D2D Automation/Collation Trial

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Letter to Branches

No. 040/16
Ref: 230.03
Date:25th January 2016





To: Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleagues

D2D Automation/Collation Trial

Branches and Representatives will be aware that the Outdoor Department has been actively engaged in talks with Royal Mail concerning Door to Door and the future strategy for the product.

As part of those discussions Royal Mail have reopened the subject of D2D being Automated/Collated. As a consequence the discussions have been broadened to include the Indoor dept and the inclusion of an automation/collation trial out of Swindon WBC.

Whilst the original trial did not prove to be successful the concept of automation/collation of D2D has remained an aspiration as far as Royal Mail are concerned. This has become particularly viable again due to an increase in Door to Door across some postcode sectors which once again provides them with an opportunity to trial and examine alternative methods of preparation for Door to Door. Branches and Representatives should also not lose sight of the fact that this concept fits in with their strategy of a single wave and outdoor merging.

The difference this time to the previous trial is that they have purchased the automation/collation machine and they want to extend the delivery aspect of the trial further afield to include Walsall DO who are involved in trials regarding Optimised Mail Preparation.

Following discussions we have agreed for a trial to take place and have concluded a Terms of Reference (see attached) which ensures that all operational processes are covered between the Swindon WBC, where the machine is being located and the associated Delivery Offices listed at Appendix A of the TOR

We have also agreed that all information gathered will be shared with the CWU to enable a joint assessment of the operational impact these trial arrangements have had on WBC operations, Network operations and Delivery operations.

Throughout the trial there will be joint visits to both the Swindon WBC and Delivery Offices to see firsthand the impact and following the trial discussions at national level will take place between the CWU and Royal Mail to review the success or failure of the trial and to determine and agree the next steps.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 230.03
Email address: outdoorsecretary@cwu.org

Any enquiries to Davie Robertson’s Department, quoting reference 214.14
Email address: shayman@cwu.org or dwyatt@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Bob Gibson Davie Robertson
CWU Assistant Secretary CWU Assistant Secretary

[TrueBlueTerrier]

ROYAL MAIL & CWU NATIONAL TERMS OF REFERENCE
DOOR TO DOOR AUTOMATION TRIAL

Introduction

Royal Mail and Communication Workers Union share a joint commitment to grow volume in the unaddressed market to offset volume decline in the traditional addressed market. Royal Mails key product in the unaddressed market is Door to Door (D2D).

Further to automation/collation of Door to Door trials in 2013, Royal Mail has now purchased a machine for the collation of Door to Door which will be based at Swindon Walk Bundling Centre. The rationale for purchasing the machine is to assist with future costing/pricing in order to gain growth through new products/contracts.

Trial Walk Bundling Location and Associated Delivery Offices

The ESPER DM-230v Collation Machine will be installed at Swindon WBC during January 2016, which will enable the relevant users to be trained, test operational methods and build learning before any operational processes are introduced.

Following the above, and once all aspects of training have been completed, Door to Door items will then be collated for the Delivery Offices contained within Annex A with an anticipated go live date of February 2016. The delivery offices will be phased in during the trial

The Overall Process

Contracts arriving in Swindon Walk Bundling Centre will be identified as being for the trial area and labelled accordingly for storage
The workplan for the machine will be determined by the despatch time for each sector, the distribution of the contracts (which can be over multiple sectors), the arrival profile of sectors, and the time required to process each sector
Contracts will be moved to the machine on pallets and the operators will load the machines and remove the collated sets
The sets will be gathered in trays and labelled for each delivery walk.
Items will be placed in labelled York’s as they are today.
Door to Door items will be presented to the delivery prep frames collated into sets.
Timescales for the arrival and delivery of the items remains unchanged i.e. there will be no change to the current D2D workplan and all items will continue to be available for delivery on Monday. There will be no change to the existing delivery practise in any delivery unit during the trial.
The process will provide information to enable answers to the points to be examined for the trial. These are included in Annex B.

Walk Bundling Centre - Automation/Collation Methods

The trial will test different methods of collation using a small Duplo machine. Initially the following two methods will be trialled:

1. Collate all items for a walk with no wrapper - the largest item would act as a divider
2. Collate items using one of the contracts as a wrapper, then remove this prior to delivery

Any additional methods will require agreement at national level and through the Joint Working Group prior to any introduction into the trial.

Walk Bundling Centre Trial Requirements

As well as SAC1 and PUWER assessments, the CWU locally/nationally will be involved in the creation of Risk Assessments and Safe Systems of Work. Ergonomic Studies will be conducted prior to and after installation. The CWU will also be involved in the creation of operator training once demonstrations and familiarisation have taken place with Duplo Int. Work Place Coaches and all affected staff will be trained in all aspects of machine operation and in the wider changes to the WBC working arrangements. Training will continue to take place throughout the trial supported by Work Place Coaches, local CWU IR and H&S Representatives and managers.

