Collections Hub Optimisation & Enhanced Mail Preparation

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Letter to Branches







To: Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleague
 
Collections Hub Optimisation & Enhanced Mail Preparation – National Terms of Reference

Branches and Representatives will be aware that the National Agreement Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success committed the Union to the following as part of the Collections Strand of the Integrated Delivery Programme of Works.

Joint development and deployment of new work methods, equipment, processes and structures, including but not limited to, enhanced mail preparation, route consolidation and hub optimisation

Consequently a Collections Joint Working Group was established with representation from both Outdoor & Indoor Departments to progress talks in line with the words contained within the national agreement.

As part of the ongoing discussions of the group Royal Mail proposed that they wished to progress with a trial in the TA and GU postcode areas looking at the feasibility of Satellite Collection units and Primary Collection Hubs being able to fully containerise all mails prior to despatch from the Primary Hubs. In addition this would also include an evaluation of the optimisation and efficiency opportunities as a consequence of this initiative taking into consideration the overall number of collection hubs in each of the areas, the people/employee impact, and the environmental, safety, quality of service and commercial benefits this may provide.

As Collections is an operation which impacts across all functions within Royal Mail, area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups will be established made up of the relevant CWU Representatives and Managers across the functions within the Mail Centre catchment areas to ensure that each function is represented and fully involved in the deployment process and ongoing monitoring of the trial/initiative.

Prior to any deployment of this initiative within the TA & GU postcode, Area and local CWU Reps, along with Royal Mail Managers in the units affected in the phase 1 initiative areas, and a nominated CWU Divisional Representative responsible for each of the areas, will be jointly briefed by national leads from Royal Mail and the CWU and arrangements have been made for this to take place following the cascade of the this LTB on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th July 2014.

The Terms of Reference which was cleared with the Postal Executive on the 17th June 2014 includes an agreed phased process for deployment which will be kept under review by the Joint Working Group, as well as a list of key requirements which will be cross referenced as part of the success criteria when being reviewed.

Whilst this will potentially drive efficiencies, the impact at this stage for each of the functions is unknown and we have agreed that throughout this activity all existing national agreements, joint statements and guidelines covering Collections, Deliveries, Area Distribution and Processing will be fully adhered to. The impact will be reviewed as part of each phase before decisions are made to progress to the next phase.

In addition the review at national and local level and feedback on this initiative will be a regular feature of the Collections Joint Working Group, who will provide regular updates of progress against this initiative to the Integrated Delivery Programme Steering Group, National Processing Group (NPG), National Logistics Steering Group (NLSG) and Agenda for Growth Programme Board, meaning the impact will be fully shared across all bodies for input / review.

Any enquiries to Bob Gibson’s Office, quoting reference 532, Email address: hnutley@cwu.org or mstewart@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Bob Gibson
CWU Assistant Secretary – Outdoor

[TrueBlueTerrier]

TERMS OF REFERENCE
Collections Hub Optimisation & Enhanced Mail Preparation

Introduction

In line with Delivery Programme of Works - Annex A as contained in the Agenda for Growth, Stability and Long Term Success National Agreement between Royal Mail Group and the Communication Workers’ Union, a Collections Joint Working Group has been established to enable success in a dynamic and changing commercial environment and, in particular to address the challenge of increasing collections and delivery competition in letters and parcels. Royal Mail and the CWU share a commitment to work together to develop and deploy new work methods, equipment, processes and structures, including but not limited to, enhanced mail preparation, route consolidation and hub optimisation.

As part of the commitment above we have agreed to jointly identify and develop improved methods and processes to improve the flow and presentation of mail from Collections into Mail Centres. This will be done by evaluating the feasibility of Satellite Collection units and Primary Collection Hubs to be able to fully containerise all mails prior to despatch from the Primary Hub, and will also include an evaluation of the optimisation and efficiency opportunities from doing so, along with evaluating the people/employee, environmental, safety, quality of service and commercial benefits this may provide.

Throughout this activity all existing national agreements, joint statements and guidelines covering Collections, Deliveries, Area Distribution and Processing will be fully adhered to.

Scope & Involvement

As Collections is an operation which impacts across all functions within Royal Mail, area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups will be established made up of the relevant CWU Representatives and Managers across those functions within the relevant Mail Centre catchment areas to ensure that each function is represented and fully involved in the deployment process and ongoing monitoring of the trial/initiative. This will enable everyone to be fully aware of the impact of this initiative within their respective areas of responsibility when undertaking and considering the above. Special consideration will be given to employees affected by any potential changes to attendance patterns/duty structures and earning potential, taking fully into account all existing National Agreements, Joint Statements and guidelines.

Prior to any deployment of this initiative Area and local CWU reps along with Royal Mail Managers in the units affected in the phase 1 initiative area’s, and a nominated CWU Divisional Representative responsible for each of the areas, will be jointly briefed by national leads from Royal Mail and the CWU. Following this joint briefing, engagement and planning activity for deployment of the trial initiative will commence.

Area and local CWU IR and H&S representatives will be fully involved in all aspects of the trial, and will be provided with adequate release from duty to fully and meaningfully participate throughout and in order to support and progress the planning activity.

The local joint objectives at this stage should be to enable the development of a mutual understanding of the initiative under consideration and its impact on the operation and individuals within each area/unit, and to also identify any emerging issues for discussion that require clarification or further work. The area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups should also identify any areas of concern that will require further advice, communication or formal consultation/negotiation and refer these to the respective Headquarters for consideration and action.

