t h e · 2014-08-29 · [email protected] Peter Gollop 0113 268 4978...

rcoe.gov.uk

>Howto get a better deal in postal servicesOnthemon

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NPPRegional Centres of Excellence > N

ational Proc

urement Pro

gramme

>Transforming Procurement

> Contents

01 Introduction

02 Market overview

03 Understanding the postal service supply chain

04 How you can reduce the cost of your postal service

10 How the national and regional organisations are working together to benefit you

11 Regional Centres of Excellence contact details

12 Appendix A – East of England case study

15 Appendix B – Alternative mail service providers

17 Appendix C – Royal Mail’s services

18 Appendix D – Service areas and coverage

19 Appendix E – Bespoke services

20 Appendix F – Glossary of terms

How does the guide work?This guide sets out clear steps to help you optimise savings, improve your postal servicesoperations and explains how your Regional Centre of Excellence can help you everystep of the way.

On The Money guides are published by the Regional Centres of Excellence National Procurement Team.The team will keep this market under review so that your Regional Centre of Excellence can keep you postedon further opportunities as the market develops.

For more information on the Regional Centres of Excellence National Procurement Programme, pleasecontact Steve Holland at [email protected]


It’s a fact that many councils are paying over the odds for commonlybought goods and services.

Our research shows in stark terms huge variations in the amounts councils arebeing charged for the same item and yet few councils will realise this.

But as expectations of greater local government efficiency and better servicesremain high, this situation cannot go unchallenged.

That’s why we’re delighted to bring you this guide to show you how you can cutthe cost of your postal services. It’s part of the Regional Centres of ExcellenceNational Procurement Programme which is set to transform local governmentprocurement and deliver major efficiencies in the £40 billion spent each year bythe sector on goods and services.

We see the programme as a major driver to improving council services byenabling the release of resources that councils can re-invest in better front-lineservices.

The deals are out there. Read this guide, talk to your Regional Centre ofExcellence then go and get them.

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What’s happening in the market?On 1 January 2006, the mail market was opened up to competition. This means thatorganisations other than Royal Mail can now act as postal operators to collect, sort anddistribute mail in the UK.

This change is intended to drive up quality and drive down prices.

How big is the market?The mail market is worth £6 billion a year. Postcomm – the independent postal servicesregulator – licenses mail that weighs less than 350 grams and costs less than £1 whichaccounts for 72% of this market.

The public sector’s share is around £650 million of which local government’s is £200 million.

How big is the savings opportunity?Savings opportunities are considerable. Local authorities in England can realise up to £20million in efficiency gains and the majority of these will be cashable. Our research shows thatdistrict councils will save on average £32,000 a year, unitary councils £100,000 a year whilecounty councils will save £200,000 a year.

How can the savings be achieved?You can achieve about half your savings just by migrating spend onto one of two currentpan-sector deals that have been specially set up. But to achieve the very most, you will needto do three things:

> Carry out a business process review to make sure that your post handling processes areas streamlined and cost effective as possible

> Review your policies to make sure that you are managing demand effectively

> Migrate your spend to the best deals available. Other buying organisations have alreadydone the work so you don’t have to

When can I achieve the savings?Some local authorities are already benefiting from support from their Regional Centre ofExcellence and are making savings now. With a managed support programme, we believe alllocal authorities in England can achieve savings now with optimal savings being achievedwithin 18 months to two years.

Will there be a cost?Yes, as procurement and process reviews cost money. However this guide explains how thesecosts can be minimised by working with your Regional Centre of Excellence instead of goingit alone. Our research shows that by following the steps we recommend, initial costs can berecovered within a few months with ongoing cash savings thereafter.


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The mail market is no longer the sole preserve of Royal Mail. Seventeen companies have beenlicensed by Postcomm to offer business mail services in competition with Royal Mail.

Some of these offer ‘end-to-end’ delivery while others target specific market niches such asurban areas and secure services for the delivery of passports or credit cards.

Under the terms of its licence, Royal Mail must offer other operators access to its networkat a reasonable price and a number of access agreements are in place with postal operatorsand mailers.

