MTAC Workgroup 102 Update Advance Notification, Streamlined Acceptance

1
MTAC Workgroup 102 Update Advance Notification,
Streamlined Acceptance Visibility for
First-Class Mail

• November 2007

2
Issue Statement and Desired Results

• Issue Statement - Define capabilities of advance
  notification, streamlined acceptance and
  visibility for First-Class Mail
• Develop an approach for First-Class Mail
  notification and visibility.
• Develop an approach for First-Class Mail mailers
  to provide mailing information electronically
  using standardized platforms such as mail.dat,
  web services or postage statement wizard
• Develop an approach to communicate this advance
  notification downstream through postal supply
  chain
• Develop an approach to leverage barcodes to
  identify assets and mailpieces to streamline
  acceptance and for additional visibility
• Develop an approach to provide visibility at
  asset level, such as tray scans from air
  carriers, in conjunction with the piece level
  information that is available through Confirm
  today

3
Electronic Mailing Information

• Modified Mail.dat to accommodate First-Class Mail
• Pilot participants using Mail.dat, PDR and ADIS
  to submit mailing information
• Postage Statement Wizard accommodates First-Class
  Mail
• Workgroup under MTAC 117 to complete
  implementation of Web Services with vendor
  participation

4
Advance Notification

• Develop an approach for First-Class Mail
  notification and visibility.
• Support measurement of start-the-clock and
  service performance.
• With mailer advance notification, USPS can
  improve operations and service performance for
  First-Class Mail
• Transportation Optimization
• Better route planning for Air Lift and Surface
  Transportation
• Processing
• Better forecast of mail volumes and machine
  utilization
• Staffing
• Enable USPS to forecast resource staffing based
  on expected mail volume

5
Advance Notification Overview

• USPS can give better service performance
  measurement to First-Class mailers provided that
  the following can be supplied by mailers
• Advance notification of First-Class mail
• Mailer plant loads (USPS Pick-up and Contracted
  routes)
• USPS drops (BMEU verification and Seamless)
• Will help USPS planning for Operational
  activities and the necessary resources to process
  mail
• Forecasting information
• Pilot data indicated that SPLY (Same Period Last
  Year) data was within 3 when used to forecast
• Some customers are able to provide SPLY while
  others are able to forecast
• Will allow USPS to gather and analyze data for
  transportation optimization of air and ground
  transportation if data is known

6
Advance Notification

• Although USPS understands that complete data may
  not be available until induction, high level
  induction information is beneficial. USPS would
  require
• Induction Facility
• Induction Date
• Estimated induction time
• Estimated volume
• Type of MTE used in preparation
• Currently, advance notification of First-Class
  Mail volume is unknown to the USPS.
• Advance notification will help the USPS begin to
  build a profile of incoming First-Class Mail to
  understand mail volumes by facility, seasonality,
  etc.
• Advance notification is necessary for USPS to
  measure Service Performance Measurement

7
Advance Notification Progress

• March/April 2007
• Began analysis of mailing trends based off of
  mail.dat information submitted to Seamless
  Acceptance and user reports
• May 2007 July 2007
• Conducted FAST for First-Class Pilot
• Mailers were able to supply forecast and JIT
  information to USPS
• August 2007 October 2007
• Completed Requirements and Design for FAST for
  First-Class

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Advance Notification Next Steps

• Implement solution in FAST to capture advance
  notification and provide visibility back to the
  mailers
• Integration of FAST with the Seamless Acceptance
  and Service Performance initiatives
• Integration of FAST with USPS Transportation and
  Planning Systems
• Integration with PostalOne! payment and
  verification systems
• Implementation of FAST for First-Class will
  provide mailers the
• Ability to submit advance notification of loads
  to USPS
• Visibility into induction data
• Ability to track Advance Notification against
  actual
• FAST for First-Class will be in place in Summer
  of 2008

9
Barcodes Visibility

• Additional Barcode visibility elements defined
• Container Barcodes, Tray Barcodes
• Retrieved Container Scan and Tray scan Data in
  Pilot
• Container/Pallet Scan Data from Surface
  Visibility
• Tray Scan Data from PostalOne! Transportation
  Management
• Air Transport Tray Data from SASS
• Finalizing Recommendations for Scan Data formats

10

• Sunset prior to Next MTAC