From Santa’s workshop to the parcel sorter for small delivery units.

The massive device, capable of pumping out about 3,300 packages per hour, takes up a significant amount of floor space at the Naperville Mail Facility.

“Do you see the wires coming down?” USPS communications specialist Tim Norman asked Thursday, pointing to the machine during a media tour.

“It scans the labels and then (packages) go down the conveyor belt and drop into (bins) for the route that corresponds to that address.”

The technical support is critical as the U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver more than 10 billion letters, Christmas cards and packages this holiday season.

“It’s getting busier and busier,” Norman said, pointing to a real-time tracker showing more than 2.38 billion items already accepted as of Thursday afternoon.

Demand “goes up 60% after Thanksgiving,” Naperville postmaster Choyia Ben said as she checked off a list of deliveries. “Toys, Christmas trees, furniture, Christmas cards – and children writing to Santa Claus.”

The high-tech sorter is one of 506 deployed nationwide in busy locations like Naperville, with about 100 routes.

It is a strategic investment in local postal facilities that will allow employees to process packages more quickly and efficiently, officials said. Across the country, the USPS can use the new machines to deliver around 60 million packages every day.

Thousands of packages waited in downtown Naperville, some lovingly wrapped and hand-addressed, before being posted from North Dakota, Washington DC, Florida and elsewhere.

That emotional connection can make a trip to the mailbox in December a pleasant experience despite Thursday’s frigid temperatures, said longtime shipper Joseph Michaelsen.

“When you come to people’s houses while they’re waiting for a gift, it’s always a feel-good situation,” he said.

With over three decades of experience, freight forwarder Tom Bishop has seen many interesting packages.

“Generally we ship coconuts from Hawaii later in the spring,” he said. There were also “training weights, tires and rims for cars, bumpers.” I gave birth to live chicks. I delivered bees.”

And: “We occasionally receive cremated remains of family members and pets, so the package must be treated with respect.”

He also brought children who had fallen off bikes to their homes, picked up seniors who had slipped on icy driveways and pulled a dog handler out of a snowbank.

“They’re part of the neighborhood, part of the community fabric,” Bishop explained.

The Postal Service is also busy this month shipping letters to the North Pole and conducting the Operation Santa program. Through December 16, anyone can “adopt” a letter and help fulfill children’s and families’ wish lists. For more information, visit uspsoperationsanta.com.