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TUESDAY DECEMBER 20, 2005
TOPIC: YOU vs INEFFICIENCIES!
BEST PRACTICES WORKSHOP REPORT
BACKGROUND
Concurrently with raising positive mailing industry profile
and issue awareness with the political groups and executive
who can influence policy change, NAMMU is building on the
positive momentum of the 2004 ground-breaking report: Canada
Post and The Mailing Industry: Shaping The New Business Model,
with its IMPACT 2006 report and resultant practical
initiatives. The Canadian mailing industry by many accounts is
increasingly marginalized by the strategic and practical
initiatives of its largest supplier, Canada Post Corporation.
NAMMU is focusing attention and awareness on three key
business drivers: the rate setting process, incentives and
cost accountability; meaningful consultation and win-win
impact; fair business practices. The IMPACT 2006: Gateway to
Positive Change forum held in August 2005 surfaced practical
issues and initiatives that can have an immediate and positive
impact for the mailing industry and Canada Post. One important
factor identified was the rising cost of interface with Canada
Post particularly with the reduction of incentives. The
industry churn created by the introduction of credit
authorization in September emphasized the need to address this
rapidly growing interface cost immediately, and induction
issues were selected as the first priority to examine.
NEW
Industry discussion leaders at the December 6th best practices
workshop: YOU vs Inefficiencies! addressed a wide range of
induction and pre-induction issues, highlighting the sources
of frustration and costly inefficiencies experienced in the
current and evolving Canada Post processes. They delivered
issues, best practices for dealing with current processes, and
led participants in positive discussion on a business model
for interaction and induction that would resolve not just the
symptoms but the root causes of inefficiencies and
frustration.
Workshop Highlights:
A status report on the NAMMU progress with
initiatives on the three strategic key business drivers (see
Background) prefaced the panel discussion, and discussed how
the Policy Framework, Rate Cap Formula, de-regulation of
incentives, and the wide latitude afforded the Corporation in
the Act, can contribute to a one-sided, win-lose business
model, out of synch with industry needs and actively working
against Canada Post’s business interests. Added to the
positive remedies already tabled with the Minister and Canada
Post senior executive is the need for a properly mandated
Joint Technical Committee to ensure alignment of business
realities and continuous improvement.
Panel issues touched on: dysfunctional
accounting policies and practices; RVU practices; sort,
containerization and fill issues; new opportunities vs
bureaucracy; customer serve barriers. Specific presentations
(where available) are attached to this bulletin. These
presentations appeared to reflect the issues of most
participants, not solely the presenters. Any issues presented
were accompanied by positive resolution ideas. Discussion
leaders and participants brought a variety of perspectives,
however, commonalities included:
Major dissatisfaction is stated with
the heavyweight bureaucracy with which customers contend,
even as customers do significantly more work for less
reward. Many think the burden of cost and work has shifted
to the customer. The physical mail and paperwork under
bureaucratic scrutiny can actually delay mail for days,
cause mail to be uprated without notice or choice. REMEDY:
Mutual education of work processes and business impact of
change. Re-develop working relationships and shift focus
from penalties to resolution of issues.
New High-Low density sort for
Lettermail still not delivered. REMEDY: Alternatives need
to be considered such as negotiated agreements with
individual mailers based on volume, accuracy and other
criteria.
Pre-sort documentation challenged at
RVU for large mail streams processed over
multiple days and batched in production environment,
technical capabilities challenged. REMEDY: Align
requirements for certified software with market
conditions. Ensure CPC expectations are realistic given
industry capabilities.
Containerization and fill issues offer
opportunities for significantly improved efficiency,
however, inability to meet mailers’container demands on
all mail types, forces higher cost to mailers and
magnifies inefficient handling for mailers and Canada
Post. REMEDY: A properly mandated Joint Technical
Committee for information flow and experimental/remedial
action.
Telephony system considered so severely
flawed, customers rarely bother to complain anymore – they
just find their way around “the system”. REMEDY: Re-think.
Skill/knowledge level at 1-800 numbers substantially below
industry requirements.
Too difficult to do business with
Canada Post, bureaucracy demands even at the sales level
for a product turn off potential customers. Compliance
demands overshadow product benefits. REMEDY: Mailing
industry knows how to sell products, their livelihood
depends on it – focus on collaboration with the industry,
not competition. Continue service specialist meetings with
VAM (Value Add Mailer) customers.
Issues with Credit Authorization were advised to Canada
Post in advance of program start-up, and lack of
appropriate communication to customers then compounded the
negative results at implementation. Generally speaking, it
appears as though Canada Post thinks communication of a
fait accompli is adequate once they have decided it will
be “transparent” to the customer. REMEDY: Meaningful
consultation with the industry is critical to the success
of any process change Canada Post decides it might want to
implement. More than one contact name in a customer
organization needs to be carried by Canada Post, due to
absenteeism or inappropriate contact. Generic salutations
on important messages to customers are inappropriate, and
ensure a strong likelihood the message will not reach its
intended audience.
The workshop recap called for these three best practices to
resolve root causes of issues:
A mechanism to facilitate ongoing discussion, such as a
properly mandated Joint Technical Committee. It is vital the
message is received throughout the Corporation, not just by
“gatekeepers”. Continuous improvement is the objective.
Quick Fix Workshops to address issues that
are already off the rails and causing major dissatisfaction.
Industry/CPC training and education
modules.
NEXT
The positive and open dialogue generated at this workshop will
be the catalyst for subsequent workshops. Topics raised at
this session will be grouped and prioritized with the main
IMPACT 2006 report, and spin-off workshops will start in the
new year.
Three workshops have already been agreed:
Ed Lanthier, Director, Credit Management, has proposed an
industry workshop January 26th on billing and credit
management issues, including a new invoicing improvement
initiative. Susan Jahudka will also attend to better
understand customer issues with the RVU.
A follow-through workshop with Susan
Jahudka, RVU personnel and industry will be held, and Ed
Lanthier will attend that session to provide continuity. Gerry
Gervais will participate on relationship management issues.
Timing to be agreed.
A third workshop will address the
Lettermail high-low density sort, other options for
incentives. Timing to be agreed.
Special Notes:
EST for Unaddressed Admail works well for
small local mailings but not large nationwide mailings.
Several participants were interested in hearing any new
developments and Gerry Gervais undertook to supply a
backgrounder for circulation.
A joint training module for Publications
Mail product users and Canada Post personnel had been agreed
previously and will be implemented in the new year by the
Publications Mail Council.
Click here for BEST PRACTICES
WORKSHOP presentations:
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In depth electronic, print and conference coverage of issues,
perspectives, persons, ideas and technology of interest to the
mailing industry for the National Association of Major Mail Users.
All rights reserved. The information contained in this publication
is obtained from various sources and believed to be reliable but
accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
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