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| Operations |
Logistics operations is a generic name for what in practice is
a number of business units.
To give a flavor here is description of some of the units.
Inbound/outbound sorting.
Done in mail units and offices of exchange or in national sorting
centers.
For outbound sorting it is grouping of items collected into consignments
with destination of inbound sorting centers. For the inbound it
is re-grouping of in bound consignments into delivery plans or
to further inbound sorting centers.
Trunk transport Transport of consignments created in inbound/outbound
facilities to other inbound/outbound. Alternatively consignments
may be transported from to warehouses. Mail preparation Set of
activities to turn an item coming from production into a item
ready to be shipped and delivered to client the following is a
list of activities that may take place. Quotation from a supplier
of services “Once orders hit the warehouse floor they are picked,
packed and shipped on a daily basis. Mixed pick & pack, Mass Mailings
or product lay downs are all handled in the same expedient manner.
The weight of every shipment is pre-calculated in advance by
our system and verified on our production line during the shipping
process. Shipping charges can be calculated by a variety of methods.”
Whatever is the exact mission a number of operations
are performed by all
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Capture data
For example in the offices of exchange the operator must scan,
incoming receptacles and items, prepare outgoing receptacles,
items, and despatches. Enter and maintain information on routes
and schedules.
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Bar codes
Operating units for example offices of exchange must tag receptacles
and items they prepare using barcode technology.
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Generate Documents
Even in this age of electronic links, physical mail is still
accompanied by paper documents. WorkTrace generates an extensive
set of standard postal documents for international mail (CN31,CN33,CN38,
CP86, CP87, CN16).
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Echange
information and shipments with others
At the Office of Exchange a number of electronic messages are exchanged with trading partners. The messages inform about dispatches on their way or dispatches received at destination. For instance dispatch tracking messages (PRESDES v1 or V2) are exchanged with postal operators and pre-advise destination Exchange Offices about mail on the way to them. RESDES informs the originating Office of Exchange about arrival of mail receptacles at destination Exchange Offices. Item tracking messages can also be generated (EMSEVT) at the Exchange office. Other messages can be needed for links to large customers. At mail units, consignment level messages (PRECON, RESCON, CARDIT and RESDIT) are relevant. Operators such as FedEx and UPS also import and export information to their trading partners.
WorkTrace can generate these messages for you, all automatically and can also generate or import data from private operators such as FedEx. The information exchange is triggered by operational events all behind the scenes. On dispatch close the PREDES message is sent as a background process.
Arrival of mail receptacles is entered by operations staff into the WorkTrace system by scanning . WorkTrace processes this information, creating RESDES messages and sending them to authorized Posts.
Postal operators around the world send messages to destination Exchange offices. WorkTrace receives these messages from international value added networks such as GXS and makes the information available to operations staff in attractive user-friendly reports. These are described below.
Much of the information exchanged electronically is needed by other business processes such as accounting. WorkTrace allows operational data to be shared with other business functions through flexible routing tools. Business processes can be streamlined becoming more economic, efficient and effective.
Plan and
control operations
Through WorkTrace, operations managers can see what mail is on the way to them through daily reports presented in attractive schema. Through only a Web-browser, a manager can see when and how many trucks will be needed to collect mail at the airport. WorkTrace aids mail handling planning with reports showing volumes by weight, by mail type or by transport. Details on registered or insured mail can be filtered out. All this functionality is designed to assist operations managers in their daily work, wherever they may be.
Each day an Exchange Office sends mail dispatches to destinations around the world. WorkTrace shows quality results the very same day and in the level of detail you need. Feedback on the success of the mail transportation to destination is viewed through maps showing where the target was met and where failures occurred. A click on a destination will reveal the details for the day. Similarly for inbound mail. The quality can be viewed in the same way. Once you have set-up your targets, WorkTrace does the interpretation showing where things are going wrong rather than relying on after-the-fact detective work. With such rapid feedback and clear reporting, managers can chase-up operational failures and make improvement actions.
WorkTrace reports can be used for any level ( items, aggregates such as receptacles, consignments or dispatches, or transport units such as trucks); for all mail products (letters, ems, parcels, special bilateral or group mail products).
Quality reporting can be used on a global right down to national/local level with country or city maps.
Queries about what happened to a mail item or receptacle arise in
operations regularly. Security is ever more important in postal operations
and this capability is a must. WorkTrace provides track and trace
on whatever level (receptacle such as mail bag or tray, to individual
mail items. If on an aggregate level, a click will reveal greater
detail.
In keeping
with the WorkTrace philosophy, alerting is applied to postal operations.
WorkTrace can tell you about exceptional consitions without you
having to search for them. What are these exceptional conditions?
Well that is for you to decide. If you want to know about mail
not being scanned by a certain hour, WorkTrace can send an alert
message to an e-mail, sms to a mobile and inform you. Similarly
if planned inbound volumes are exceeding capacity an alert can
be sent to the appropriate person. WorkTrace message-based and
events-driven architecture is ideal for this usage.Business
WorkTrace aid business dialogue in operations. An example is that the normal carrier for a destination is not available. Alernatives are needed. With WorkTrace multiple suppliers can be asked to quote for services and the optimum offer selected. This is done through simple web-based forms. Supplier address books can be established, giving the preferred means of communication with each ( mobile, e-mail etc.). Contingency management becomes less difficult and the outcome is better for your business
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