System and method of sorting and sequencing items

A method for sorting items comprising:

• generating, in a processor, a sorting scheme comprising a first pass and a second pass;
• receiving, in an intake system of item processing equipment, a plurality of items to be sequenced, the intake system comprising a scanner;
• reading, by the scanner, an intended delivery point located on each of the plurality of items;
• sorting, in the first pass in a sorting portion of the item processing equipment, each of the plurality of items into one of a plurality of containers based on the read intended delivery point for each of the plurality of items and based on the sorting scheme;
• moving, by a container manipulator, the plurality of containers from the item processing equipment into a storage area located apart from the item processing equipment;
• storing, in a memory, the location of the containers within the storage area;
• and
• identifying, in the processor, one of the plurality of containers containing items to process in the second pass according to the generated sorting scheme;
• querying, by the processor, the memory to determine the stored location within the storage area of the identified one of the plurality of containers;
• retrieving, by the container manipulator, the identified one of the plurality of containers from the determined stored location within the storage area;
• reintroducing the one of the plurality of containers into the intake system;
• and
• sorting, in the second pass, the items from the plurality of containers, according to the sorting scheme.