Advanced postal organizations have implemented delivery sequencing to reduce labour costs and improve the efficiency of their delivery workforce. The availability of sequencing hardware and the quality of multi-line address recognition has made delivery sequencing a lot more affordable than it was 20 years ago. This webinar will discuss how postal organisations in emerging economies can evaluate the cost and benefits of delivery sequencing, and how they can determine which sequencing strategy to use.

1. Evaluating and Implementing
Delivery Point Sequencing
April 18, 2013

2. Webinar outline
What is automated delivery point sequencing?
How is it achieved?
Evaluating automated delivery point sequencing –
Does it make sense for my operation?
Implementing delivery point sequencing
Steps towards implementation
Equipment selection
Infrastructure implications
Distribution
Training
Performance
Next Steps
2

3. Automated Delivery Point
Sequencing
Technological advance that will
Reduce operating costs
Improve service / induce ad mail / simplify carrier tasks / reduce errors
Other benefits: address management, new by-products
Significant operational and network impacts
Choice of hardware strategy
Network and operations implications
Implementation challenges
Serious evaluation is necessary
Initial assessment
Business case
Detailed evaluation
3

4. What is “Automated Delivery
Point Sequencing”?

5. What is automated delivery point
sequencing?
Delivery point sequencing (DPS) is
an automated process to sort mail in
the walk sequence of a letter carrier
on his/her route.
Using multiple passes, mail is sorted
to bins (stackers) in carrier route
delivery sequence.
Mail is lifted from the bins in a way
that preserves sequencing
Carriers receive the mail in trays that
are ready to ‘hit the street’
5

6. Benefits of delivery sequencing
6
Sort center
Secondary sort
by route
Casing
Additional
delivery sort
BEFOREAFTER
Casing
In Office
Street
Delivery
Street
Delivery
CasingIn
Office
$avings
Post Office
Additional processing step

7. BIN 1 BIN 2 BIN 3 BIN 4
Example: The sequencing process
in 2 sorting passes
7
Carrier 3 Carrier 2 Carrier 2 Carrier 2
Carrier 2 Carrier 3 Carrier 1 Carrier 3
Carrier 2Carrier 1Carrier 1 Carrier 1
Stop 4
Carrier 1
Stop 4
Carrier 2
Stop 4
Carrier 3
Stop 3
Carrier 1
Stop 3
Carrier 2
Stop 3
Carrier 3
Stop 2
Carrier 1
Stop 2
Carrier 2
Stop 2
Carrier 3
Stop 1
Carrier 1
Stop 1
Carrier 2
Stop 1
Carrier 3
Carrier Stop 1 Carrier Stop 2 Carrier Stop 3 Carrier Stop 4
BIN 1 BIN 2 BIN 3 BIN 4

8. Day D
Item
posted
Coordinating pass 1 and pass 2
8
Day d
Origin
Post
Office
Day D
Item
posted
Day D
Item
posted
Item
posted
on day d
Day D
Outgoing
sort
Transport to
destination center
day d
Day D
Transport to
destination center
Day D+1
Delivery point
sequencing
Day D+1
Deliver
Day D/D+1
Await all
incoming mail
Origin
Post
Office Origin Sort Center
Origin Sort Center
Destination
Sort Center
Destination
Post Office

9. Delivery point sequencing: critical
times influence the quantity of
sequencing machines
9
Run DPS
Pass 2
Run DPS Pass 1
Hold mail for
DPS Pass 1
Hold mail
for DPS
Pass 1

10. Bin capacity influences the number
of sequencing machines
10
10 20 30 40 100 200 300
1,3 1,3 1,3
13 26 39 52 130 260 390
130 520 1 170 2 080 13 000 52 000 117 000
1,3 1,3 1,3 1,3
Number
of Bins
Density N bins N Passes
N bins

11. Determining the number of mail
sequencing machines
11

12. Machine deployment strategies
12

13. Evaluating Delivery
Point Sequencing

14. Automated delivery point sequencing
components
Address database and updates
Route walk sequence database and updates
Updated routes
Distribution
Hardware (Machines, trays) and software (Sort plans)
Implementation – strategy and project management
DPS performance measurement: machines & people
Training (sequencing & delivery)
14

15. Issues affecting the success of a
delivery point sequencing program
Machinable versus Non Machinable Mail
How much of the mail cannot be processed on automated equipment
Addressing System and Address Database
Address database; address hygiene
Level of Automation
Number of sorting equipment required; % utilization
Mail mix
Levels of presort; needs to merge flows
Labor Costs and Labor Flexibility
Cost of casing - Ability to adjust routes
15

