Lean 6 at the USPS

The Use of Six Sigma tools to enhance

customer service at the United States
Postal Service

PresentedtoProf.ChunmingVictorShi
OperationManagement2016Autumn
 INTRODUCTION
TheUnited States Postal Service(USPS), (also known as thePost Office,U.S.
Mail, orPostal Service), is an independent agency of the United States
GovernmentresponsibleforprovidingpostalserviceintheUnitedStates.Itis
one of the few government agenciesexplicitly authorized by the United
States Constitution.
 Columbus AMC
TheStrategicUnitofUSPSisColumbus Airmail Process
Center (AMC)whichisresponsiblefor50millionfirst-class
lettersin175dailyairlineflights,flyingfrom15milesaway
thePortColumbusInternationalAirportandtheRickenbacker
Airport
 INTRODUCTION
However, 8.7% of all letters processed at the
Columbus AMC were not delivered on time
basedontheorganizationalgoal.
The largest contributors to delivery failures
then were examined and reduced at the
Columbus,OhioAMC.
 OUTLINE
Introduction
OperationOverview
LeanImplementoverview
Analysis
Improvements
ResultsandLessonslearn
 Background
US Postal Service delivers more than 213 billion
letters and pack- ages annually
operates nearly 37,000 post offices, stations, and
branches and delivers to more than
146 million delivery points.
The US Postal Service operates 77 airmail processing
centers .
72 workers responsible for processing and distributing
letters (Ohio).
 SERVICEMEASURMENTS
Outstandingcustomerserviceisthetoppriority
oftheUSPostalService
Thisincludesfirstclasswithovernight, two- day,
and three-daydeliverycommitmentsbasedon
distance..
 Airmailprocessingstages

1. 50millionslettersprocessed
2. Handlinngunitarrived
3. Conveyorbelt
4. Scanningmachine
5. Serviceairmanagementsystem(SAMS)
6. Assignunittorespectedflights
 AMC
HANDLINGUNIT
ARRIVESHERE CONVEYORBELT

AIR MAIL PROCESSING OVERVEIW

SAMS SCANINGMACHINE
Assignhandling READSBARCODES
unittoits
determined
flights

ReceivingAMC
Fordelivery
 APPLICATIONOFLEANPROCESS
Theobjectiveofthisprojectwastoimprovetheon-time
deliveryto90% or aboveoftheorganizationalgoal.
2monthsdatacollection
Theoutputvariablesare:
thetraveltimefrom(A)thepointaletterenteredto(B)the
postalnetwork
thetraveltimeto(C)thefinaladdress.
Theinputvariablesare:
Incorrectaddressesonletters
Postaltransportationdelays
ProcessFlowChart
 ISSUESIDENTIFIED
Airlinetransportationdelays
Airlineflightcancellations
Flightortruckcapacityissues
Sortprogramerrors
Labelingissues(machinesunabletoread
barcodes)
SurfaceAirManagementSystemdatabase
errors
 ParetoAnalysis
Ranking Issue Percentage Cumulative %
1 Airlinegroundhandlerdelays 26 26
2 SAMSdatasystemerrors 23 49
3 Others 17 66
4 TruckCapacityIssues 9 75
5 Delayedflights 8 83
6 Cancelledflights 6 89
7 SortProgramIssues 6 95
8 AddressIssue 5 100
 ParetoAnalysis
100 100
90 90
80 80
70 70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0
Groundhandlerdelays Others
Others Delayedflights
DelayedflightsSortProgramIssues
SortProgramIssues
 UNDERLYINGCAUSES
AirlineGroundHandlerDelays
SeveraldelaypointsfromtheAirmailProcessing
Centertoairplane(setgoalis30mins)
SAMSdatabaseissues
Incorrect/notup-to-dateinformation
Ex.Displaycancelled/fullloadedflights
Assignedshippingunitstosoondeparture
 PROCESSIMPROVEMENTS
Keepclosecontactwithconcernedairlines
Trainingcourseandstandardizingoperating
proceduresweredevelopedtomaintainSAMS
thecorrectdatabase
Additionaldataoftwomonthsofdatawas
collectedtovalidatetheprocess
improvements(SAMSsystemerrorsand
groundhandlerdelays)
 PROCESSCONTROL
Hourlymonitoringprocessforgroundcrew
delaysandSAMSdatabaseupdate.
Standardoperatingprocedureswithwritten
documentation.
Visualfactoryconceptsincludingsignage.
Trainingprogrammedforanewemployee
werealsocreatedandimplementedto
enforceandreinforcetheprocesschanges.
 RESULTSandLESSONSLEARNED
ThisSixSigmaprojectdemonstratedthesignificantbenefits
ofutilizingdataandstatisticalanalysestodrivetheteam
building,decision-makingprocess,andorganizational
improvementinaservice-orientedenvironment.
 RESULTSandLESSONSLEARNED(Cont)
Keyoutcomesare;
over715,000additionallettersperyear
annualcostsavingsof$15,000
increasedcustomersatisfaction
reducetheoperatingcostsassociatedwithdoublehandlings

Dailymonitoringbytheemployeesresponsiblefor
eachtask
theUSPostalServiceisexpandingitsSixSigma
initiatives
Thankyou!!