Under an access agreement, Royal Mail receives a fee (around 13p for a 1st class letterweighing up to 60 grams) to take mail the final mile and put it through the letter box. The feeenables Royal Mail to make a profit, while the new postal operators make their profit byseeking to be more efficient and offer value added services.

The letter market supply chain

The process generally uses the Royal Mail’s network of mail centres, delivery offices andlogistics systems. The opportunity for other companies to enter the market is as consolidators– taking mail from business customers, sorting and delivering it to Royal Mail’s mail centres fordelivery over the ‘final mile’. Some providers, however, have their own delivery networks inmajor cities.


> Understan

ding the po

stal service

supply cha

in

LettersBoxesVans

Domestic

Collection

Consolidation

Outward sort Inward sort Walk sort DeliveryLocal

distribution

Bulk

distribution

Domestic

Business Business

Consolidators

MailCentres

Logistics[trucks,planes,trains]

MailCentres

LocalDistribution

Fleet

DeliveryOffice

LocalDelivery[workers,vans,bikes]

Source: Independ Consulting Ltd and Postcomm

03


Step one > Reduce demand

Reduce your costs by reducing demand. You can do this by:

> Switching to ‘self-service’ web-based transactions such as the provision of applicationforms that can be downloaded and submitted electronically

> Encouraging greater use of e-mail and telephone services

> Ensuring that cheaper services such as standard-class post are used and by takingsteps to encourage compliance

> Reducing the amount of undeliverable post by cleaning your databases regularly

These steps are recommended by the National Audit Office.

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Step two > Carry out a business process review

A major review of the postal services of 18 councils carried out by the East of EnglandRegional Centre of Excellence and Civica has delivered impressive results.

For each authority the review included:

> A detailed analysis of current postal spend

> Mapping of current business processes and practice

> Recommendations for further efficiencies

> Completion of a business case for change

> Co-ordinating procurement of an alternative supplier

> Service transition management

Covering a mix of county, unitary and district councils, the review found:

> Collectively these authorities spend £4.95 million a year on postal services

> By changing supplier, they will save £1.04 million a year

> District councils will save on average £32,000 a year

> Unitary councils will save on average £100,000 a year

> County councils will save on average £200,000 a year

The trial is now being rolled out with Civica across the rest of the East of Englandand savings of £6 million for the region as a whole are anticipated.

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Step three > Migrate your spend onto better pre-procured deals

It’s a fact that all large local authorities already spend above the level necessary to trigger anEU competitive tendering process while the majority of smaller authorities will wish to tenderfor postal services.

But why go through lengthy procurement processes when two respected professional buyingorganisations have done the work for you?

Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) and OGCbuying.solutions have alreadynegotiated excellent framework agreements for postal services that are open to all localauthorities.

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Deal 1 The Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation

In July 2006 ESPO let a framework contract with TNT Post for a four year period.The contract is available to all local authorities.

The contract provides for:

> Regular collection of mail from your premises by TNT post

> Two day delivery service for all items to every address in the UK. A lower cost three dayservice is also available

> ‘Final Mile’ delivery of mail to recipients UK-wide carried out by Royal Mail

> Services are invoiced in arrears for payment within 30 days of invoice

> No franking is required at your premises

> Management information made readily available

Prices

Letter (up to C5 size, under 100g)

> 2 day service: 19.87p per item. > 3 day service: 17.88p per item.

Large letter (over C5 and up to C4 size, under 100g)

> 2 day service: 30.00p per item. > 3 day service: 28.00p per item.

Packet (over C4 in size and/or over 100g)

> Charged at Royal Mail prices, plus a small handling charge.

As a comparison, Royal Mail’s prices for these items are:

Letter: First Class 32p, Second Class 23pLarge letter: First Class 44p, Second Class 37pPacket: First Class from £1.00, Second Class from 84p


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07As well as offering competitive prices, the ESPO contract with TNT Post offers you thefollowing features:

> The sole supplier arrangement with TNT Post eliminates the need to conduct tendersor mini-competitions

> As use of the ESPO contract grows and volume rises, so customers may seeadditional benefits

ESPO also guarantees that it is committed to taking customer views and requirements intoaccount when reviewing and developing the contract.