The above approach is not exhaustive or exclusive and will be determined by the membership of the area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups and in line with the remit set out in this TOR.

A detailed activity/deployment plan based upon the 6 phase revision process will be agreed and shared with area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups, fully utilising facts and accurate data in order to jointly increase understanding of the initiative and operation to enable its success


Initiative & Process

The initiative will be structured in 3 phases, with timescales dictated by activity and outputs from phase 1 and will remain subject to review at the request of either party.

The core members of this initiative will meet monthly to review and report progress as part of the Collections Joint Working Group and will periodically meet with the area/local cross functional Joint Working Groups throughout the phases.

Phase 1

Will be to plan and deploy Collection Hub Optimisation and Enhanced Mail Preparation in the TA and GU postcode areas. This will cover all operating Collection units; parent Mail Centres and local Distribution, Logistics, Processing and Delivery units.

Following the conclusion of phase 1 a full review will be carried out by the National Joint Working Group to consider all of the information/data and outputs generated by the trial to decide whether Phase 2 will be implemented or whether any adjustments identified in Phase 1 are required to the process before the commencement of any further work.

Phase 2

Subject to the National Joint Working Group agreeing to continue the trial beyond Phase 1 and a formal sign off of the review, the next phase will be extended to the remainder of the Bristol and Jubilee Mail Centre areas comprising of the BS, BA, GL, TW, KT, SW, and W postcodes.

Following phase 2 a further full review will be carried out by the National Joint Working Group in line with the phase 1 activity to decide whether to progress to national deployment and to also consider what measures if any need to be included to enable full national deployment to take place.

Phase 3

Subject to the National Joint Working Group agreeing to continue the trial beyond Phase 2,the next phase (3) will be to move to full national deployment upon completion of a National Agreement being signed off by both parties taking fully into account all information/data generated and experience and lessons learned from Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Key Requirements / Enablers

Royal Mail and CWU jointly agree the specific success criteria for this initiative will include:

Zero health and safety incidents involving any change to operational arrangements
Zero risks from any changes required to Safe Systems of Working (SSOW)
Efficiency and Optimisation improvements/benefits (Staff and non-staff)
Balanced manpower plan (earnings versus headcount FT/PT)
Environmental benefits from reducing CO2 emissions through fleet mileage reductions
Quality of Service benefits including 100% mail containerisation,
Mail centre clearance plan and despatch maintained and where possible improved.
No worsening of the overall impact on Mail Centres as a combined result of arrival profile and presentation of mails.
The distribution of mails to the Delivery Offices will align to the workplan.
The reduction of Hubs to have no adverse effect on workplan mail arrivals (wave 1&2) to all units.
Impact on Mail Centre automation performance
Effective management of the people change implications
Maintenance of Customer service and where possible improvements
Training requirements identified and met

The above list is not exhaustive and will form part of the formal reviews carried out by the Collections Joint Working Group following each of the phases.


Safety

All initiative activity will be managed and progressed in line with Royal Mail and CWU Safety first commitments. Royal Mail and CWU share a joint agenda and commitment to ensure that safety is at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts and intentions at all times. Compliance with the spirit of and intent of the Royal Mail Group Safety Policy underpinned by the Royal Mail Letters Safety and Health Policy is recognised as the enabler to effective health and safety management.

As the initiative activity/planning progresses, any requirements for Risk Assessments, Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) and or Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) to be reviewed as a result of the potential changes will be agreed by Royal Mail and CWU.

Requirements for any Ergonomic study work will also follow the same approach as noted for SSOW and SOP’s.

Review

The deployment of Collections Hub Optimisation and Enhanced Mail Preparation within the trial areas will be jointly monitored and remain under ongoing joint review. Any emerging issues will be resolved as part of the ongoing review with reference to existing national agreements, joint statements and guidelines where appropriate.

In addition the review at National and Local level and feedback on this initiative will be a regular feature of the Collections Joint Working Group, who will provide regular updates of progress against this initiative to the Integrated Delivery Programme Steering Group, National Processing Group (NPG), National Logistics Steering Group (NLSG) and Agenda for Growth Programme Board.




Signed………………………………………………… Signed………………………………………………
Kevin Cooper - Royal Mail Bob Gibson - CWU



Date 26th June 2014

[PhilthyPhil]

We have fully containerised all collections mail since UTR came in 3-4 years ago or whenever it was

[dvbuk55]

We have fully containerised all collections mail since UTR came in 3-4 years ago or whenever it was

C'mon you don't seriously expect Bob Gibson to know what's going on surely

[Deadly]

I'm surprised that this news isn't getting more attention. If this is rolled out nationwide (which I have no doubt that it will be eventually) then dedicated collection drivers are going to be massively affected. It looks like Royal Mail are aiming to place a large number of boxes, with their earlier final collection times, on deliveries. Interesting times lay ahead...

[postie222]

Same as above post can believe they are not more comments about the topic. Could have a big impact on collection drivers. With the loss of jobs.

[dvbuk55]

Same as above post can believe they are not more comments about the topic. Could have a big impact on collection drivers. With the loss of jobs.

Well as we have been told time after time the "overarching" CWU and RM ambition is to avoid redundancies, mind you job losses seem to be another kettle of fish.

[clashcityrocker]

Same as above post can believe they are not more comments about the topic. Could have a big impact on collection drivers. With the loss of jobs.

Well as we have been told time after time the "overarching" CWU and RM ambition is to avoid redundancies, mind you job losses seem to be another kettle of fish.

I think the objective is to avoid compulsory redundancy.
I don't think anyone is still under the illusion that there will be no job losses.