The above systems and procedures will be reviewed and updated as necessary during the trial and be classified as fit for purpose once they have been jointly evaluated and agreed by Royal Mail and the CWU.

Any changes to operational arrangements at the Swindon WBC will need to be agreed locally between management and the CWU and have no detrimental impact on QofS, number of duties, duty structures, attendance patterns or earnings including no loss of allowances for individuals involved in the trial.

The methods will be studied/measured by Industrial Engineers to establish the time taken in the Walk Bundling Centres for the new automated method against the previous manual method. The CWU will be informed 2 weeks prior to any IE observations taking place in any unit and will be fully involved in this process. All information/data derived and statistically validated from any such exercise will be shared with the CWU at national level.

Any additional automation enhancements to the original ESPER DM-230v Collation Machine will also be subjected to all the above requirements.

Delivery Office Trial Requirements

Delivery Offices included in the trial (identified within Annex A) and due to receive collated items via the Swindon WBC, will be phased in during the trial and given a minimum of three weeks’ prior to their inclusion.

There will be no changes to the agreed AWD / Duty contents etc at any Delivery Office and any subsequent changes will be dependent on the outcome of the trial and then carried out in line with the nationally agreed revision process.

Any revised Indoor methods for preparation will be studied/measured by Industrial Engineers to establish the previous time taken versus the new time taken in the Delivery Offices and will also take account of how the D2D items are collated with addressed mail for delivery preparation.

In addition to the above the time taken to complete the various Indoor control methods will also be studied/measured to assist with an overview linked to other Door to Door trials and future strategies.

The CWU will be informed 2 weeks prior to any IE observations taking place in any unit and will be fully involved in this process. All information/data derived and statistically validated from any such exercise will be shared with the CWU at national level.

Records will be kept of the numbers of items for each delivery for every week, including the percentage of items received which have not been automated due to size constraints, with data being shared with the CWU on a weekly basis.

Joint Involvement/Information Share

To assist with the trial a Joint Working Group will be created to enable both parties to fully understand the issues under consideration, the potential impact on individuals and the operation, and to also identify any issues requiring clarification or further investigation.

The JWG will include CWU representatives on behalf of the CWU Outdoor and Indoor Departments to jointly oversee the trial and will include input from, Local managers and CWU IR, H&S and Engineering representative(s) at Swindon WBC and similarly (excluding engineers) at the Delivery Offices involved in the trial activity in order to have regular joint workshops to review progress.

CWU representatives will be fully involved throughout the trial period including the review. Appropriate release time will be provided for the CWU representatives to enable full and meaningful involvement which will include joint access to all relevant information on a timely basis.

CWU National officials will have open access to any office participating in the trial.




Overall Trial Objectives and Success Criteria Assessment

The trial will examine the impact of automation/collation on the following key elements in order to ascertain whether it has been a success:

Customer collated data on any change to response rates
Efficiency and workload across the pipeline
Standard operating procedures
Health and safety incidents during the operation against a zero incident criteria
Product specifications and what can/cannot be processed including any machine limitations
The number of machines required for full or part automation/collation
The impact on the wider WBC Network and any subsequent extension/roll out
The potential impact across the Network/Pipeline on moving collated items; trays, York’s, vehicles etc
The handover from customers to Door to Door Walk Bundling Centres and the amount of notice / timescales required
Quality of service controls
The potential Impact on the Job Security including FT/PT mix, attendance patterns/duty structures and earnings opportunities
The number of items required to enable automation to be considered for each Delivery route and the costing for the variance between item totals and configuration

In addition to the above all operator/OPG concerns will be considered, understood and resolved as far as a possible

A detailed case study will also be jointly produced which examines the strengths and weaknesses of the Automated Collation process across Walk Bundling Centre’s, Network and Deliveries, which will include all items listed in Annex B and any projected business case benefits across all functions and their achievability.

Any operational improvements and potential efficiency/operational savings identified will be tracked and recorded in accordance with the terms of the Royal Mail/CWU Joint Statement for Efficiency

Trial Review

Throughout the trial information will be gathered and shared with the CWU to enable a joint assessment of the operational impact these trial arrangements have had on WBC operations, Network operations and Delivery operations. Following the trial there will be discussions at national level involving the respective CWU HQ Departments and Royal Mail to review the success or failure of the trial and to determine and agree the next steps.

Any questions of interpretation, implementation, or application of this Terms of Reference shall be referred to the respective Headquarters for resolution.




Signed……………………………….. Signed………………………………………
Bob Gibson – CWU Davie Robertson – CWU





Signed ……………………………….
Anton Harding - Royal Mail



Date: January 2016
Annex A The Delivery Offices below are proposed for inclusion in the trial.