Deal 2 OGCbuying.solutions

OGCbuying.solutions has let framework agreements with nine suppliers offering an extensiverange of mail services:

> End-to-End – collection from the customer and delivery to the addressee

> Downstream Access – collection from the customer and despatch to Royal Mailfor onward delivery to the addressee

> Consolidation> Collection of unsorted mail for End-to-End> Collection of unsorted mail for Downstream Access> Collection of unsorted mail for collection by Royal Mail or another operator

> Secure mail – collection from customer and delivery to addressee of secure mail

> Track and Trace – provision of track and trace facility as part of End-to-End andDownstream Access services

> Response services – a business reply service

> Presortation for inbound delivery – a sorting service into categories such asjob titles or departments

> PO Boxes – provision of numbered boxes for customers

> Undeliverables – services dealing with undeliverable mail

> Redirection – redirection of mail on change of address

> Bespoke services – including consultancy, mail audits, data cleansing anddocument exchange

> International – collection from customer for delivery to overseas addressee


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08 Within each framework, you also have the flexibility to negotiate a price to reflect youroperational mail volumes and circumstances using the mini-competition approach.

And to get the very best value from these frameworks, local authorities in a region or sub-region should consolidate their requirements and run a mini-competition to select theprovider(s).

The OGCbuying.solutions frameworks are available for a two-year duration with the possibilityof two one-year extensions depending on performance. They have been created with sufficientflexibility to allow new products and services to be incorporated as they become available.

The table below details which of the suppliers have been appointed to each of the servicecategories.

OGCbuying.solutions framework agreements

Service category Service description

EEnndd--ttoo--EEnndd Collection from customer – delivery to addressee >> >> >> >> >>

DDoowwnnssttrreeaamm Collection from customer – to Royal Mail for delivery AAcccceessss ((DDSSAA)) to addressee >> >> >> >> >> >>

CCoonnssoolliiddaattiioonn Collection of unsorted mail for End-to-End >> >>

Collection of unsorted mail for DSA >> >> >>

Collection of unsorted mail for collection by Royal Mail or other operator >> >> >>

SSeeccuurree MMaaiill Collection from customer and delivery to addressee of mail items requiring secure mail delivery >> >> >> >> >>

TTrraacckk aanndd TTrraaccee Provision of a track and trace facility at individual bag/tray level as integral part of DSA and End-to-End service >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>

RReessppoonnssee sseerrvviicceess A business reply service >>

PPrreessoorrttaattiioonn ffoorr A sorting service into categories such as job titles iinnbboouunndd ddeelliivveerryy or departments >> >> >>

PPOO BBooxxeess Provision of numbered boxes for delivery ofcustomer mail >> >> >>

UUnnddeelliivveerraabblleess Services dealing with undeliverable mail >> >> >> >> >> >> >>

RReeddiirreeccttiioonn Redirection of mail on change of address >> >>

BBeessppookkee sseerrvviicceess Consultancy, mail audits, data cleansing,document exchange etc >> >> >> >> >> >>

IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall Collection from customer for delivery to overseas addressee >> >> >> >>

TNT Post

DX

DHL Global Mail

SMS

UK Mail

Royal Mail

Mail Plus

LYNX

The Mailing House


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Step four > Get in touch with ESPO and OGCbuying.solutions

We recommend that you contact OGCbuying.solutions and ESPO to discuss your requirementsand the deals on offer. Both organisations are ready to help you make the migration of yourspend a simple and straightforward process.

ESPOKate Shaw0116 294 [email protected]

OGCbuying.solutionsBruce Thomson0151 672 [email protected]

Paul Ridgeon0151 672 [email protected]

Peter Gollop 0113 268 4978 [email protected]

OGCbuying.solutions customer help desk0845 410 2222

What else can you do?

We also recommend that you read the East of England case study on the postal services business process review in Appendix A and discuss the approach with Civica. If you decide togo with Civica using the OGCbuying.solutions framework, Civica can offer a full procurementpackage including any mini-competition you may require.

Your Regional Centre of Excellence will be pleased to discuss any aspect of this guide tohelp you to optimise savings and improve efficiency of your postal services.

