Seamless Acceptance. Introduction Benefits Requirements Scorecard Verifications Postage...

Seamless Acceptance

Introduction Benefits Requirements Scorecard Verifications Postage Assessment Onboarding

2

Seamless Acceptance Agenda

Seamless Acceptance is a fundamental shift from the traditional verification model, which was an up-front manual verification process on a per mailing basis Seamless measures the quality of a Mail Preparer’s process over a calendar month to

identify trends in mail quality issues rather than isolated poor quality incidents Measurement is done post induction and no longer allows a mailer to rework and

resubmit a mailing

3

Seamless Acceptance Introduction

Traditional Verification

Mail quality determined based on a per mailing basis

Seamless Verification

All mailings submitted in an entire calendar month are used to

determine quality on an aggregate basis

MAIL QUALITY

MAIL QUALITY

4

The complete Seamless Acceptance process automates and streamlines mail induction and verification

Seamless Entry

(3) Capture data by handheld scanner (FS-IMD) at acceptance or induction

(1) Mailers submit eDoc for all mailings, which will include:

• Unique Barcodes• Piece data provided

(2) Auto-finalize postage statements2

3

Mail Preparation

Submit Mailing

Information

Mail Induction & Scanning

Reconcile & Report

(6) Detailed mail quality reporting

(5) Compare data scans to electronic documentation

(4) Capture data by MPE scans

1

45

6

Seamless Acceptance Introduction

5

93 mailers are on Seamless Acceptance and another 356 are on Seamless Parallel reviewing their reports and preparing to transition

AUTOFINALIZATIONELECTRONIC POSTAGE

STATEMENTS

TREND BASED QUALITY

MANAGEMENT

STANDARDIZED AUTOMATED

VERIFICATIONS

STREAMLINED MAIL ACCEPTANCE

SEAMLESS ACCEPTANCE BENEFITS

Seamless Acceptance Benefits

RE

QU

IRE

ME

NT

S

Seamless Acceptance requires unique Intelligent Mail barcodes on all mailpieces, trays, and containers regardless of the rate they are paid. It also requires electronic documentation of mailing information (eDoc).

Electronic Documentation (eDoc)

Submit Electronically

Submit Postage Statement

Information & Supporting

Documentation like Qualification

Reports electronically for

all mail

eInduction

Participate in eInduction if

creating drop-shipments

Specify Barcodes

Barcode Information for

Containers included in eDoc

6

Intelligent Mail Barcode

Mailpiece Barcode

Apply unique Intelligent

Mail barcodes (IMb) to

identify each postcard,

letter and flat mailpiece

regardless of rate

Tray Barcode

Apply unique Intelligent Mail tray barcodes (IMtb) on

trays, tubs and sacks

Container Barcode

Apply unique Intelligent

Mail container barcodes (IMcb) on

placards for containers,

such as pallets or

APCs, when required

6

Seamless Acceptance Requirements

Additional Requirements Beyond Full Service

7

Seamless Acceptance OnboardingMailers preparing over 90% of eligible mail for Full-Service are candidates for Seamless. The path to Seamless Acceptance starts with on-boarding to Seamless Parallel:

Ensure mail meets Seamless requirements

• Mail Seamless eligible Mail Classes and Processing Categories*

Contact BMS Analyst to move to Seamless Parallel

• Seamless Parallel provides a test period before moving onto Seamless Acceptance

Provide unique barcodes for all pieces

• Work toward barcoding 100% pieces with unique IMb (Auto and Non-Auto)

Submit eDoc for all automation mailings

• Ensure that eDoc includes piece level detail (.pdr, .pbc, Mail PieceBlock)

• Review new eDoc warnings for Seamless

* Eligible Mail Classes include First Class, Standard, Periodicals, and Bound Printed Matter Eligible Processing Categories include Letters, Cards, and Flats

8

Seamless Acceptance OnboardingOnce on Seamless Parallel, mailers can work with USPS to understand mail quality results and prepare for Seamless Acceptance:

Review Seamless results on the Mailer Scorecard

• Evaluate results against the “Mailer Contact” Thresholds

Work with USPS to identify the root causes of any issues

• Resolve any mail preparation issues identified in Parallel

Demonstrate mail quality under thresholds

• Quality must be maintained for at least one calendar month

Activate to Seamless Acceptance

Weight

Electronic Documentation

Sampling

Mail Processing Equipment

Have all the pieces been paid for?

Are the pieces addressed correctly?

Is the mailing prepared correctly?

