Transcript Introduction to the International Post Corporation

Mail Service Performance
An International Perspective
Ross Hinds
Director Operations & technology
© IPC, 2007
‹#›
Outline
• How it was!
• Why measure
• How to measure
– Counting
– Sampling
• Technology for postal measurement
• International sampling systems
• European Union postal law changes
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Letter Performance 1909
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16 March 1909 12.30pm
17 March 1909 6.00pm
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1909 from Ireland to Belgium
• Ordinary rate postcard
• Arrived in one day
• Handled by postal service in Ireland, Britain,
Belgium
• Exception reporting the norm – all mail expected
to be cleared at the time of arrival and it was
• Excellent service!
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Why measure?
•
•
•
•
•
Can only manage what is measured
For customer to know end-to-end time
For regulator to know if requirements met
For Post to know segment by segment
For Posts internationally to assess how much to
pay each other
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How to measure performance
• Count actual items meeting specified objectives
• Each item must have a unique identifier
(text, barcode, RF-ID,…)
• Passage of item through mail pipeline is recorded
event by event
• Events are collected in central system
• Reporting systems
– On-time delivery
– On-time return of delivery information
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Identifying a mail item
UPU Standard Barcode
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Mail pipeline instrumentation
Posting
Sorting
Centre
Office of
Exchange
Carrier
Office of
Exchange
Postal Item
Technology
Registered letter
Parcel, Express…
Barcode scan
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Sorting
Centre
Delivery
Office Addressee
9
IPC measures for identified items
• Over 130 postal services performance for EMS
(Courier) service worldwide
• Similar measures for Parcels, registered and
insured letters
• Objective is to ensure target level performance is
achieved
• Payments between Posts based on performance
in IPC reports
• Data flow is continuous 24 hours X 7 days
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Where no identifier exists
Statistical sampling techniques
• Sample the mail pipeline using the date stamp
– Simple, cheap and doubtful
• Post test mail and record posting & receipt date,
giving end-to-end
– Effective if posting & receipt by independent people
– Not useful for postal operations diagnosis
• Post test mail with RF-ID tags
– Segment by segment analysis for operations
• Sampling issues
• What characteristics of mail to measure?
• Is the sample representative & what precision?
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Mail pipeline instrumentation
Posting
Sorting
Centre
Office of
Exchange
Carrier
Office of
Exchange
Postal Item
Technology
Registered letter
Parcel, Express…
Barcode scan
Test letter
RF-ID reader
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Sorting
Centre
Delivery
Office Addressee
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Postal RF-ID Network
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RF-ID IPC/Lyngsoe postal tag
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RF-ID IPC/Lyngsoe postal tag
now generation 6 after 10 years
Battery
Low Frequency
Radio Aerial
Tag electronics
with UHF aerial
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RF-ID measurement point
1
2
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The Exciter continuously
generates a magnetic field
at 125 kHz
Activated, when a Postal
Tag enters the field.
The tag transmits its code
and battery status and the
embedded reader ID.
3
The Reader receives the
signal and adds reader ID
and time stamp to the tag
data.
4
The Reader transfers the
collected data to the Site
Server.
RF-ID Reading Points
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RF-ID Reading Points
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RF-ID Reading Points
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RF-ID Reading Points
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RF-ID Reading Points
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RF-ID Reading Points
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Postal RF-ID experiences
• Over 10 years in use for measurement
– Automates data collection with no change to postal
operations, & readings invisible to staff
• A niche use of RF-ID
– 500,000 tags total to date
• Components have been continuously enhanced :
Generation
RF-ID tag
6
Reader
6
Local server 3
• Patents owned by Posts through IPC
– Lyngsoe of Denmark & Canada develop and
manufacture as IPC partner
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Letter Service Performance
Measurement
• UNEX Country System
– Complex specification varying urban/rural, payment
method, induction method, envelope size and
weight, machine and handwritten addresses
• City system
– Simple specification of key cities, stamped, street or
post office posting box, up to 50 gm letter with
machine written address
• UPU Terminal Dues Target system
– Inbound only measure with City specification
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UNEX System
IPC Members
Other Posts participating in a UNEX System
New: Bosnia-HZ (part), Bulgaria, Croatia, FYROM, Turkey 2008
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Experiences in sampling
•
•
•
•
Tendency to over-complicate the measures
Accuracy needs postal operations scrutiny
Panellists not always careful in data entry
Future directions
– RF-ID reader in recipient letter box (trial 4Q07)
– GPS/RF-ID reader at posting box (trial planned)
• Precision to be approached with care – one driver
of cost
• Measurement perturbation
– Test mail the major flow on small volume routes?