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The Regional Centres of Excellence National Procurement Programme, the Office of Government Commerce, professional buying organisations and other bodies are working together to provide as much support as possible to local government to make sure it gets the very best for its money. They are doing this by:

> Sharing information on better deals so that local authorities find it easier than ever to achieve hard cash savings by finding a deal that’s right for them

> Collaborating to lever in the full buying power of the public sector to maximise cash savings

> Sharing and promoting good ideas and better ways of doing things across central and local government

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> How the n

ational and

regional org

anisations

are working

together t

o benefit yo

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> Regional

Centres of

Excellence

contact d

etails

East of England Centre of Excellencewww.eastspace.net/eecpe01603 704 010Regional Director: Mike [email protected]

East Midlands Centre of Excellencewww.emce.gov.uk0115 977 3875 Regional Director: Chris [email protected]

London Centre of Excellencewww.lcpe.gov.uk 020 7934 9967Regional Director: Ken [email protected]

North East Centre of Excellencewww.nece.gov.uk 0191 433 2257Regional Director: David [email protected]

North West Centre of Excellencewww.nwce.gov.uk 0161 342 4080 Regional Director: Colin [email protected]

South East Centre of Excellencewww.sece.gov.uk 01622 696 317 Regional Director: Andrew [email protected]

South West Centre of Excellencewww.swce.gov.uk01305 757 230 Regional Director: Julian [email protected]

West Midlands Centre of Excellencewww.wmcoe.gov.uk 0121 245 0220Regional Director: Andy [email protected]

Yorkshire and the Humber Centre of Excellencewww.yhcoe.rcoe.gov.uk 0113 247 5252Regional Director: Tony [email protected]

Regional Centres of Excellence National Procurement Programme01603 704 015Programme Director: Steve [email protected]

Programme Management Teamwww.rcoe.gov.uk020 7944 4145Programme Manager: Peter [email protected]

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Appendix A > East of England case study

12

SHOWCASING GOOD PRACTICE

Postal Services Pilot

Summary

Following the de-regulation of the Postal Market in January 2006, the opportunity for Local Government to make cashable savings with little or no people and process change was identified. Nationally, LocalGovernment spend in this area is approximately£200m p.a. and with savings available to be deliveredimmediately following the review, this initiative was highlighted as one which could be adopted within all Authorities, relatively painlessly and with impressive Return On Investment (ROI).

Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s Head of Customer Services, Clare Metcalf said:

“The Authority is thrilled to be part ofthis contract for the provision of postalservices. We have been able to do thisthrough the delivery of our reshapingservices programme and the Council is looking forward to realizing the benefits offered by this project. This is a good demonstration of how we canspend public money more effectively.”

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eastspace.net/eecpe

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Project Background In January 2006, the market for business to residential mail became de-regulated allowing alternative suppliers to commence mail operations in the UK. In March 2006 the National Audit Office produced a document entitled “Improving the efficiency of postal services procurement in the public sector”. This identified that there was a significant opportunity for the Public Sector to review its postal costs and to consider moving to alternative suppliers.

Driven by the deregulation of Postal Services, the RCE - East identified the opportunity for significant regional savings and service improvements to be delivered through the adoption of a properly planned and co-ordinated approach to this corporate services area.

Opportunity The Public Sector spends around £650m p.a. on postal procurement and substantial savings are achievable: cashable efficiency savings estimated at £20m plus are achievable across local government in a twelve month period. In local government the opportunity togenerate cashable savings within a very short timescale(less that 6 months) was significant.

Using the Norfolk and Suffolk County areas together with Peterborough and Thurrock unitary councils as a pilot, the RCE - East commissioned an initial research project (£260k), supported by Civica Systems Ltd, to make visible the current postal service baseline position and to identify and subsequently deliver direct efficiency savings to individual authorities. Working with an OGC Buying Solutions framework contract for postal services, procurement can be undertaken through this framework with a high degree of confidence.

