Post-Expo Stockholm Presentation of Mark Ryder about parcel sorting without rejects: Strategies that eliminate costly manual handling.

1. 100% SORTING: REMOVING BARRIERS
Sorting without rejects: Strategies that eliminate costly manual handling
Post-Expo 2014
Stockholm
Mark A. Ryder
Director: Marketing & Key Accounts

2. Who are Prime Vision?
Partners with posts to develop automation solutions or reutilize
existing investments in automation and software in new ways;
• Part of a postal operator ourselves;
• Core technology developer in reading and coding systems;
• Middleware developer between sorting systems, decision
systems and IT;

3. Postal / parcel automation has come a
long way
 Sorting becomes as easy as
loading and unloading
 Fewer operators required
 Higher throughput in less time
 Lower processing costs
 Higher quality

4. The main challenge with an automation
strategy becomes the mail that fails
automation
 You need processes
 You need people
 You need time
 Higher error potential
 Higher processing costs

5. Common causes of automation rejects
 Damaged, scuffed, poor quality
addressing / bar code;
 Identification failure;
 Input errors, such as double-feeding or
incorrectly faced;
 Machine errors, such as blockage
 Operational errors, such as chutes full

6. Rejects: Structural or dynamic?
 Structural: predictable, for example barcode based systems will
never be 100%. Expect a 2-5% reject rate;
 Dynamic: unpredictable, for example operational events such as
loss of critical data links, eDi information, batches of poorly
printed labels
You need to develop strategies for both categories!

7. Increased sophistication of sorting / automation
 Ever increasing scope means higher potential and
impact of rejects
 Multi-format sorters (wide range of mail)
 Growth of cross-border e-commerce
 Data-rich identification, deeper level reading,
indicia, volume, weight….capturing every aspect
of a mailpiece
 Revenue recovery & protection measures
 Sequencing and more complex sorting schemes
 Increasing involvement of sender and recipient,
i.e. track and trace, delay or divert in-transit and
more

8. The cost perspective
 Impacts of automation rejects vary considerably depending on
complexity and volume;
For one major client, handling 4% rejects costs them 7 times
more overall than handling the 96% with automation
 Can you put a price on all the cost drivers?
Potential for errors;
Calling in emergency or agency staff;
Late or missed deliveries / SLA

9. Video-coding can bbee aa qquuiicckk wwiinn ssttrraatteeggyy
 AA ssuurrpprriissiinngg nnuummbbeerr ooff ppaarrcceell // ppaacckkeett ssoorrtteerrss hhaavvee nnoo vviiddeeoo--
ccooddiinngg ccaappaabbiilliittyy,, ccoommppaarreedd ttoo lleetttteerrss // ffllaattss eettcc;;
 VViiddeeoo--ccooddiinngg pprroovviiddeess aa llooww--ccoosstt mmeeaannss ooff kkeeeeppiinngg tthhee iitteemm oonn
tthhee ssoorrtteerr aanndd rreedduucciinngg eexxttrraa pphhyyssiiccaall hhaannddlliinngg;;
 VVaalluuee oonn bbaarrccooddee bbaasseedd ssoorrtteerrss aass wweellll aass mmoorree ccoommpplleexx OOCCRR
ssyysstteemmss

10. Impacts are much more than cost alone
 Missed delivery windows
 Do you have the people available?
 Drafting in extra people is one thing, but do they have the
process knowledge?

11. 100% sorting efficiency: some strategies at design stage
 Identification at the earliest opportunity;
 Build in delay lines to enable additional process time if required, or
recirculation for loop sorters for example;
 Enables second pass opportunity or video-coding;
 Consider multi-side imaging systems on sorters rather than single side;
 A hybrid identification system, for example operators can voice the
destination city as they load parcels onto the sorter which can be
combined with label identification on the sorter to reduce rejects;
 Prioritise what you need to sort the mailpiece as opposed to what is
necessary for secondary processes;
 Build-in tools that enable easy analysis of rejects

12. 100% sorting efficiency: strategies on existing automation
 Reject mode analysis is critical to prioritise;
 Significant percentage of rejects can be read simply by a second pass;
 After conducting an analysis of your reject items, consider what can be
done prior to sorting for those difficult categories, i.e. fix it before you put
it on the sorter (maybe re-labelling);
 Consider an upgrade to older identification / reading systems;
 Review the original specifications of existing automation…maybe your
mail mix or operation of the machine differs from original design
parameters

13. Final thoughts
 100% sorting efficiency is achievable, in ways that minimise re-work and
costs;
 Identifying dependencies for your sorting/automation process enables
you to mitigate risks;
 Ensure mission-critical elements are duplicated (servers, data lines)

14. 100% SORTING: REMOVING BARRIERS
Thanks for your attention!
Mark A. Ryder
Director: Marketing & Key Accounts
m.ryder@primevision.com