Parcel - April 2008 - (Page 24)

TIME TO TRACK Learning from the USPS about this varied function By Anthony Meadow ou might have missed the news because it has trickled in over several years, but the USPS has purchased hundreds of thousands of hand-held scanners. It is now one of the largest users of mobile computers in the entire world. These scanners are the most visible piece of the large scale tracking systems used by the USPS. What is the USPS doing with their gigantic internal tracking systems and all those hundreds of thousands of mobile computers, and are there any lessons that we can learn for our own, much smaller operations? Operational Functions of Tracking Systems First, the operational function of a tracking system is to track information about shipments to customers, including time stamps, location and proof of a chain of custody to customers. These functions also serve internal purposes as well, such as improving operations, security and customer support. Tracking systems enable automated collection of data by the use of barcodes and RFID without requiring additional labor to gather this information. The USPS is competing with (and in some cases partnering with) the national overnight carriers. The USPS has, on the one hand, been forced by this competition to offer express delivery services to compete with FedEx, UPS and DHL. On the other hand, the USPS has been reevaluating the services that it offers in this age of the Internet, declining use of First-Class mail and increased interest in tracking. They are developing new value-added services built upon the USPS’s unique role. One example is the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) program that offers the capability of tracking individual mailpieces. The tracking of express shipments, registered and certiﬁed mail as well as IMB mailpieces is managed through the USPS’s internal tracking systems. These tracking systems soak up vast quantities of data generated internally by mail sorters and externally by mail carriers who use those hundreds of thousands of mobile computers. 24 Spring 2008 The information about where our shipments and mailpieces are is a small but important set of information generated by the USPS internal tracking systems. Conﬁrmation of deliveries and signatures lets us know if and when our mail has been delivered without having to communicate directly with the recipient. Your own operations can beneﬁt from the use of a tracking system in the same kinds of ways that the USPS has. Your customers can check on the status of their shipments (inbound or outbound) if you’re using a tracking system. Analytic Functions of Tracking Systems The analytic functions of a tracking system are all about improving operations. As the saying goes, “You can’t improve it if you don’t measure it.” Most of the tracking information generated by the USPS is not visible to us on the outside. However, the USPS operational staff analyzes the massive amounts of data with the goal of reducing inefﬁciencies and improving internal performance. Clearly the USPS has improved its performance considerably compared with 10 years ago or even ﬁve years ago. It also has ambitious plans for continuing to improve its performance as well as increasing its investments in technology that enable these improvements. Analysis of tracking data provides a view into the internal processes for handling shipments of mail and parcels. Examples include measurement of actual service levels, identiﬁcation of process bottlenecks and monitoring of stafﬁng versus workload. The USPS beneﬁts directly from process improvements derived from the analysis of tracking data. And customers beneﬁt indirectly from these process improvements. Similarly, your organization can beneﬁt from the analytic capabilities of a tracking system as well. Whether you have outsourced or not, tracking systems give you insight into how well your operation is doing. Look for an article in a future issue of PARCEL about lessons from the USPS on metrics and how you can apply them to your own operations. Anthony Meadow is the President and co-founder of Bear River. He can be reached at tmeadow@bearriver.com. ■ www.PARCELindustry.com Y http://www.PARCELindustry.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Parcel - April 2008

PARCEL - April 2008 Contents Editor's Note Moving Forward Recycling for Safety’s Sake Want Some Good News? Negotiations Have No Finish Line... Lowering your Parcel Shipping Costs Meeting Industry Challenges New Pricing, New Opportunities Time to Track It’s Scan-tastic! 10 Recycling Facts The New USPS Law Changes New Law, New Opportunities for Package Shippers A Diamond in the Rough Seven Shipping Trends for 2010 ...and Beyond The Move Update Changes A Simple Shipping Solution A Case Study in Efficiency New Products and Services Industry News Advertiser Index

Parcel - April 2008

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