Methodology The RCE - East carried out a major trial of the postal service review with Civica Systems Ltd. For each of the 18 participating authorities the trial included:

> A detailed analysis of the current postal spend > Mapping of current business processes and practice > Recommendations for further efficiencies > Completion of a business case for change > Co-ordination of procurement for an alternative supplier and

> Service transition management

These activities allowed visibility of spend within each authority and included:

> Assessment of day to day and ad hoc mailing > Docket book and franking machine data analysis> Identification of recorded and special deliveries > Class and weight of mail> Financial systems check

Outputs included the identification of quick wins and process reviews, together with alternative procurement options. This contributed to an overall summary spending assessment for each authority together with recommendations for efficiencies.

Benefits The 18 Authorities involved were the counties and districts of Norfolk and Suffolk and the unitary councils of Thurrock and Peterborough. The results were impressive:

> Collectively these authorities spend on post £4.95m p.a.

> By changing supplier they will save £1.04m p.a. > District councils will save on average £32,000 p.a. > Unitary councils will save on average £100,000 p.a. > County councils will save on average £200,000 p.a.

To date, the RCE - East pilot project has identified in excess of £1m p.a. cashable savings collectively for the participating authorities.

Critical success factors and lessons learned Managing the market uptake is fundamental to the successful delivery of high quality services. Engagement and communication with the market was critical to ensure relationships were developed with the supply chain and to highlight the East as a ‘priority’ area.

In evaluating procurement options, cost, timescale of change and resource capability are important factors. Careful assessment of supplier appetite for open competition and contract types, pooling volumes, quality and price guarantees are also fundamentally important.

Councils should be realistic as to their ability to release core management capacity to undertake such a review. Whilst the time frame is not extensive, a properly resourced, fit for purpose review should be achievable within two to three months. It does require focused attention and a degree of specialist knowledge including:

> Awareness of Postal Services and de-regulation > Pricing in proportion mechanisms > Understanding of Local Government and the wider Public Sector

> Awareness of the OGC Buying Solutions Framework Contract

> Awareness of ESPO Contract > Change management expertise > E-enabled document management skills/ experience, DIP and Work flow, EDRMS etc

> Programme/Project Management > People Skills/Experience

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Should councils wish to engage specialist help, the following may be considered:

> Customer Support offered by OGC.buying solutions, ESPO and some of the PostComm approved suppliers

> Civica Systems Ltd

Risks Whilst this is a relatively low risk initiative, it is important that the market is able to respond effectively and in a timely manner to increasing volumes. Within its pilot, the RCE - East adopted a collaborative and co-ordinated countywide approach to the market to ease the transition and this model is recommended to authorities in order to control the volume of new customers switching at any particular time.

Roll-out across the rest of the region The RCE - East is delighted with the benefits from this pilot project and consideration is now being given to how this initiative might be rolled out with Civica support across the rest of the East of England with anticipated savings for the region being £6m year on year.

Contacts

Kathryn Rowe Assistant Director Improvement and Collaboration Regional Centre of Excellence East Telephone 07789 616941 Email [email protected]

Paul Tonks Managing Director - Consultancy Civica Systems Ltd Telephone 01709 786786 Email [email protected]

Appendix B > Alternative mail service providers

This appendix provides a brief overview of each mail service provider. It is not an exhaustive list of postalservice providers. For a full list of providers licensed by Postcomm, visit www.psc.gov.uk Please note thatthe comments offered here on services represent a snapshot and may change.

AMP-Citipost Alternative Mail and Parcels Ltd was originally formed in 1997 and acquired Citipost Europe Ltd in December 2004. AMP-Citipost describes itself as an end-to-end mail and courier service provider. AMPwas issued with a seven year licence for bulk mail, consolidation and B2B tracked post by Postcomm inNovember 2004. AMP-Citipost has 150 employees and has five centres within London and one each inthe Midlands, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Cornwall and Swindon. It is also considering opening centres in other locations. Current capability is all manual sort although thecompany is investigating some automated sort.

DHL Global MailDHLGM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN), a holding company which includes: Deutsche Post AG, the German National Postal Authority; DHL Air and Ocean, formerly DanzasAir and Ocean; DHL Freight, formerly Danzas Eurocargo; DHL Solutions, formerly Danzas Solutions; DHLExpress, formerly DHL Worldwide Express and Deutsche Post Euro Express. DPWN is continuing its expansion in the UK by acquiring logistics company Exel plc. In March 2004, Postcomm awarded DHLGMa licence for bulk mailings, consolidation and enhanced DX mail services.

