Mail Service Performance An International Perspective Ross Hinds

Mail Service Performance An International Perspective Ross Hinds Director Operations & technology © IPC, 2007 0

Outline • How it was! • Why measure • How to measure – Counting – Sampling • Technology for postal measurement • International sampling systems • European Union postal law changes © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 2

Letter Performance 1909 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 3

16 March 1909 12. 30 pm 17 March 1909 6. 00 pm © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 4 4

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! © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 5

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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 6

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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 7

Identifying a mail item UPU Standard Barcode © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 8

Mail pipeline instrumentation Posting Sorting Centre Office of Exchange Carrier Office of Exchange Postal Item Delivery Office Addressee Technology Registered letter Parcel, Express… Sorting Centre Barcode scan © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 10

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? © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 11

Mail pipeline instrumentation Posting Sorting Centre Office of Exchange Carrier Office of Exchange Postal Item Barcode scan Test letter Delivery Office Addressee Technology Registered letter Parcel, Express… Sorting Centre RF-ID reader © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 12

Postal RF-ID Network © IPC, 2007

RF-ID IPC/Lyngsoe postal tag © IPC, 2007

RF-ID IPC/Lyngsoe postal tag now generation 6 after 10 years Battery Tag electronics with UHF aerial © IPC, 2007

RF-ID measurement point The Exciter continuously generates a magnetic field at 125 k. Hz Activated, when a Postal Tag enters the field. The tag transmits code and battery status and the embedded reader ID. The Reader receives the signal and adds reader ID and time stamp to the tag data. The Reader transfers the collected data to the Site Server. © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

RF-ID Reading Points © IPC, 2007

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 © IPC, 2007

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 © IPC, 2007 24

UNEX System IPC Members Other Posts participating in a UNEX System New: Bosnia-HZ (part), Bulgaria, Croatia, FYROM, Turkey 2008 © IPC, 2007

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 4 Q 07) – 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? © IPC, 2007

European Union • Key facts – 27 member states – 490 m people (US 301 m) – Land area 4. 3 m 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 3 rd Postal Directive at Parliament now – Aim is free postal market but with a Universal Service Obligation for some postal operators © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 27

EU Postal directives 1997 & 2002 • Universal service obligation – 5 days per week minimum – Letters to 2 kg, packets to 10 kg minimum (20 kg max) – Reserved to Universal Service Provided below 50 gm 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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 28

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 for. J+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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 29

UNEX-18 Official Europe 2006 -1994 % Reliability EU Objective J+5 97% Speed EU Objective J+3 85% Cumulative Performance J+n Performance © IPC, 2007

Measurement Standards of CEN (EU ANSI) EN 13850 EN 14508 EN 14534 EN 14012 EN 14137 EN 15511 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 EN 13850 is mandatory for domestic & cross-border © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 31

Current status in Europe • EN 13850 (Priority) used in all EU & EEA • EN 14508 (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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 32

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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 33

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 Delivery Office Addressee High speed barcode scan © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 34

Letter 2 -D barcodes © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 35

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 Delivery Office Addressee Acceleration History © IPC, 2007 IATA World Cargo Symposium March 2007 36

Acceleration History Flight 8. 30 -12. 30 Sat 20/2 Aircraft movement Bulk Sorting © IPC, 2007

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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 39

© 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 © IPC, 2007 MTAG 11 July 2007 41