4. Quality
Consistent with the FY 2000 decision to phase out a separate Quality function, the Headquarters Quality department was officially eliminated at the end of 2001 with the creation of the new Performance and Field Operations Support group.

Performance and Field Operations Support assumes permanent responsibility for most activities formerly performed by the Breakthrough Productivity Initiative; continued development and implementation of the Standardization effort begun by the Quality Core Applications group; and the support functions of the process review, deployment, requirements, and short-term planning activities previously performed by the Operations Process Support group.

Three primary Quality initiatives from 2001 will be carried forward for further development and final implementation in FY 2002 by the Field Operation Support functions. Specifically, these are the Automated Flat Sorting Machine (AFSM 100) standardization, the standardized "shape-based separation" of priority mails, and the project management of the "Bold Actions" project tracking system. Other new standardization efforts planned for FY 2002 include customer service operations, improved mail condition reporting and indicators, and continued enhancements to the operations performance achievement and assessment systems.