DX Network Services DX is a subsidiary of DX Services plc and was demerged from Hays plc in June 2004. It has 30 years’ experience as a postal operator, initially offering the document exchange service delivering early morning,next day mail, and currently delivers to approximately 4,500 UK-wide exchanges for around 27,000 customers. In 1996, DX acquired ICS, integrating its parcels service to retail and branch networks with the document exchange operation. In January 2003, DX began delivering early morning next day mail directly to UK businesses. On 3 October 2005, DX launched a ‘take all’ service, passing residential and non-urgent mail to Royal Mail for delivery. A zonal DSA agreement is currently under negotiation withRoyal Mail. The company’s turnover in the year to June 2005 was £126.9m. In June 2004, Postcomm issued DX with a licence for bulk mail, consolidation, enhanced document exchange and tracked business-to-business services.

GeoPost UKGeoPost is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GeoPost Holdings Ltd which is in turn owned by La Poste – thesecond largest postal operation in Europe. In the UK, it uses the brands Mailplus, Parceline and InterlinkExpress. GeoPost started in 1962 and offers a secure express parcel and document delivery service. ItsPostcomm licence is with Mailplus Ltd for bulk mail and consolidation services and runs for a minimum ofseven years from April 2005. Mailplus uses the resources of the Parceline delivery network. Bulk mail iscollected, sorted at Parceline’s Superhub for forward distribution to Royal Mail. Final delivery is then madeby Royal Mail.

Government Car and Despatch AgencyGCDA is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office. It employs approximately 300 people and provides a range of mail and courier services to government departments as well as providing cars and drivers to ministers and other senior officials. Whilst not a direct competitor with the other companies, it has contracts to provide courier and secure mail services with a large number of departments.

Lynx ExpressLynx Express is a privately-owned (by UPS) UK-based distribution company with turnover in excess of£160m and over 3,500 employees. Lynx has several other divisions including International, Mail, Partsflowand Solutions. Lynx Mail focuses on international mail services. Lynx holds a seven-year Postcomm licence for mail consolidation services. Lynx introduced a Downstream Access service on 1st May 2005. It has three sorting centres (Nuneaton, London and Leyland) and each centre is equipped to sort mailitems manually.

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Appendix B > continued

Racer Consultancy Management Services Racer is an independent postal and courier operator providing UK and international services. It wasformed in 1991 and in May 2005 was awarded a licence by Postcomm for providing bulk mail, consolidated mail and tracked business-to-business mail services.

Special Mail Services The company was formed in 1991 and was then known as Special Delivery Services, changing its name to SMS in 2002. SMS is currently licensed by Postcomm to deliver bulk mail to the end user, and to consolidate mail from different customers for final delivery by Royal Mail. This licence was awarded in October 2004. SMS currently has 30 strategic locations throughout the UK. The majority of sorting is automatically processed at its head office operation, whilst on-site processes are undertaken at someclient locations.

The Mailing House Group The Mailing House was formed in December 1985 and provides a variety of direct mail, response management, storage and fulfilment services from large-scale direct mail requirements. The Mailing Househas applied for a Postcomm licence for bulk mail and mail consolidation services and expects this to beawarded in the future.

TNT Mail UK TNT Mail is owned by PTT Post Holdings Ltd and its ultimate parent is TNT NV (formerly TPG NV). TNT NVis a global provider of mail, express and logistics services, using its two brands TNT and Royal TPG Post,the Royal Dutch Post Service. The group employs over 161,000 people in 63 countries and serves over200 countries. TNT Mail has 175 employees in the UK. TNT Mail has a seven-year Postcomm licence tocarry bulk mail, provide consolidation services, provide enhanced document exchange services, and provide tracked business-to-business services.

In common with most other providers, TNT Mail uses Royal Mail to deliver post over ‘the final mile’, and isinvestigating setting up its own end-to-end delivery service, although this is unlikely to replicate the wholeof Royal Mail’s network.