Delivery Office PCA Total DPs Total Number of Walks
KINGSCLERE SPDO Reading 1,441 4
CHECKENDON SPDO Reading 1,293 5
GORING DO Reading 2,468 9
PANGBOURNE DO Reading 4,475 15
HUNGERFORD DO Reading 7,566 16
THATCHAM DO Reading 15,352 30
HOOK DO Reading 12,873 31
HENLEY-ON-THAMES DO Reading 11,156 36
WOKINGHAM DO Reading 24,942 63
WEST READING DO Reading 31,865 70
EAST READING DO Reading 34,000 73
NEWBURY DO Reading 26,418 74
BRACKNELL DO Reading 41,235 80
READING DO Reading 68,208 135
BASINGSTOKE DO Reading 68,225 151
WALSALL Walsall 74,223 122

Offices will be phased in over phases throughout the trial and given notice as to when their Door to Door contracts will be collated.
Annex B - Points to be examined during the trial

Operational Design

Customer Handover and WBC
1. What customer handover flow is ideal and where do we have flexibility?
2. What does the ideal flow of contracts to the machine and layout look like?
3. What tools and equipment are required to create that flow and assist automation?
4. How do we identify, split and store contracts?
5. How many machines would we require and in what locations?
6. How do we maximise the machine usage and output whilst ensuring accuracy of counts?
7. What work hours and shift pattern are appropriate and what would the potential impact on staffing levels?
8. What engineering support is required?
9. How much space is required for the machines?
10. How should we present the items to the collator machine and to the Delivery Office?
11. What is the best way to label the tray / bundle to provide visibility and knowledge of the volumes?

Network, Mail Centre and Local Distribution
12. What is our container strategy and requirement?
13. How will we transport and schedule D2D through the network?
14. Is there an additional York requirement?
15. Is there any Impact on MCs?
16. Measure late arrivals and consider contingency options.

Delivery
17. How should we present D2D items in the DOs?
18. How should we store D2D in the DOs?
19. How should we present D2D to each walk?
20. How should we prepare the collated sets for the walk? E.g. should we prepare into the frame, before or after sequenced mail or explore other methods
21. What control system is appropriate to support Q of S?
22. What is the ideal point in the work plan to process collated sets in terms of time and any physical constraints?
23. What is the impact on the timing of addressed mail delivery?
24. What is the impact on the indoor operation based on above?
25. Was there a change in the current trend of a unit in terms of QofS?
26. What is the impact on Preparation time (This will require the establishment of the time currently allocated to each walk for the preparation of D2D items)

General

27. What has been the impact on consumers (households)?
28. What has been the impact on booking customers?
29. What is the perception of the product amongst Royal Mail employees?
30. How much workload is required for each step in the processing of D2D? And what is the baseline?
31. For future design is there a number of items per walk, when only automation / collation is considered?
32. What would the future workplan profile compile in terms of Monday – Saturday delivery against a revised specification?

Trial Success Criteria Measures

33. How would we realise any opportunities identified?
34. How has the level of “surplus D2D items” declared by the unit changed?
35. How has the number of relative D2D complaints for the offices involved in the trial changed?
36. How has the accuracy of items/contracts for each walk changed?

This list is not exhaustive.

[greengiant]

37. What will this mean for posties on light / indoor duties due to sickness / injuries ? If they can't while away the day making up D2Ds, will they then have to go on sick leave? (thus risking attendance procedures?)

[ted_e_bear]

Was this supposed to happen about 4 years ago ?

[parforthewalk]

37. What will this mean for posties on light / indoor duties due to sickness / injuries ? If they can't while away the day making up D2Ds, will they then have to go on sick leave? (thus risking attendance procedures?)

The answer is that they should not be doing this anyway (those on light duties/rehab).

D2d's are built into the daily work-plan to be done on the day of the actual delivery, either Mon-Fri or Mon-Sat. They should not be done before, i.e. Tuesday's D2D being done on Monday after delivery has gone out.

[trythat]

1. Collate all items for a walk with no wrapper - the largest item would act as a divider
That will make it harder to put into the frame, when taking from a bundle of D2D, rather than creating as you go.

2. Collate items using one of the contracts as a wrapper, then remove this prior to delivery
I was under the impression that you couldn't put all D2D inside each other, obviously I was wrong From now on if convenient I'll shove 'um inside each other and remove when delivering!

[matthew68]

1. Collate all items for a walk with no wrapper - the largest item would act as a divider
That will make it harder to put into the frame, when taking from a bundle of D2D, rather than creating as you go.

2. Collate items using one of the contracts as a wrapper, then remove this prior to delivery
I was under the impression that you couldn't put all D2D inside each other, obviously I was wrong From now on if convenient I'll shove 'um inside each other and remove when delivering!

Yes our dom goes around checking frames to make sure no one is nesting them, this just seems to contradict everything they have been saying about d2d!

[daveyeff]

this argument has raged on for years....nest them/don't nest them. if you nest them indoors, its less time when you are out, if you don't nest them indoor its more time when you are out. our DOM says nest them if you want he just wants them done.

[RTP]

Makes no odds, when they hit the floor they unnest anyway

[rubberbond]

Makes no odds, when they hit the floor they unnest anyway

As they do when they go straight in the bin,as in the majority of cases,once delivered.

[GT85]

Did this trial actually go ahead ?