CSS....OPERATING.

[woodsman]

Does any one know of a definitive operating method that is written in black and white....There seems to be different operating systems at work in different offices, there by some offices archiving better figures than others. Also is there a personal performance procedure with a target to achieve?
What is the Target we are set out to achieve? Having read some other comments on here it seems to vary a little in different offices. would be grateful for any feedback.

[pinstripe]

We've had CSS machines in my DO for about 6 months. Any definitive plan went out the window in the first week as it depended on:
1. All mail for wave 1 being in the office ready for the start of the shift. It never was.
2. The same for wave 2, which was meant to be 40% of the total workload. It never is.
3. The 2 hours on and 2 hours off never happened, as some nights there was no other work available in the office, so we now do one batch then swap.
4. The targets we were meant to achieve depend in a large part on how and when the mail arrives from the mail centre and took no account of incorrect labels, poor quality barcodes, nor the usual 100+ mis-sorts in each batch. The mail arrives anytime in 2,3,4, sometimes 5 different lorries.
5. Most night shift workers are strange.

Sorry I don't have anything official, but our manager likes to keep us in the dark. (Must have something to do with No.5)

[rockypostie]

could anybody tell me what allowences you get and whats it like being one?

Many thanks

[NWpostie]

£20 +sh1t, avoid, I have seen them at work its like watching paint dry, you stand there and you cannot leave until your relief turns up and if he is late, so will you, you have to hover it when you finish, tick sheet for different jobs, fix problems, all that fro £20, they can shove it, if they are down on CSS staff, you will get roped in, you may not be able to book odd time off, if they are short.

I wouldn't bother as I did, once I found out a bit more about it.

[SpacePhoenix]

We've had CSS machines in my DO for about 6 months. Any definitive plan went out the window in the first week as it depended on:
1. All mail for wave 1 being in the office ready for the start of the shift. It never was.
2. The same for wave 2, which was meant to be 40% of the total workload. It never is.
3. The 2 hours on and 2 hours off never happened, as some nights there was no other work available in the office, so we now do one batch then swap.
4. The targets we were meant to achieve depend in a large part on how and when the mail arrives from the mail centre and took no account of incorrect labels, poor quality barcodes, nor the usual 100+ mis-sorts in each batch. The mail arrives anytime in 2,3,4, sometimes 5 different lorries.
5. Most night shift workers are strange.

Sorry I don't have anything official, but our manager likes to keep us in the dark. (Must have something to do with No.5)

I thought I remember reading on here somewhere that the CSS machines would reject a batch if there was any misorts, is that still true (they may have tweeked the software perhaps)

[Budfrog]

1. All mail for wave 1 being in the office ready for the start of the shift. It never was.
If the Mail Centre that serves you and Distribution cannot achieve this then your workplan needs to be altered which may have an affect on the dutyset.

2. The same for wave 2, which was meant to be 40% of the total workload. It never is.
All Mail Centres serving MPUs are targetted with a minimum 60/40 and it is their responsibility to achieve this. If they are not then your MPU manager needs to keep highlighting this and putting his evidence in terms of traffic volumes on the End of Shift Report.

3. The 2 hours on and 2 hours off never happened, as some nights there was no other work available in the office, so we now do one batch then swap.
All dutysets should be shown to adhere to the 2Hrs on 2Hrs off recommendation. However, it is only a recommendation, and in terms of Health and Safety there is no reason why a M/C operator cannot attend a CSS for a complete attendance provided that he takes the correct relaxation allowance. Workload varies and some operators prefer to be on the machine than doing other work, it is all about striking a balance that is first of all safe and that everyone is happy to adhere to. Royal Mail never issued standardised dutysets at the start of the project and so regions have pretty much done what suits them best when uniformity would have made more sense.


4. The targets we were meant to achieve depend in a large part on how and when the mail arrives from the mail centre and took no account of incorrect labels, poor quality barcodes, nor the usual 100+ mis-sorts in each batch. The mail arrives anytime in 2,3,4, sometimes 5 different lorries.
OEE is a mixture of factors inside and outside the control of the machine operators and depends largely on the quality of presentation from the Mail Centre and to some degree the quality of APlus. Provided an operator achieves those aspects of the task that are within his/her control that is all that anyone can expect. Each operators should be verified that they can follow SOPs and SSOW within 6 weeks of being trained and though this is not evidence of workrate it is of ability.


5. Most night shift workers are strange.
Couldn't agree more!

I thought I remember reading on here somewhere that the CSS machines would reject a batch if there was any misorts, is that still true (they may have tweeked the software perhaps)
Rejects should only include 'out of plan', 'poorly codemarked', letters fed back to front,addresses not on APlus ... I think!

[pinstripe]

£20 TPM (cleaning the machine) plus Night Shift Allowance. I do it and it is a heck of a lot easier than deliveries. How good the job is will depend on who you will be working with, get a good crew and you'll be happy, get a bunch of lazy buffoons, you won't.
As I said, I do it and I would hate to have to go back to deliveries. You do have to work and you will work all the hours you're paid, combined with working nights, it's not for everybody.

[pinstripe]

Spot on Budfrog.


"If they are not then your MPU manager needs to keep highlighting this and putting his evidence in terms of traffic volumes on the End of Shift Report."
We've been doing that for 6 months, like everything in RM it hasn't changed anything.

[woodsman]

thanks for your comments......

[24601]

Spot on Budfrog.


"If they are not then your MPU manager needs to keep highlighting this and putting his evidence in terms of traffic volumes on the End of Shift Report."
We've been doing that for 6 months, like everything in RM it hasn't changed anything.

We've been doing it for 4 years and things haven't changed.Roughly a third of our nightly rejects are out of plan/upside down/back to front/uncoded.And as for a 60/40 1st wave 2nd wave split - yeh right !!!!!!! And by the way,managers wouldn't know an end of shift report if they met one on the street.The CSS operators do all the OEE stuff.