Fenómenos que afectan la operación del relé de distancia 3

Parcel operations

Table 3-3 Key indicators on parcel operations

Comparator operator

Austria Germany Denmark France Netherlands Sweden

Austrian Post Deutsche Post Post Danmark

La Poste PostNL Posten

Daily parcel volume 0.22m 4.2m 0.16m 1m 0.4m 0.3m Parcel sorting centres 7 33 2 14 18 (plan) 5 Parcels sorted automatically to delivery routes?

No No Yes No Yes Yes

Delivery bases

(only parcels) 20 200 13 70 n.a. 70

Total parcel

delivery routes 5,436 39,400 2,300 32,250 n.a. n.a.

Dedicated parcel

delivery routes 936 8,400 800 2,250 n.a. n.a.

Letter delivery routes with parcel delivery 4,500 31,000 1,500 30,000 None 2,500 Outsourcing of dedicated parcel delivery routes? No Yes (12%)* No No Yes (80%)* No

Source: WIK research and interviews. Notes: ‘n.a.’ means ‘not available’.

* Proportion of outsourced dedicated parcel delivery routes on total dedicated parcel delivery routes.

All comparator operators have parcel sorting centres in addition to mail sorting centres, which are used for both outbound and inbound sorting. All operators have installed conveyor belts and modern scanning technology to process parcels. Bulky parcels are handled manually. Except for Austrian Post, comparator operators of the smaller countries (Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden) sort parcels to delivery routes while La Poste sorts parcels only to delivery bases and Deutsche Post to groups of delivery routes (depending on the availability of stackers in sorting centres). All comparator operators, except for La Poste, usually deliver parcels the next working day.

All comparator operators, except for PostNL, jointly deliver mail and parcels in less densely populated, rural areas if these routes are served by car. In these cases parcels are transported to mail delivery offices where the deliverers pick up the parcels for final delivery. In urban areas, where mail is delivered by foot or by bicycle, parcels are delivered in distinct parcel delivery routes (usually by delivery vans). Deutsche Post and particularly PostNL have outsourced parcel delivery routes to subcontractors while the other comparator operators rely on their own delivery personnel.

Table 3-4 summarizes our assessment on the status of development of each comparator postal operator with regard to the key elements of the modernization process in mail operations.

Table 3-4 Comparator operators: Status of development / progress made

Comparator operator

Austria Germany Denmark France Netherlands Sweden

Austrian Post Deutsche Post Post Danmark

La Poste PostNL Posten

Centralize sorting Distinct mail and parcel sorting centres Automate sorting Sequence sorting of letters by machine (planned) Sequence sorting

of flats by machine _(planned)

Centralize sequence sorting by machine (planned) Centralize manual sequence sorting Optimize delivery Increase flexibility in delivery

Source: WIK estimation.

Note: - not implemented, …, largely implemented.

The major insights from this general assessment are that all comparator postal operators are very advanced in streamlining network centralisation with highly mechanized sorting processes located in mail sorting centres:

 All comparator operators have centralized their sorting operations.  All operators use distinct sorting centres for mail and parcel processing.

 There are differences with regard to the degree of sorting: the proportion of mail sorted by machine at least to delivery routes is lower at Austrian Post and La Poste (see Table 3-2 for detailed information).

In contrast, progress made in modernization of delivery operations (including sequence sorting by machine) varies among them:

 Austrian Post reported plans to implement sequence sorting by machine, but has not done so yet, unlike all other operators in our survey. We found that La Poste has

implemented sequence sorting by machine to a lesser extent than the other operators since the proportion of letters that are sorted in delivery order by machine is relatively low at La Poste (see Table 3-2 for detailed information).

 Sequence sorting by machine is less common for flats than for small letters. Sequence sorting of flats has recently been introduced by Deutsche Post. Austrian Post and Swedish Posten may introduce such operation in the future as they have acquired Siemens flat sorters that allow for this option.

 Centralization of sequence sorting on the one hand, and sequence sorting by machine on the other hand are inter-related: Centralization leads to higher volumes at each location and thus increases the economic benefits of automating sequence sorting. We concluded that La Poste has implemented centralized sequence sorting by machine to a lesser extent than other operators since some of its sequence sorting machines are located in delivery offices, not in central sorting centres. Austrian Post has not centralized sequence sorting at all yet (but reported plans to do so in the future).

 Centralization of manual sequence sorting consists of two elements. The first element is the separation of mail preparation and delivery which can then be done by different employees. Post Danmark and PostNL are most advanced in this process while Deutsche Post has implemented this approach only in urban areas, and Posten has started testing it only recently. The second element is the centralization of manual sequence sorting in mail sorting centres rather than delivery offices. This approach has been largely implemented only by Post Danmark.

 The optimization of delivery operations covers aspects such as the systematic application of geographical information systems (GIS) for route optimization, a flexible work organization and the centralization of mail preparation activities which allows it to have fewer delivery offices. Deutsche Post, Post Danmark and PostNL are most advanced in this respect. By contrast, La Poste does not yet use geographical information systems for optimizing delivery routes (but plans to introduce such systems in the near future).

 Post Danmark and PostNL appear as most advanced in rendering their delivery operations more flexible. Both have introduced systems to deliver non-priority mail items only on three delivery days per week (albeit with different approaches), and therefore systematically have different delivery routes every other day.

4 Austrian Post (Austria)