INTEGRA – utilising technology at Spain's Correos
Ruben Munoz, Chief Information Officer, Correos. World Mail & Express Review November 2008
Background
CORREOS delivers mail to over 45m people, some 19m homes and 2m companies. It processes and delivers over 5.9bn pieces of mail a year. With nearly 67,000 employees, CORREOS is the largest Spanish employer, and provides services through around 10,000 post offices and its Virtual Postal Office.
Following organisational change, technological modernisation, commercial reorientation and new models for co-operation, CORREOS now offers a universally accessible postal service that is efficient, of quality, and at an affordable price. It is committed to the satisfaction of its customers and the professional development of its employees.
The focus on IT in a company is fundamental to being able to achieve the highest levels of efficiency and quality, to create new business opportunities, to promote innovation, and to contribute to shared experiences with other companies. This conviction led CORREOS to embark on a global technology programe in 2005, called the INTEGRA Project. This project embraced all the organisation’s products and services, with the objectives of improved quality and efficiency and the development of new activities. In summary, the goal was to use IT resources more efficiently whilst increasing availability, performance and business agility.
The INTEGRA Plan
The INTEGRA Strategic Plan is aligned with business objectives (common goals, common vocabulary, common metrics, etc.) in order to maximise the value of information technology, and to understand and manage the opportunities, risks and impacts of a technology enabled business.
INTEGRA has generated an exponential increase in the capacities of management and processing; a higher automation level in processes; and a better integration between departments. It has created a unique perspective of clients, suppliers and employees; an expanded adaptability to changing business requirements and workload; and provides the greater agility nowadays required in competitive business environments.
INTEGRA brings a unified and integrated solution for management systems and the business operating system, replacing the multiple computer applications CORREOS was using previously. It has applied the latest technology available on the market with the support of strategic technology partners. Information management from a single centralised platform has enabled CORREOS to understand better its own processes, and those of its customers, suppliers and employees, and to adapt more quickly to changing needs.
CORREOS has equipped itself with an infrastructure with a high processing, storage and backup capacity, and a new high speed intranet with a large capacity and availability. It can now offer new value added services such as wireless technologies and mobile devices. INTEGRA is also changing and improving internal processes in IT, and provides improved security and backup systems, ensuring business continuity.
INTEGRA has completely renewed the systems supporting the business operations of CORREOS in three main areas: access and sales in offices, integrated management of despatches, and the online channel (Virtual Post Office).
Access, Sales and Despatches
The new systems for access and sales in offices, and the integrated management of despatches, are based on customised solutions. The new systems have encouraged and enabled the simplification of internal processes and provide total coverage of all unit operations. They provide great interoperability between themselves, with other applications (both business and management), and even with external applications. These are scaleable systems with high performance capacity, providing service simultaneously to 2,200-3,500 centres, and 6,000-29,000 concurrent users.
Of course, much of the organisation’s activity takes place outside its offices and centres. It was therefore important to include applications specifically developed for mobility in the CORREOS technology plans. This included the project for the development and implementation of a system based on portable PDA devices to be used by postmen and women. These devices improve the distribution of registered products and incorporate value added features such as the provision for customers to sign on the PDA screen. This innovation improves and simplifies the information regarding each delivery.
Given that innovation and quality are two key concepts and strategic pillars for the future of CORREOS, the company has launched an ambitious project based on the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) for timely quality control. The system manages the traceability of deliveries through the organisation’s logistics centres, enabling the determination of the transit times for processes and weak points in the logistics chain.
The Virtual Post Office
The electronic environment has an ever increasing role in modern society as a space for information, business and training. In this context, CORREOS has taken advantage of the benefits of new technological tools to set up new communications and commercial channels with users, to create products with a higher added value, and to increase quality and accessibility.
The Virtual Post Office (Correos online), accessible at www.correos.es, is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and enables customers to combine access to postal services with the convenience of a computer. The system includes traditional products (burofax, telegrams, giros, etc.) adapted to the possibilities offered by new technologies, and services created specifically for the online environment.
The CORREOS website, besides offering access to end users, also offers services to collaborating entities such as consolidation companies and other postal operators. This facilitates and simplifies access to the network for such organisations through greater automation of the access process at Correos centres, and integrating this information with the organisation’s operating and management systems.
The Electronic Post Office Box
The most innovative online service is the Electronic Post Office Box (Apartado Postal Electrónico or APE), which brings the concept of the conventional post office box to the virtual world. A version of this project is already running, intended for electronic administration, and is used extensively by the Spanish Treasury Department for notifications. The APE system provides a single permanent electronic address for different uses, including classic e-mail and electronic correspondence. It ensures maximum confidentiality and security in deliveries, and in regard to the identity of the sender and the addressee. APE also offers added value such as instant traceability, electronic certification, etc. The APE system is designed for the Civil Service and large companies as issuers, and individuals, retailers and professionals as end users, guaranteeing the integrity, confidentiality, authenticity, acceptance and secure storage of information.
IT in Management Systems
In management, CORREOS decided to use the SAP platform, which guarantees the capability to adapt systems to changes in the business with greater efficiency and better time to market. The most important projects have been the extension of the SAP system to nvoicing, to the commercial area, and to human resources management. The extension of the SAP system to the invoicing area was one of the most complex ever tackled on these platforms.
The implementation of a new system for the measurement of commercial targets, and the development of the commercial management module CRM, are contributing to a notable improvement in customer relations. The current project for the implementation of the human resources management system in SAP is a complex and ambitious project, given CORREOS’ nearly 70,000 employees.
The strategy of implementing a unified and integrated management system, and of managing the company with a single platform, has facilitated the integration of all departments, and has increased the availability of information for management and monitoring of the organisation. INTEGRA has simplified decision making and has helped us to become a great team with an overarching vision.
The INTEGRA Plan, which CORREOS has developed over the last few years, and which is now almost complete, has given the company a solid foundation on which to develop new projects, and to continue to improve and find solutions to new challenges.