Undocumented Delivery Point

Barcode Quality

Postage

Nesting / SortationMail

Characteristic

Mail will be verified through the comparison of eDoc to data gathered as the mail is processed and sampled Seamless Acceptance assures revenue by using these main

verification types to answer 3 main questions:

9

Seamless Verifications

Each verification determines Seamless Acceptance compliance and answers one of the three key questions:

10

Is the mailing prepared correctly?

Are the pieces addressed correctly?Have all the pieces been paid for?

Undocumented (Piece)Piece barcode is paid for and included in an eDoc

Delivery PointConfirms that 5-, 9-, or 11-digit delivery point in the IMb is valid

Weight Physical weight matches the weight in the eDoc

Postage Postage affixed matches the eDoc

Mail CharacteristicMail traits match eDoc (processing category; class; non-profit; etc.)

Barcode Quality (Piece)IMbs are formatted per USPS standards

Nesting/SortationPhysical sortation meets mail preparation rules


10

Results are from eDoc, Manual sampling, and Census verification over a calendar month for Seamless Acceptance or Seamless Parallel

The tab is broken into 2 main sections and types of metrics, depending on how the data is obtained

11

Mailer Scorecard: Seamless

From MPE Scans

From Sampling

Seamless also has a Mailer Scorecard report

1. CRID Seamless Status: Indicates if the eDoc submitter CRID is enabled for Seamless Acceptance or Seamless Acceptance Parallel Processing

2. % Seamless Acceptance Jobs: The number of Seamless Acceptance Jobs as a percentage of the total number of jobs submitted in eDoc

3. # Seamless Acceptance Containers: The number of containers marked for Seamless Acceptance processing from eDoc

4. # Seamless Acceptance Handling Units: The number of handling units marked for Seamless Acceptance processing from eDoc

5. # Seamless Acceptance Pieces: The number of pieces marked for Seamless Acceptance processing from eDoc


12

6. % Volume Seamless Acceptance: The number of pieces marked for Seamless Acceptance processing as a percentage of the total number of pieces claimed in eDocumentation

7. Sampling Quality Score: Mailer Quality based on a weighted average of manual sampling errors and piece barcode scan rates over the previous 3 months

8. % Seamless Acceptance Jobs not Auto-Finalized: The number of Seamless Acceptance jobs that were not auto-finalized as a percentage of the number of Seamless Acceptance jobs

9. Piece Scan Rate: The total number of unique piece scans as a percentage of the total number of unique pieces associated to an eDoc


13

10. Adjusted Scan Rate: # of unique piece scans as % of number of unique pieces associated to eDoc excluding pieces where scan isn’t expected based on mail class, processing category, rate category, entry type facility, non-automation zones or high reject MPE machine runs


14

% Undocumented Pieces ErrorMailer Contact threshold is 0.3%Egregious threshold is 0.8%

Error Calculation:

11. % Undocumented Pieces: The number of piece scans from Mail Processing Equipment and Sampling that could not be associated to an eDoc as a percentage of the total number of undocumented pieces and documented pieces from eDoc

15 15

Undocumented “Book-ending”A back-end enhancement changes how Undocumented pieces are associated and assigned to mailers:• Previously, this process was based

solely off of the mailer MID• Now, this association categorizes

pieces based on surrounding piece scans (known as “bookends”) as the mail is scanned on MPE

• As a result, pieces can be assigned to other CRIDs and impact how Undocumented piece counts are determined for a mailer


15

% Nesting/Sortation ErrorsMailer Contact Threshold is 1%Egregious threshold is 3%

Error Calculation:


16

12. % Nesting/Sortation Errors (MPE): The number of piece nesting/sortation from mail processing scanning errors as a percentage of the number of total pieces from eDoc


17

13. % Delivery Point Piece Errors: The number of piece delivery point verification (DPV) validation errors as a percentage of the number of pieces processed for eDoc validations

% Delivery Point Errors:Mailer Contact threshold is 2%Egregious threshold is 5%Error Calculation:

To Investigate and Fix This Error:• Common root causes for delivery

point verification errors may be:o Mailer is not using a CASS

certified system. CASS = Coding Accuracy Support System, was designed to improve the accuracy of postal codes

• Ask mailer what software they are usingo Ensure the software is certified


14. # Containers Sampled: The number of containers samples taken.

18

15. # Handling Units Sampled: The number of handling units samples taken.

16. # Pieces Sampled: The number of piece samples taken.

To Investigate and Fix This Error, consider the following:• Was there an Invalid Zip Code

designated?• Was there incorrect nesting?

