Delivery Revision Planning Tools – Joint Statement number 2

[Geezer]

Dear Colleagues,

Please attached LTB 649/12 issued today by Bob Gibson, CWU National Officer.
This LTB has been uploaded to the members’ section of the CWU website.

Hayley Nutley
Bob Gibson’s Office
CWU HQ
150 The Broadway
Wimbledon
London
SW19 1RX

0208 971 7276

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Letter to Branches


No.649 /12 Ref: 230.03 Date: 29th August 2012

To: All Branches with POSTAL Members

Dear Colleague,

Delivery Revision Planning Tools – Joint Statement number 2

Further to LTB 335/12 titled “Delivery Revision Planning Tools – Joint Statement”, dated 3rd May 2012 that confirmed the withdrawal of the Span Indicator from the delivery revision planning process and the introduction of a new version of Duty Builder, it has come to our attention that there have been different interpretations operating in the field regarding the use and application of the duty builder, and how it has been incorrectly used to assist in determining the length of delivery spans.

Additionally there have also been initial functionality and technical problems with the current version 3 of Duty Builder that have had to be corrected for this tool to produce the necessary outputs. The CWU and Royal Mail Delivery Programme Group (DPG) have met on a number of occasions to try and address these problems and provide clarity around the use of the Duty Builder in the planning process and in particular the modelling of delivery spans.

The Joint Statement included with this LTB, is the outcome of those meetings and is self explanatory and re emphasises the fact that the delivery walk span is an enabler to meeting the objectives of the Business Transformation 2010 Agreement rather than a pre determined fixed amount of time.

Branches and representatives should note that there will be a new version 3.1 of the Duty Builder released with associated guidelines from the 29th August 2012. The guidelines will be circulated in due course.

Although the guidelines deal mainly with the functionality of the Duty Builder reps should pay particular attention to the section on the “Outdoor Service Window”.

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

Yours sincerely

Bob Gibson
Assistant Secretary

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ROYAL MAIL AND CWU JOINT STATEMENT REGARDING AN UPDATE TO THE DELIVERY REVISION PLANNING TOOLS (NUMBER 2)

DELIVERY SPAN MODELLING GUIDANCE and Duty Builder version 3.1

Introduction:

This joint statement builds on the “Joint Statement Regarding an Update to the Delivery Revision Planning Tools” agreed on 2nd May 2012. That joint statement confirmed the removal of the Span Indicator Tool and the introduction of a new version of Duty Builder. It emphasised the importance of using the delivery walk span as an enabler to meeting the objectives of the Business Transformation 2010 Agreement rather than a fixed amount of time.

Process

The DOM and CWU rep will discuss the potential Span[s] at phase two of the revision process and the following points must be incoAporated into that discussion including any modelling that will finally produce the span[s] that are to be deployed in their unit;

1. The delivery span must be a part of a sustainable and workable duty structure which will include the scheduling of sufficient time for the indoor hours required in line with their agreed performance level and mail arrival patterns.

2. The agreed Span lengths need to be consistent with the duty structure that the unit aims to introduce, including as appropriate outputs of the menu of duty options and the earnings expectations of the unit.

3. Sharing best practice with offices that have already successfully deployed a revision to inform the discussion on span[s] lengths that are needed to support the desired duty structures for the unit.

4. Any local office factors which affect the span e.g. MC arrival profile (specifically wave two arrival times and volumes) and the average amount of travelling to and from the delivery will be important and need to be factored in.

Note: This will be particularly important where offices are due to relocate.

In line with the above paragraphs the planner has a key role and responsibility in ensuring that the impact / outcome of different modelled scenarios are fully explained to the DOM, CWU representative and employees. It is important that they all understand what each one means in terms of duty patterns/structures, staffing mix and earnings opportunities and office efficiency to inform their discussions on coming to an agreement on the length of the span[s].

Duty Builder

It has been necessary due to various functionality problems with the new version 3 Duty Builder to undertake corrective action so that this tool can operate to the desired effectiveness.
To this end a new version 3.1 will be released to the field from 29th August 2012 and will become the currently agreed version.

The primary function of the Duty Builder is to assist the scheduling of the agreed indoor and outdoor time into a sustainable and workable unit duty structure.

However, it is possible to use it to assist DOM’s and CWU representatives see the affect on office duty structures on different modelled scenarios. For example how would a build look like from a defined start time or a universal time out? Further guidance will be included in the new version 3.1 DB Guidelines.

Any such modelling must be undertaken adhering to the principles of the above Delivery Span Modelling Guidance.




Signed………………………………….. Signed…………………………………………

Bob Gibson Mark Follows
CWU Outdoor Secretary Royal Mail Delivery Director


Date: 29 August 2012