16. Addressing System and address
database
The national addressing system
is deficient or simply lacking
The address database does
not reconcile the address
due to address inaccuracy or
improper format
The address is incomplete or
incorrect (undeliverable as
addressed)
16

17. Level of automation
Total cost of equipment and
related operational requirements
Machine deployment strategy
Centralized
Distributed
Hybrid
Service standards/operating windows
Mail density/bin capacity
17

18. Non-machinable mail
Mail not sequenced
because its physical
and dimensional characteristics
cause it to get rejected from the
sorting equipment
Mail rejected by mail
sorting equipment
because of unreadable
addresses
18

19. Mail mix
In-office work
is necessary to case mail,
including:
Residual letters that could
not be sequenced by mail
sorting equipment
Flat mail (oversized envelopes)
Saturation mail (unaddressed
mail)
In-office labor hours affect total
time on the street and, thus, the
justification of the sequencing
program
19

20. Several machines versus
one machine
Machine
One for each sorting step
• Standard: IRV, FSM,
CSS
• Flat: FSS
• overlapping time
windows
• flexibility
• space for machines
• long Idle times
• many piles
One for all sorting steps
• Standard: 2LS
• Flat: FSS
• machine utilization
• space for machines
• short Idle times
• many piles
One for all sorting steps
and formats
• Flatsorter
• machine utilization
• one pile
• throughput rate
• transport of different
formats inside one
tray

21. Machine deployment strategies:
pros and cons
21
Fewer sequencing
equipment
required
Narrow processing
window for
overnight mail
Higher utilization of
sequencing
equipment
Large demands for
real estate (240
bins or more)
Equipment can be
used for other
types of sort
Reject mail
handled twice, at
plant and at post
office
Maintenance is
centralized
Less expensive
machine
More machines
required
Versatility means it
can be used for
other types of sort
Slower operation –
usually 3-pass sort
Longer operating
window
Maintenance must
be provided at
local level

22. Sequencing: pros and cons
22
Office time savings: time in the office manually
sequencing a route is ultimately eliminated, but not necessarily entirely
Mail processing costs: New
costs are incurred by
acquiring mail sequencing
equipment:
• The second pass of a
sequencing plan is a cost
• There is a cost associated
with underutilized machines
if, for instance, operating
windows are too tight thus
requiring more equipment
Improved efficiency: In principle, sequencing
standardizes the process of street delivery which should
lead to improved carrier’s efficiency.
• For instance, sequencing introduces a program of standardization of trays and
of the elimination of sacks
and other inefficient forms of containerization
Improved accuracy: the automated sequencing is
generally more accurate than the manual casing
Reduced equipment: by reducing the number of routes, vehicles,
carrier cases, and other equipment needed
for each eliminated route are also eliminated
Address database: This is both an asset and a liability. The address database can help improve
sequencing effectiveness and introduce new services (such as the redirection of mail), but there is
also a cost to maintain a complex database.

23. Implementing delivery point
sequencing
23

24. Steps towards implementation
24
Assessment & Evaluation
Strategy selection
Equipment selection
System architecture and databases
Implementation plan
Infrastructure and distribution implications
Training development and delivery
Performance management
Next Steps

25. Next Steps
25
Assessment
Business Case
Detailed Study

26. Initial Assessment
26
How much of an impact would a reduction in delivery
labor costs make?
What does the addressing system look like?
What is your current level of automation?
What do mail volume and mail mix look like, today and
tomorrow?
How much of the mail is machinable?

27. Business Case
27
A rough, conservative comparison of costs and benefits over time.
Rough estimates of
Net labor savings
Other benefits
Hardware and system costs
Training costs
Implementation & management costs
Evaluation of risks
Estimate of the return on investment

28. Detailed Study
28
Sequencing strategy
Distribution impacts and changes
Hardware technical requirements and capacity
Infrastructure and system changes
Address management
Training
Detailed program plan
Various subsystems required
Video encoding
Vehicle impacts
Material handling & containerization

29. 29
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decision/analysis partners LLC
www.decisionanalysis.net
Tel: 703 691 0380
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Email:
Pierre Kacha: pkacha@decisionanalysis.net
Bernard Markowicz: bmarkowicz@decisionanalysis.net