OIG: USPS not getting maximum benefit from RPG software
A new report from the US Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) has found that USPS is not using the Run Plan Generator (RPG) software to maximise productivity at all its 265 mail processing facilities “because there is no specific criteria to measure its performance”. The RPG combines site-specific mail processing machines, sort programs, maintenance requirements, mail volume, and throughput data (the rate at which machines process mail) to project daily machine run plans to maximize processing efficiency.
The OIG report, which was published on 26 January, selected and compared facilities with high and low RPG usage in order to gauge what benefit USPS has getting from the software.
OIG summarised its findings thus: “We found that Postal Service mail processing facilities are not using the RPG to maximize processing efficiency because there is no specific criteria to measure its performance.
“Of the facilities we visited, we found that those that did not use the RPG usually had lower machine throughput, productivity, and service performance and more delayed mail than facilities that used the RPG. Specifically, when comparing mail processing machines common in all four facilities, the Boston and Northern New Jersey P&DCs had machine throughput as much as 21 percent lower than the Pittsburgh and Minneapolis P&DCs.
“Additionally, productivity at the Boston and Northern New Jersey P&DCs was about 19 percent lower and service performance scores were between 1.6 percent and 4 percent lower. Finally, delayed mail volume was about 26.8 percent higher at those two facilities.
“During our site visits to the low RPG usage P&DCs we observed that new employees were assigned to generate run plans and there was no feedback mechanism to improve the accuracy of run plan models. As a result, projected mail volume was not accurate and machine throughput projections were not obtainable.
“We also found run plans were not always available to operational managers and supervisors at the beginning of their shift or managers and supervisors considered the run plans unreliable and cumbersome to disseminate. Therefore, managers and supervisors did not discuss daily run plans with employees and staffed machinery based on the number of employees available rather than using the RPG.
“We identified opportunities to save about $1.8 million over 3 quarters by improving machine throughput to the national averages at the Boston and Northern New Jersey P&DCs.”
OIG has recommended that USPS management establish nationwide criteria for RPG usage, and also Ensure operational managers and supervisors use the RPG.
Click here to read the report.
