LTB 458/19 - Royal Mail and the CWU: Final Mile Optimisation (FMO) Joint Launch Communication

[Sir Henry]

If you can't blind them with science baffle them with bullshit. Our rep who is supposedly au fait with the tools at the moment can't explain why the docket kings and blue eyed boys never seem to be on the IPS for more than five minutes whilst others are on for 30-55 mins.

[SpacePhoenix]

And the only performance standards Royal Mail have apart from working safely is that we focus on the quality of service; not the quantity. Its something I often tell rookie managers who are still a bit wet behind the ears. Its things like scanning collection boxes or scanning packets with barcodes or its ensuring that we slip packets when customers are not in or even leave with neighbour only if its safe and reliable to do so. Managers tend to look at things like customer complaints and PDA scanning failures first.

Like it or not, having 2d barcodes on all parcels will happen eventually, when it does they'll be able to see what each walk has and generate a target time for it to be done in. I think perfornace standards for both indoor and outdoor for DOs and indoor for MCs will be brought in eventually

[postslippete]

Why would they need a target time for indoor MCs - surely you can only work as fast as the machine??

I'm sure Royal Mail will produce target times for doing the outdoor duty in but if it's like the current indoor work tool, they just don't mean anything. For example,we got some guys having to prep their own duty in 1 hour 15 minutes whilst others are having to fully prep 2 similar sized duties in the same time. Will these guys all of a sudden be failing the indoor work test even though they have been posties for years?? The same goes for outdoor work - there are already big imbalances in the walks now because of posties coming in early for nowt and tearing round. Just using PDA actuals is not revealing the woods from the trees,and knowing Royal Mail as I do,they won't do it properly as they should.

[SpacePhoenix]

I wonder if in the long term RM will have it so that for all mail it gets scanned to a box (flats, letters & D2D) or a sleeve (packets) (inc Tracked and SDs). Each box or sleeve gets scanned to a york. Each york gets scanned to a work area or a lorry and any yorks going on a lorry get scanned to it when loaded and then scanned out of it when unloaded. Possibly each lorry gets scanned/allocated to a run.

In theory the office at the other end can see exactly what they've got coming, combined with van/lorry tracking they could move staff around to clear a particular section if that section will be getting a lot of work on their next lorry/van

[Celgar]

Please can someone explain the consequences of all these changes in layman's terms and what it means for deliveries.....Thanks.

The basic plan as I understand it is the revise the walk route planning software so instead of it being based on 'service lines' eg electricity cables and water pipes it will be based on address data used by the emergency services such as the fire brigade. My own personal quibble on this plan is that we posties have the local knowledge and could compile the data in house ourselves which would likely be more accurate. We can't be trusted though can we!!!!!
The additional changes could be using PDA data to compile performance data or develop seasonal walk routes or duties the idea of which resembles the zero hours contract format. This is where it starts to get worrying. My own thoughts are that the union need to ditch the SWW idea and start fighting the more worrying stuff which will result in thousands of job losses and leave us with jobs that are not worth having. The job still takes the same amount of time if not more to complete so trying to take hours away from us and make us work later in the day with the SWW is just not acceptable.

[SpacePhoenix]

The SWW never had a hope in hell of ever happening

[Thailand1]

The basic plan as I understand it is the revise the walk route planning software so instead of it being based on 'service lines' eg electricity cables and water pipes it will be based on address data used by the emergency services such as the fire brigade. My own personal quibble on this plan is that we posties have the local knowledge and could compile the data in house ourselves which would likely be more accurate. We can't be trusted though can we!!!!!
The additional changes could be using PDA data to compile performance data or develop seasonal walk routes or duties the idea of which resembles the zero hours contract format. This is where it starts to get worrying. My own thoughts are that the union need to ditch the SWW idea and start fighting the more worrying stuff which will result in thousands of job losses and leave us with jobs that are not worth having. The job still takes the same amount of time if not more to complete so trying to take hours away from us and make us work later in the day with the SWW is just not acceptable.


SPOT ON!!!!

[SpacePhoenix]

The additional changes could be using PDA data to compile performance data or develop seasonal walk routes or duties the idea of which resembles the zero hours contract format.

DO staff probably need to be concerned about the increase in automation in MCs, it'll probably reach a point where it'll be possible for RM to dynamically generate walks based on what's heading to the DO

[citypostie]

The additional changes could be using PDA data to compile performance data or develop seasonal walk routes or duties the idea of which resembles the zero hours contract format.

DO staff probably need to be concerned about the increase in automation in MCs, it'll probably reach a point where it'll be possible for RM to dynamically generate walks based on what's heading to the DO

They can dynamically generate walks all they want, it won't mean what they want people to do will be achievable. And once we are all timed every minute of every day and electronically signed in and out all the goodwill will be gone and even the fastest "runner" will be taking a leisurely stroll, trying 10 neighbours to get rid of every packet that doesn't go through a letterbox and playing royal mail at their own game. Failures galore unless mangers want to deliver into the early evening, and then big fines from ofcom. Rico might want to be a parcels company but it isn't his choice, royal mail are lumbered with the uso and that isn't going to change, maybe they won't have to deliver letters 6 days a week but they will always have to deliver those annoying letters

[SpacePhoenix]

The additional changes could be using PDA data to compile performance data or develop seasonal walk routes or duties the idea of which resembles the zero hours contract format.

DO staff probably need to be concerned about the increase in automation in MCs, it'll probably reach a point where it'll be possible for RM to dynamically generate walks based on what's heading to the DO

They can dynamically generate walks all they want, it won't mean what they want people to do will be achievable. And once we are all timed every minute of every day and electronically signed in and out all the goodwill will be gone and even the fastest "runner" will be taking a leisurely stroll,

I think by the time it reaches that point RM will have brought in outdoor performance standards

[citypostie]

If they want to bring in a system where walks are generated on a daily basis depending on mail going into offices they would be better off having everyone on zero hours contracts so they can just get the number of people in each day required depending on how many deliveries are created by the all singing and dancing system. If they ever manage to get a system in place to change the numbers if walks and content daily I'd actually love to see how it's managed!