Joint Statement : Era of Growth Update September 2012

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Letter to Branches




No: 688 /12
Ref: 111.01
Date: 7th September 2012


All Postal Branches with Parcelforce Members
All Regional Organisers
All Parcelforce Representatives



Dear Colleague

Joint Statement – Era of Growth Update September 2012

Attached for the information of Branches is an agreed Table of Success Joint Statement that has been reached with the business regarding the above subject.

Please would branches and representatives ensure that our members are made aware of this communication as soon as possible.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Terry Pullinger, Assistant Secretary, email dwyatt@cwu.org or lwright@cwu.org quoting reference 111.01.

Yours sincerely



Terry Pullinger
Assistant Secretary


Table of Success
Joint Statement – Expansion Update September 2012

Background

The recent pay award discussions were heavily focused on preparation for the exciting journey of the Expansion and Advance programmes which will significantly grow our business.

Our last Table of Success meeting in April had started the discussions on the likely requirements of the programme and opportunities for continued joint working. That meeting and the content of the pay agreement confirm our joint commitment to the successful delivery of the programme with a mutual interest approach. The talks were complex and at points difficult, however we are pleased to be able to demonstrate our ability to maintain this approach.

Against that backdrop we have now held a further Table of Success meeting to fully explore both the current and longer terms requirements of the programme. Much of the content from this will also help with progress on the commitment given within the pay agreement to conclude a longer term deal prior to April 2013.

The meeting had various representatives from the business presenting on their progress to date and detailed planning needs. Paul Jobling, the new PFW Business Transformation Director, shared the overall transformation strategy that is driving both the Expansion and Advance programmes.

The PFW Expansion Strategy – Paul Jobling, Business Transformation Director

The parcels market is growing at a significant rate due to an explosion in the number of people buying goods via the internet. The performance of PFW, in terms of its very high quality of service and right first time delivery, has placed the business in a fantastic position to take advantage of this growth in the market place.

The business transformation programme is designed to create a bigger business capable of winning and handling a much larger number of highly profitable parcels. PFW will be at the leading edge of the Royal Mail Group strategy and therefore the importance of this transformation is very significant for the organisation as a whole.

The opportunity that presents itself is a direct result of the efforts of our frontline people, managers and our progressive partnership with the CWU. The same people and relationships will be responsible for navigating our way to success in a fast and effective way to take advantage of the market opportunity whilst it lasts.

Together we have an opportunity to make history for the right reasons by driving profitable growth in PFW, providing improved services to our customers and increasing the size of our business significantly, whilst creating new jobs and opening new facilities.


North West Processing Centre
– Clive Francis, Head of Strategic Programmes

An update was given on the new North West Processing Centre (NWPC) development at Chorley.

Since the April meeting good progress has been made with planning consent being granted, tendering and contract award taking place for both the building construction and materials handling equipment, and earth moving works have actually started on site.

With these key areas underway the focus is now on the detailed operational process and activity design, ensuring we build good practice into the NWPC by learning from colleagues across the current operation.

Key features of the proposed materials handling system were described highlighting the benefits they will bring to customers and our people in terms of health and safety, tracking and scanning, lower energy usage and reduced parcel damage.

Depot plans

Plans were shared on the impact that expansion will have on depots. Volumes have been steadily growing in recent years (32%) and the forecast growth is seen as an extension of this trend (potentially a further 35% from 2012/13). The current mix of B2B/B2C traffic will mean that Autumn Pressure will continue to be a busy period in years to come.

The approach to increase capacity in depots will come at a cost. New larger depots cost more to lease and have higher running costs. PFW want to avoid having large depots sitting half empty, so the business plan allows investment only when capacity is required.

Overall our depots are in the right place so we will be replacing some of the existing depots and adding some new ones in strategic locations. Moving postcodes between depots will be required and talks have commenced with the CWU on an agreed way of dealing with this as we will not be replacing all depots and those that remain will run out of capacity. Given the expected volume increases at Autumn Pressure, short term satellites will still be used as a short term solution to capacity issues during these peak periods.

Joint involvement at a local level is an important part of any planning process and this will continue throughout the expansion programme. Progress has already been made with investment in a new depot in Liverpool. This is due to go live in January 2013.

Advance Operations

The Advance Programme will replace the POISE and HALCON systems in PFW because the existing systems are outdated and no longer fully supported. Advance is a modular system that combines existing off the shelf packages with our specific needs. Expansion of the business means that we need to be able to introduce multiple processing centres to handle greater annual volumes, and the Advance system will be able to do this.

The system will introduce operational efficiency by facilitating pro-active forward planning using the data held in the system. It will improve data integrity as all the data will be held in a single database and will be used for everything from pre-advice through to invoicing. For most of our frontline functions the changeover will be seamless as Advance interfaces with our existing handheld devices and scanners.

Customers will benefit from improved tracking systems and a simplified invoice. Pricing of customer parcels will be directly related to scan events, e.g. triggering events like over size parcels and damaged parcels.

Next Steps

In line with our established Table of Success approach it was agreed that there were 3 key strands of activity. Joint Working Groups and Terms of Reference will be established for;

1. NWPC – including involvement on H&S requirements for the new site, benchmarking current working practices in Coventry and the structural operational design of the new site
2. Depots – including the design of an agreed approach for new or replacement depots using local involvement
3. Advance Operations – in preparation for the detailed planning work required for full implementation

Landmark Occasion for PFW and the CWU

Gary Simpson, MD for PFW, summarised, “We are on an exciting journey of growth and transformation that will provide many opportunities and challenges for Parcelforce Worldwide over the coming years. Together, we are all working extremely hard to ensure that PFW can deliver these critical operations and IT programmes successfully and we look forward to communicating positive news as we progress. Parcels growth is at the heart of future RMG strategy and we are well placed to take advantage of more buoyant trading conditions in the express parcels market.”

Terry Pullinger, CWU Assistant Secretary said ‘This activity marks an historic moment for Parcelforce Worldwide and represents the reward for the tremendous effort made over the past 12 years of everyone in Parcelforce. It is hugely exciting and the opportunity to make Parcelforce the outstanding major player in the market and provide, maintain and increase quality jobs people can raise families on is incredibly motivating, I am very proud to be a part of this’.

Summary

Both parties fully recognise the amount of work still to be done on these crucial programmes and are fully committed to providing the time and focus that is needed. Each strand working group will present back on progress via the Table of Success to the National Steering Group.

[hans solo]

wtf is with all this joint statement pish
grow a pair cwu

[POSTMAN]

So,there is an exciting journey,the other dude is really excited,shame it took like forever for them to agree a pay deal.