UK Mail UK Mail was established in 1986 and became the UK’s first alternative mail provider to sign a DownstreamAccess agreement with Royal Mail in May 2004. It provides a mail consolidation and distribution servicefor UK and International mail to UK based companies. It is a subsidiary of Business Post plc which wasoriginally established in 1971 and registered as a PLC in 1993. UK Mail’s current licence with Postcomm is for consolidation, allowing it to carry mail of any type, in any volume, from any customer and to consolidate and sort the mail for handover to Royal Mail for local sorting and final delivery to addressees.

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Appendix C > Royal Mail’s services

This appendix outlines the principal services offered by Royal Mail. This is not an exhaustive list and itshould be noted that many of the services have a series of variants offering further discounts dependingon volumes and the degree of preparation undertaken by the customer. Other mail companies will use different titles for their services, but will usually make comparisons with the closest Royal Mail product.

Standard Tariff Letter (STL) – STL First Class and Second Class services are the traditional methods ofsending post using stamps, Smartstamp, meter machines or Royal Mail Account using Postage PrintedIndicia (PPI) envelopes.

Cleanmail – Cleanmail is a service for customers sending at least 1,000 letters for delivery within the UKand can prepare the mail for automated sorting. There is a series of variants to the service that make useof technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) and machine-readable barcodes (CBC).

Mailsort – Mailsort is a service offering lower prices for UK mailings of over 4,000 items on any given day,either OCR-readable or customer barcoded, and pre-sorted by the customer. All items in the mailing mustbe sorted in accordance with the current Mailsort Database and bundled and bagged. At least 90% ofitems must be fully and accurately postcoded. Other variants are available for larger volumes.

Walksort – Walksort is a low cost service for large volumes of mail reaching 10% of households within a delivery area. All items in the mailing must be sorted in accordance with the current Walksort Databaseand bundled and bagged. 100% of items in the mailing must be fully and accurately addressed and postcoded.

Consolidation – Consolidation involves collecting unsorted machinable mail items from a customer site(s)and consolidating and sorting them to achieve greatest possible volume discounts. The items are thenconveyed and delivered either to the final addressee (end-to-end service) or to a Royal Mail access point(DSA). It may also include collecting unsorted non-machinable (dirty mail) from a customer site(s) and consolidate and mailsort to achieve greatest possible volume discounts and deliver either to final addressee (end-to-end service) or to a Royal Mail access point (DSA).

Secure – A range services for the customer which may include, but is not limited to: Secure Post (signature required), Secure Post (signature not required) and Disguised Mail. Items are conveyed and delivered to the relevant addresses within the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. The customershould be provided with an online and/or telephone facility to enable the tracking of individual secure mail items, from time of collection from the customer to the point of delivery to the addressee.

Mailmedia – Mailmedia is a service for sending advertising mail (e.g. a communication consisting solely of advertising, marketing or publicity material which comprises an identical message to all recipients). The mailing must also include a response device. Addresses must be printed in an OCR-readable font toassist automated sorting. A series of variants is available depending on volumes, speed of initial deliveryand speed of return delivery.

Presstream – Presstream is a delivery service for UK newspapers, newsletters, journals and magazines.Items are sorted into Mailsort order with discounts available on top of a straight line pricing formula forpre-sorted items. Variants are available depending on speed of delivery and pre-sorting for Royal Mail delivery walks.

Packetpost – Packetpost is a packet delivery service for items over 60g with fixed prices based on theaverage weight of items. There are variants of the service based on speed of delivery and annual volumes.

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Appendix D > Service areas and coverage

For a description of each of these services, please see Appendix B – Royal Mail’s services. Please notethat the market is undergoing constant change and the latest position on companies’ product offeringsshould be checked with them.

COMPANY

ROYAL MAIL N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2CC2B C2B C2B

AMP-CITIPOST R B2B B2B B2B

DHL R/N B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2CC2B C2B C2B

DX N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C

GEOPOST UK N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C B2C

LYNX N B2B B2C

RACER N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C B2C

SMS N B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C

THE MAILING N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BHOUSE B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C

TNT N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C

UK MAIL N B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2B B2BB2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C B2C

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COVERAGE: NATIONAL/REGIONAL

STL

CLEANMAIL

MAILSORT

WALKSORT

CONSOLIDATION

SECURE

MAILMEDIA

PRESSTREAM

PACKETPOST

Appendix E > Bespoke services

This Appendix gives a brief overview of the bespoke services that each provider can offer outside of the Royal Mail-type product set.

