MTAC Workgroup 102 Update Advance Notification, Streamlined Acceptance & Visibility for First-Class Mail

1. MTAC Workgroup 102 UpdateAdvance Notification, Streamlined Acceptance & Visibility for First-Class Mail November 2007

2. Issue Statement and Desired Results • Issue Statement - Define capabilities of advance notification, streamlined acceptance and visibility for First-Class Mail • Develop an approach for First-Class Mail notification and visibility. • Develop an approach for First-Class Mail mailers to provide mailing information electronically using standardized platforms such as mail.dat, web services or postage statement wizard • Develop an approach to communicate this advance notification downstream through postal supply chain • Develop an approach to leverage barcodes to identify assets and mailpieces to streamline acceptance and for additional visibility • Develop an approach to provide visibility at asset level, such as tray scans from air carriers, in conjunction with the piece level information that is available through Confirm today

3. Electronic Mailing Information • Modified Mail.dat to accommodate First-Class Mail • Pilot participants using Mail.dat, PDR and ADIS to submit mailing information • Postage Statement Wizard accommodates First-Class Mail • Workgroup under MTAC 117 to complete implementation of Web Services with vendor participation

4. Advance Notification • Develop an approach for First-Class Mail notification and visibility. • Support measurement of start-the-clock and service performance. • With mailer advance notification, USPS can improve operations and service performance for First-Class Mail: • Transportation Optimization • Better route planning for Air Lift and Surface Transportation • Processing • Better forecast of mail volumes and machine utilization • Staffing • Enable USPS to forecast resource staffing based on expected mail volume

5. Advance Notification Overview • USPS can give better service performance measurement to First-Class mailers provided that the following can be supplied by mailers: • Advance notification of First-Class mail: • Mailer plant loads (USPS Pick-up and Contracted routes) • USPS drops (BMEU verification and Seamless) • Will help USPS planning for Operational activities and the necessary resources to process mail • Forecasting information • Pilot data indicated that SPLY (Same Period Last Year) data was within 3% when used to forecast • Some customers are able to provide SPLY while others are able to forecast • Will allow USPS to gather and analyze data for transportation optimization of air and ground transportation if data is known

6. Advance Notification • Although USPS understands that complete data may not be available until induction, high level induction information is beneficial. USPS would require: • Induction Facility • Induction Date • Estimated induction time • Estimated volume • Type of MTE used in preparation • Currently, advance notification of First-Class Mail volume is unknown to the USPS. • Advance notification will help the USPS begin to build a profile of incoming First-Class Mail to understand mail volumes by facility, seasonality, etc. • Advance notification is necessary for USPS to measure Service Performance Measurement

7. Advance Notification Progress • March/April 2007 • Began analysis of mailing trends based off of mail.dat information submitted to Seamless Acceptance and user reports • May 2007 – July 2007 • Conducted FAST for First-Class Pilot • Mailers were able to supply forecast and JIT information to USPS • August 2007 – October 2007 • Completed Requirements and Design for FAST for First-Class

8. Advance Notification Next Steps • Implement solution in FAST to capture advance notification and provide visibility back to the mailers • Integration of FAST with the Seamless Acceptance and Service Performance initiatives • Integration of FAST with USPS Transportation and Planning Systems • Integration with PostalOne! payment and verification systems • Implementation of FAST for First-Class will provide mailers the: • Ability to submit advance notification of loads to USPS • Visibility into induction data • Ability to track Advance Notification against actual • FAST for First-Class will be in place in Summer of 2008

9. Barcodes & Visibility • Additional Barcode visibility elements defined • Container Barcodes, Tray Barcodes • Retrieved Container Scan and Tray scan Data in Pilot • Container/Pallet Scan Data from Surface Visibility • Tray Scan Data from PostalOne! Transportation Management • Air Transport Tray Data from SASS • Finalizing Recommendations for Scan Data formats

10. Sunset prior to Next MTAC