Chapter 4 Our Operations
The data also support CONFIRM, MHTS, and other programs. In April, the Board approved funding for the IDS-National Directory Support System replacement program. This new technology will enhance reliability and increase capacity. Deployment is expected to begin in January 2009 and be completed in July 2009.
Material Handling
The Integrated Dispatch and Receipt (IDR) equipment combines the acquisition of machines for dispatching and receiving operations with integrated tray transport systems to reduce work hours associated with these activities. Deployment of site-specific IDR systems to 211 mail processing plants was completed in August 2007. Over 70 requests for additional IDR equipment have been received and are in development or being deployed. The first contracts have been issued to build 20 additional Automatic Tray Unsleevers (ATUs), and for trayline integration to support these deployments. Preparation is also underway for additional purchases of other IDR equipment, including Enhanced Airline Assignment systems and Automatic Tray Sleevers. This equipment will continue to be available to the field through the existing Field Material Handling process as part of a broad range of material handling and tray system solutions.
Deployment continues for standard tray sorters as well as a new generation of high-speed tray sorters that automate letter tray sortation at large plants and transportation hubs. Deployment is also underway for Tray Depalletizer and Singulator systems, which automate the handling of palletized trays, loading them into existing tray sorters to increase efficiency.
The Powered Industrial Vehicle Management System (PIVMS) enables safe and efficient management of powered industrial vehicles, such as forklifts and tugs. Significant workhours, equipment, and maintenance costs have been reduced since deployments began three years ago. Contracts have been awarded for a total of 110 sites, with nearly 100 systems in use. Specific emphasis has been placed on realizing workhour savings through active use of the system. A PIV analysis tool will be deployed in 2009 to improve equipment motion and load performance by comparing historical movement and resource utilization data. Development is also nearing completion for “ePIVMS”, which will enable national roll-up reporting and performance comparisons.
Biohazard Detection Equipment
The Postal Service uses a fully contained, automated Biohazard Detection System (BDS) to protect against potential contamination.
Initial deployment of BDS equipment was completed in November 2005. BDS Dual-collection (BDS-DC) system conversions began in August 2007 and were completed in August 2008. This conversion allows one BDS cabinet to connect to two Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) machines, reducing consumable expenses up to 43 percent without sacrificing efficiency or effectiveness.
Standardization and Process Control
Standardization continues to play a major role in improving efficiency and service in all operations and support activities. Process control and lean management efforts have been expanded to target improvement opportunities, document best practices, and replicate success throughout the organization. Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools, such as value stream mapping, are being used to standardize and simplify processes, remove costs, and eliminate variability. Any activities not clearly adding value are undergoing close scrutiny. One representative example from 2008 was elimination of the process to manually weigh mail in processing. Teams demonstrated that this time-consuming step could be eliminated by relying on automated processing equipment to measure mail volume. As a result of this change, a $65 million operating expense was eliminated.
New field operations industrial engineers are playing a key role in expanding standardized processes. Over 180 continuous improvement projects have been identified nationwide — in mail acceptance, processing, and transportation. Hundreds of employees have completed the continuous improvement/LSS training, with additional classes planned for 2009.
Staffing Optimization
Several tools are now in use to establish staffing standards for retail operations and provide consistent quality and customer service at Post Offices. Computerized modeling programs such as the Customer Service Staffing Model and Customer Service Variance tool, have helped reduce the use of overtime this year by 28.2 percent and reduce the use of sick leave, by 3.4 percent. Managers are continuing to improve their use of transaction data to better align staffing with changing workload.
A number of staffing optimization systems are now in use to help managers better adjust to workload fluctuations in plants. They include the Mail Processing Variance, Mail Processing Staffing Opportunity Model, and Mail Processing Employee Scheduler. Use of the tools helped raise processing productivity by 7.2 percent. Processing workhours decreased 7.2 percent, while overtime hours decreased by 32.3 percent. The volume of delivery point sequence (DPS) letter mail increased 5.5 percent, to reach 86.9 percent of all letters. All of these improvements were achieved during a period of declining mail volume.
Staffing optimization models are also proving to be effective in delivery operations. Use of the City Delivery Pivoting Opportunity Model helped bring about a 4.1 percent increase in deliveries per hour. Overtime use in city delivery operations was reduced by 25.4 percent.