Royal MailRoyal Mail offers a wide range of bespoke services including Selectapost, Presorted Delivery, mail screening, timed deliveries, and tracking and tracing facilities.

AMP-CitipostAMP’s Specific Delivery service offers an end-to-end service as per the company’s coverage areas.

DHL Global MailDHLGM can offer a number of bespoke mail services, covering Zonal analysis and injection to Downstream Access, through to Internal Mail collection, sorting and delivery to a nationwide branch or office network.

DXDX provides three additional services: Reflex – collections of single items to pallets requested on an ad-hoc basis through a DX Call Centre; CheckPoint – a pm collection of customised, sealed, tamper proofpouches of cheques from customer sites, tracked to bank clearing centres; and Tracked Specimens (Category A and B) – health sector specific door-to-door collection and delivery.

GeoPost UKGeoPost can provide bespoke mail services covering mail room services and collection through to delivery.

LynxLynx offers a range of bespoke services that includes warehousing, mail sorting services, and samedaydelivery.

RacerRacer offers a range of international mail and courier services which can be integrated with its domesticofferings. It also provides database handling, mailmerging and fulfilment services.

SMSSMS offers a wide range of bespoke services which include placing staff on the customer’s site, late collection times, varying levels of security, opportunities for redirection and the possibility of recalling an item before delivery.

The Mailing HouseThe Mailing House offers a range of collection services as well as regional (zonal) downstream accessservices and national consolidated services.

TNT MailTNT Mail offers a service called TNT Mail Day Definite which allows the customer to specify the date onwhich the mail will be delivered. Using fellow subsidiary CD Ltd, TNT Mail can offer a range of letterboxdistribution services using targeting techniques.

UK Mail UK Mail states that it is eager to understand customers’ specific needs and to design and implement appropriate solutions. It has previously provided a number of customer-led variations to its standard products and services.

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Appendix F > Glossary of terms

Access Mail – A range of products where customers and alternative mail providers use Royal Mail’s services for delivery, but by-pass its traditional collection services. Mail is delivered directly to mail centres or delivery offices.

B2B – Business to business. B2C – Business to consumer. C2B – Consumer to business. C2C – Consumer to consumer.

Delivery Office (DO) – One of around 1,400 Royal Mail offices from which mail is passed for final delivery.

Direct Customer Access (DCA) – Customers bypass Royal Mail collection (and alternative mail providers)and pass their mail direct to Royal Mail mail centres.

Downstream Access (DSA) – (See also Access Mail and Downstream) Where customers and alternativemail providers by-pass Royal Mail’s traditional collection services, delivering mail directly to mail centresor delivery offices for Royal Mail to deliver to the recipient.

Downstream – This refers to that part of the supply chain that relates to the sorting of mail for transfer to mail centres and delivery offices and then on to delivery by the Royal Mail. (Compare with definition for Upstream.)

End-to-End – From collection right through to delivery.

Inward Mail Centre (IMC) – One of around 70 centres used by Royal Mail for the sorting of mail before distribution to its delivery offices prior to delivery.

Machinable – Mail that can be sorted by automated sorting machines. There is a series of variants to theservice that make use of technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) and machine-readable barcodes (CBC).

Universal Service Obligation (USO) – Royal Mail is under obligation to provide a ‘universal service.’This means that everyone – no matter where they live – will continue to receive an affordable daily delivery.The universal service also includes the ‘one price goes anywhere’ stamp, as well as daily deliveries toevery home and business, six days a week and collections of mail every day except Sunday.

Upstream – Refers to that part of the supply chain that relates to collection (and possibly consolidation)and sorting in preparation for transfer to Royal Mail mail centres or delivery offices. (Compare with definition for Downstream.)

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t h e · 2014-08-29 · [email protected] Peter Gollop 0113 268 4978...

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Transcript of t h e · 2014-08-29 · [email protected] Peter Gollop 0113 268 4978...