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European Union
• Key facts
– 27 member states
– 490m people (US 301m)
– Land area 4.3m sq km (US 9.8 sq km)
• Legislation
– European Commission makes proposals
– Council of Ministers and Parliament discuss and
amend proposals but can not initiate them
– Directives implemented by national legislation
– Proposed 3rd Postal Directive at Parliament now
– Aim is free postal market but with a Universal
Service Obligation for some postal operators
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EU Postal directives 1997 & 2002
• Universal service obligation
– 5 days per week minimum
– Letters to 2kg, packets to 10kg minimum (20kg max)
– Reserved to Universal Service Provided below 50gm or
2.5 times first weight step of fastest service
– Uniform tariff optional to each member state
• Service objectives
– Cross-border objectives for fastest standard service
• Speed
• Reliability
J+3
J+5
85%
97%
94% actual 2006
99% actual 2006
– Publish results every year
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Domestic service objectives
• Variety of domestic service objectives
– Most changed from content-based pricing
– Priority (J+1) & non-priority service (J+2,3..)
– Weight or shape based pricing too
• Services differ
– Italy introduced Prioritaria service forJ+1 & later moved
single piece mail to Non-Massivo new service
– Ireland to one service for single piece mail
– Portugal has Priority (Azul) service J+1 and non-priority
J+3
• Different rules: non-priority only at post office and not
in street letter boxes
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UNEX-18 Official Europe 2006-1994
100
%
98.0
Reliability EU Objective
J+5 97%
Speed EU Objective
J+3 85% 80
99.4
99.0
95.0
96.2
99.6
98.0
92.4
Cumulative Performance
84.3
81.5
69.1
60
43.5
40
20
1994
2006 UNEX-18
16.6
7.7
J+n Performance
0
J+1
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J+2
J+3
J+4
J+5
J+6
J+7
Measurement Standards of CEN
(EU ANSI)
EN13850
EN14508
EN14534
EN14012
EN14137
EN15511
Single piece priority mail transit time
Single piece non-priority transit time
Bulk mail end-to-end transit time
Complaints
Loss of registered mail
Information on postal services
EN13850 is mandatory for domestic & cross-border
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Current status in Europe
• EN 13850 (Priority) used in all EU & EEA
• EN14508 (Non-priority) use increasing
• J+1 the basic objective for priority (First Class)
mail, with J+2….J+6 objective too in many cases
• CEN aims to simplify measures to reduce cost
• Trend to have Universal Service Provider manage
the measures
• International objectives included in some national
regulatory requirements
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Some effects of liberalisation
• Multiple postal operators in each country
– UK, Germany, Netherlands
• Unitary price not obligatory
– Pricing by delivery address characteristic
– Geographical pricing
• Market to determine the delivery standards
– If not satisfied use a different supplier
• Universal Service still required by law
• Measurement aimed at postal services for the
consumer
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Mail pipeline instrumentation
Posting
Sorting
Centre
Office of
Exchange
Carrier
Office of
Exchange
Sorting
Centre
Postal Item
Technology
Registered letter
Parcel, Express…
Barcode scan
Test letter
RF-ID reader
Normal letter
High speed barcode scan
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Delivery
Office Addressee
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Letter 2-D barcodes
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Mail pipeline instrumentation
Posting
Sorting
Centre
Office of
Exchange
Carrier
Office of
Exchange
Sorting
Centre
Postal Item
Technology
Registered letter
Parcel, Express…
Barcode scan
Test letter
RF-ID reader
Normal letter
High speed barcode scan
Test letter
Acceleration History
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Delivery
Office Addressee
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Acceleration History
Flight 8.30-12.30 Sat 20/2
Aircraft movement
Bulk
Sorting
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Averages – a note
• Large mailers concerned about their own mail not
average
• For tracked products individuals also concerned
only about their own mail
• For small mailers without tracking need average
numbers
• Averages are only that
– May not reflect anyone’s experience
– Useful for trends
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© IPC, 2007
Summary
• Many different approaches to measurement
• Counts are better than sampling in principle but
– As a by-product of operations
• IPC has over 10 years experience of many of the
issues and is happy to make it available
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