% Nesting/Sortation Errors (Sampling)Postage Adjustment Factor is 1.05

Error Calculation:

Nesting/Sortation Errors (Sampling)A nesting/sortation error will be logged if any of the following conditions are met when sampling scans are compared to eDoc:• Nesting of FS-IMD Container sampling scans

to FS-IMD Piece sampling scans does not match nesting in the eDoc

• The destination ZIP code of the FS-IMD Piece Scans parent FS-IMD Handling Unit does not match the destination ZIP code of the associated eDoc piece’s parent Handling Unit

The % Nesting/Sortation Piece Errors is the total number of nesting/sortation validation errors as a percentage of the total number of piece samples


19

Weight Piece Errors

Weight errors occur when the weight of the physical piece is different than what is claimed in the eDoc and crosses a weight category OR exceeds a threshold set for pound postage

This error is generated when, in the sample scan: • The sampled piece weight does not

match the weight for the piece in the eDoc and the difference would cross a price level for the class and processing category (e.g. moving a First-Class letter from 1.2 oz to 3.1 oz.)

The % Weight Piece Errors is the total number of piece weight validation errors as a percentage of the total number of pieces sampled

To Investigate and Fix This Error:• A common root cause for Weight Piece errors may be:

o Weight populated incorrectly by mailer in eDoc

% Weight Piece Errors Postage Adjustment Factor is 1.05

Error Calculation:


20

S:\Training\R41 April 2015

Seamless VerificationsPostage Piece Errors

Postage errors are generated when the postage amount, or the postage payment method, on the physical piece in the sample scan does not match the information submitted in the eDoc for the following fields: For a postage affixed mailpiece -

less postage was applied to the mailpiece than was indicated in the eDoc, or,

The postage payment method does not match the eDoc postage payment method

The % Postage Piece Errors is the total number of piece postage validation errors as a percentage of the total number of pieces sampled

21

To Investigate and Fix This Error:A common root cause for Postage Piece errors may be:

• Postage populated incorrectly by mailer in eDoc

% Postage Piece ErrorsPostage Adjustment Factor is 1.05

Error Calculation:

% Mail Characteristic Piece Errors (Sampling)• A Mail Characteristic piece error is

logged when the pieces sampled do not qualify for Standard mail or non-profit rates, or when the processing category of the sampled piece on the device does not match what is claimed in the eDoc

To Investigate and Fix This Error:• Common root causes for Mail

Characteristic piece errors include:o eDoc specifications are not

consistent between the Mail.XML and the Mail.DAT files


22

% Mail Characteristic Piece Errors

Error Calculation:

% Barcode Quality Piece Errors (Sampling)• A barcode quality piece error is

logged when the sample scan had an unreadable barcode or had no barcode on an automation piece. The % Barcode Quality Piece Error is the total number of barcode quality validation errors as a percentage of the total number of piece samples

To Investigate and Fix This Error:• Common root causes for barcode

quality piece errors include:o Ensure all Mail Pieces contain

valid and legible barcodes


23

% Barcode Quality Piece Errors

Error Calculation:

Seamless Acceptance verification results are compared against the established Mailer Contact Threshold and Egregious threshold:

24

VerificationMailer

Contact Threshold

Egregious Threshold

eDoc Census Sampling

Undocumented 0.3% 0.8% X X

Delivery Point 2% 5% X

Nesting/Sortation (MPE)

1% 3% X

Nesting/Sortation (eDoc)

2% 4% X

Nesting/Sortation (Sampling)

1.05* X

Mail Characteristic 1.05* X

Postage 1.05* X

Weight 1.05* X

Barcode Quality 1.05* X


*Three postage adjustment factors, or PAFs—General (for sampling nesting/sortation errors, postage errors, and weight errors), Mail Characteristic and Barcode Quality—are applied to Seamless Acceptance sampling verifications.

Postage Assessment

Mailer Scorecard measures mail quality over a calendar month for Full-Service Intelligent Mail, Move/Update, eInduction, and Seamless Acceptance

Additional postage will be assessed when the total pieces in error exceed an established mail quality threshold

Mail Entry Postage Assessment Report displays the total number of Assessment errors

It is assessed to eDoc submitters (Mail Owner or Mail Preparer) Sent via system generated email to the mailer verification assessment

evaluator (VAE) The postage assessment process takes place the calendar month

following a mailing

27

Postage Assessment Process

28

Questions & Comments

Seamless Acceptance. Introduction Benefits Requirements Scorecard Verifications Postage...

Documents

Transcript of Seamless Acceptance. Introduction Benefits Requirements Scorecard Verifications Postage...