Gatwick Mail Centre

[eastie]

Heard that Gatwick Mail Centre has about 20% of its staff off at the moment and not sending out walk sorted and mail turning up at Delivery Offices late

[SpacePhoenix]

Heard that Gatwick Mail Centre has about 20% of its staff off at the moment and not sending out walk sorted and mail turning up at Delivery Offices late

More likely they're sending out the mech as walk sort instead of walk sequenced as it would free up their mech staff a lot quicker to help out in other sections

[sindba]

Wouldn't surprise me. Our DO had about 30% off last week.

[Steve_claret]

If they were not walksorting as a minimum then all letters would end up on the IPS in your DO. Can't see that being allowed to happen to be honest. More than likely as spacephoenix said they will be walksorting Wave 1 (1 pass) instead of sequencing (3 passes).

[yellowbelly]

Heard that Gatwick Mail Centre has about 20% of its staff off at the moment and not sending out walk sorted and mail turning up at Delivery Offices late

More likely they're sending out the mech as walk sort instead of walk sequenced as it would free up their mech staff a lot quicker to help out in other sections

Q's for Space Phoenix - (sorry if I'm being a muppet here!)

When you say 'mech' mail do you mean stuff like magazines, larger letters A4, catalogues etc (as opposed to the 'normal' mostly
A5 size letters which get to the DO sorted to the walk and sequenced)?

If this is so you seem to suggest from your comment above that 'mech' can be sorted to walk level - is this right? - but I've never seen
it 'sorted' to walk level, it always get to our admittedly smaller rural offices mixed and has to be sorted to individual walk level.

Grateful if you explain from your Mail Centre point of view.

[Steve_claret]

When you say 'mech' mail do you mean stuff like magazines, larger letters A4, catalogues etc (as opposed to the 'normal' mostly
A5 size letters which get to the DO sorted to the walk and sequenced)?

If this is so you seem to suggest from your comment above that 'mech' can be sorted to walk level - is this right? - but I've never seen
it 'sorted' to walk level, it always get to our admittedly smaller rural offices mixed and has to be sorted to individual walk level.

Grateful if you explain from your Mail Centre point of view.

Magazines, A4 Large Letters, catalogues etc can be walksorted on the Flat Sorting Machines (FSM or T2K) but not usually for small rural SPDOs just mainly larger DOs. Mech letters (POP/C5) are normally sequenced on the CSS machines but can also be walksorted to save time.

[SpacePhoenix]

When you say 'mech' mail do you mean stuff like magazines, larger letters A4, catalogues etc (as opposed to the 'normal' mostly
A5 size letters which get to the DO sorted to the walk and sequenced)?

If this is so you seem to suggest from your comment above that 'mech' can be sorted to walk level - is this right? - but I've never seen
it 'sorted' to walk level, it always get to our admittedly smaller rural offices mixed and has to be sorted to individual walk level.

Grateful if you explain from your Mail Centre point of view.

Magazines, A4 Large Letters, catalogues etc can be walksorted on the Flat Sorting Machines (FSM or T2K) but not usually for small rural SPDOs just mainly larger DOs. Mech letters (POP/C5) are normally sequenced on the CSS machines but can also be walksorted to save time.

iLSMs can also walk sequence and walk sort but it's down to what sort plans are installed. If the CSS machines have got batches that are really blown out (eg a bulk posting for a DO) then the batches can (if there's a sort plan for them on the iLSM) be sequenced on an iLSM

I'm expecting that RM will get rid of the FSMs in the next few years as there's not the volume of flats to justify having them. The amount of mech letters (POP/C5) and packets that we get through in trays from MCs that have got FSMs

[Steve_claret]

I'm expecting that RM will get rid of the FSMs in the next few years as there's not the volume of flats to justify having them. The amount of mech letters (POP/C5) and packets that we get through in trays from MCs that have got FSMs

I can't see them getting rid just yet. Even though FSM's take up a large amount of floor space they are too useful for sorting all the stuff the other machines reject. As you say true Large Letters have dropped off a cliff since PIP was introduced but now the FSM's have been upgraded with new feeders they can take much thicker catalogue type items. Putting letters through shouldn't happen but that isn't to say it doesn't happen when needs must.

[SpacePhoenix]

I'm expecting that RM will get rid of the FSMs in the next few years as there's not the volume of flats to justify having them. The amount of mech letters (POP/C5) and packets that we get through in trays from MCs that have got FSMs

I can't see them getting rid just yet. Even though FSM's take up a large amount of floor space they are too useful for sorting all the stuff the other machines reject. As you say true Large Letters have dropped off a cliff since PIP was introduced but now the FSM's have been upgraded with new feeders they can take much thicker catalogue type items. Putting letters through shouldn't happen but that isn't to say it doesn't happen when needs must.

Some nights well over half of the boxes are filed with packets and normal mech letters. Normal mech letters from both flats and manual letters areas get sent to the iLSMs and fed on their own mail streams. If we were to have a sleeve that all packets were tossed into that had come in as flats we'd easily fill it, probably 2 or 3 times over some nights. We sort thick catalogue items as packets. Less than 1/4 of MCs have got a FSM