The next time your post arrives, the postman might be using a PDA
to ensure it arrives at the correct address
The group discovered that it could offer a more consistent
delivery by giving supervisors better tools to oversee their
carriers' progress, both in the post office and out on their
routes. In the past, supervisors used handheld devices to mark
delivery times for each route. That data was later downloaded into
a database. Unfortunately, information sitting in the database
didn't help supervisors when making spot check visits on carrier
routes.
"Our original intention was to use the data collection device to
put the information for all of the routes within a delivery zone at
the supervisors' fingertips," explains Rich Rooney, operations
programs analyst. Rooney covers the Great Lakes area, which
includes the states of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Since the
devices only collected data, supervisors had to carry a printout of
the route times. If the carrier left later or earlier than the time
in the database, the supervisor had to manually recalculate the
times to find the carrier's location.
On the streetLooking
for a better solution, operations programs analyst Tyrone Daniels
contacted Jeff Chandler of Polaris Technologies in Louisville,
Kentucky. Chandler worked with the Postal Service's Great Lakes
area group to develop a solution, called Office and Street
Management (OSM), that runs on Handheld PCs powered by the
Microsoft Windows CE operating system version 2.0 and on the
supervisors' desktop computers. OSM consists of two applications:
Street Locator, which tracks carriers' street routes and times, and
Office Manager, which records mail volume and estimates processing
time for that volume. Since January 1999, about 15 supervisors in
the Great Lakes area have been beta testing the OSM applications on
Hewlett-Packard 620LX Handheld PCs. As with the previous system,
supervisors walk the routes gathering all the timing information
for both delivering mail and allied functions such as delivering a
parcel and taking lunch breaks. That information is then uploaded
into a Microsoft Access database on a desktop PC back in the
office. Supervisors can download information on 30 or 35 routes and
pinpoint within a few minutes exactly where any of their carriers
are at any point in time. The application adjusts those times
instantly based on the actual time the carrier left the office or
where the supervisors find the carrier out on the street. The
Handheld PCs currently carry about 3Mb of route information, but
have the capacity for more than 10 times that amount. "Supervisors
are supposed to manage carriers both on the street and in the
office. They don't visit every single route every day, but
periodically pick certain routes to make sure the carriers are
where they're supposed to be," explains Rooney. By carrying the
Handheld PC on the street, supervisors can find the carriers more
quickly and instantly determine whether or not they're on schedule.
Supervisors also can recalculate the expected return time of the
carrier based on where he or she actually is on the route. If the
Street Locator shows that the carrier won't finish on time, the
supervisor can bring in help. In addition to quickly locating
carriers, having all the route information on the Handheld PC can
save supervisors months of learning all of the ins and outs of
their territories. It also helps them inform a fill-in carrier
about how their performance compares to the regular carrier.
In
the officeBack in the office, supervisors use the Office
Manager program to manage carriers as they prepare for their
routes. Some of the mail is counted by machine, but non-automated
mail is counted manually. The larger the volume that carriers have
to deliver, the longer it takes to finish their office activities.
To get a clear picture of each carrier's volume, supervisors carry
their Handheld PCs to each carrier's route case to enter the volume
of mail. This is then uploaded to the desktop computer. After that,
supervisors download all of the volume information for each route,
including those pieces counted electronically, back into the Office
Manager program on the Handheld PC. Based on volume and
demonstrated performance, the program projects each carrier's
departure time. If the software shows that the carrier's departure
time is later than normal, the supervisor can take steps to ensure
that the carrier leaves on time. "Now we can determine to within a
five-minute window what the impact is of each tray of mail, based
on each carrier's performance indicators," Rooney says.
Making a
differenceThe Great Lakes area expects to roll out the OSM
application to approximately 2,500 supervisors in its tri-state
area in the next several months. Other Postal Service areas have
expressed interest in the system as well, which could expand to as
many as 25,000 users nationwide. "Our supervisors chose the
Handheld PC because they wanted to put computing power in their
hands and not tie themselves to a desktop computer," Daniels
observes. "The four-and-a-half hour battery life is more than
enough for most supervisors. And if they need longer battery life,
they can replace it with an extended-life battery." Daniels also
notes that the recording capabilities supported by Windows CE are a
big hit. "Now supervisors can leave the office paperless, record
comments as they go and replay those comments back in the office to
generate their reports."
Compiled by Paul Phillips(
Microsoft Corporation