPN Research. Prime Vision conducts contract research for KPN and companies who have a partnership with KPN, such as TPG.

KPN Research management change their strategy and appoints Eddy Thans to transfer the pattern recognition department into an independent commercial company: Prime Vision. Two years of preparation starts and Prime Vision extends their product portfolio. This leads to a launch on the traffic market, improvements of the word recogniser and enhancing the functionality of the OCR engine to make it suitable for reading multiple languages.

Prime Vision is acquired by TNO, and established as an independent commercial company. Finally Prime Vision is free to market its unique recognition software on the world market. Prime Vision wins the contract from the Dutch government to supply OCR software for the Section Speed Control system. Within the following two years several of these systems are successfully implemented on the highway network. Additional investments lead to the development of an OCR engine for the U.S. market and the 24x7 support desk is founded.

TNT acquires 60% of the shares of Prime Vision and addition investments lead to the development of the new product for reading addresses on parcels: Parcel Vision. The launch customer is TNT for automating their process of registered parcels. In the summer of 2004, Post Danmark, always forward-thinking, contracts Prime Vision to automate their latest parcel sorting centre, located outside Copenhagen at Brøndby. This project is a huge success: first of all the system is operational within 12 weeks after contract signature and secondly it outperforms the system at Post Danmark’s other sorting centre located in Taulov.

Within three years from entering the market as a commercial organisation, Prime Vision is truly a global player. Today Prime Vision has implemented solutions from Asia Pacific to Australia, the Middle East and North America. Our technology has undergone an equally impressive development path and now supports non-Latin character sets such as Chinese, Tamil and Hebrew. Prime Vision has become the market leader in medium size OCR postal projects. This is just the start. The journey continues…

Prime Vision opens it's doors to clients in North America. New office established in Princeton, New Jersey.

Prime Vision is selected to provide a complete turnkey identification solution for the new British Forces Post Office in London, UK. One of the most challenging OCR specifications we have encountered in the world so far; Prime Vision shows it's strengths with in-house developed high-performance handwriting and machine-print recognition. The main integrator partner and sortation systems provider, FKI Logistex, supplied a complete new crossbelt sorting system for the greenfield site located at RAF Northolt in West London. In addition to the core OCR solution, Prime Vision supplied a complete array of ParcelVision modules creating a complete identification platform including OCR, Video Coding, Process Control & Monitoring, Dimensioning Systems, Camera Systems, Installation, Project Management and Support.

Prime Vision and AddressVision Inc. win a landmark project from Australia Post. The project comprises enhanced OCR for all letter sorting centres nationwide.