FAST for PeriodicalsMTAC Workgroup 95

Washington, D.C.November 8, 2007

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MTAC #95MTAC #95

Current Status

• October – November 2006: FAST conducted a Periodicals Pilot with select titles in the New York Area

• June 15, 2007 - Advised Periodicals mailers to register with FAST through PostalOne! and begin to submit appointments

• July 15, 2007 – Rate Case took affect for Periodicals mailers (Rate Case 5/14/07)

Electronic submission of advance notification for Periodicals mailers was enabled utilizing TM and mail.dat via FAST and PostalOne!

• September 4, 2007 – Periodicals mailers began to create all appointments in FAST. Customers raised issue with the requirement of appointment numbers on PS Forms 8125 as software vendors may not be able to comply.

• November 13, 2007 - Periodicals mailers will be required to have appointment numbers on all PS Forms 8125 as software vendors will be able to comply.

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Issues/Notes

• Mailers continue to experience delays at certain facilities

Customers have been advised to direct these concerns and other operational issues to Operations. Please contact Debby Cataldi at deborah.cataldi@usps.gov or (W) (202) 268-2158.

• Surface Visibility and barcode scanning is limited

Customers have been advised to direct these concerns to:BMCs

– Steve McElroy stephen.j.mcelroy@usps.gov 202-268-5598

Plants

– Ron Porter ronald.c.porter@usps.gov 202-268-6491

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Issues/Notes (cont.)

• Data issues with the integration of mail.dat with PostalOne! and FAST FAST is unable to update using mail.dat if only one content is associated to

an appointment. The interface where FAST receives mail.dat content from PostalOne! has been made unavailable until this issue is resolved.

Current mail.dat utilization issues will be addressed by FAST and PostalOne! with the November 18th system release

• Area and District coordinator information unavailable for customers to escalate facility concerns There is a change request to update FAST with Area and District Coordinator

contact information. Customers will be informed where and how to access this information as soon as it is available.

• NOTE: Due to security concerns, for co-binding/co-palletize scenarios visibility will be limited to high level information. FAST will not provide visibility by Mail Owners and Publications associated to a content if multiple Mail Owners and Publications exist.

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Registration Progress

• Since Pilot there has been an increase in registrations and appointment creation

• Communication effectiveness was measured in terms of customers signing up for the mailing list, FAST Customer registrations, web-based training downloads, and recurring appointment requests for Periodicals.

Total FAST registrations through PostalOne! – 3751*. This is a registration increase of 1487 since March 2007**.

Total number of customers signed up for the FAST Periodicals mailing list - 139

Total web-based training downloads since January - 180*

*Totals include all users and are not specific to Periodicals

**Tracking began in March as opposed to January to measure communication effectiveness

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Appointment Progress

•Since January, total Periodicals appointments have increased, growing from 3,498 to 20,485 (as of 10/31/07).

• 4415 one-time Periodicals appointments were created through Web Services for October.

•Unscheduled arrivals have decreased 32.5% since the peak in June 2007.

Total Periodicals Appointments (excluding unscheduled arrivals)

3498 3618 3992 48706812

9791 11077

1642013992

20485

340 365 576 1015 1494 1961 32987044 6804

12813

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Month

Num

ber o

f App

oint

men

ts Periodicals Appointments(including Recurring DropShipment Instances, One-TimeAppointments & Cancelled)

Recurring PeriodicalsAppointments (Instances)

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FAST/PostalOne! Registration

FAST/PostalOne! Registration

• To register, log on to PostalOne! at www.usps.com/postalone and follow instructions to create a new account

• For customers who already have a PostalOne! account, FAST registration begins with a call to the PostalOne! Customer Care Center (800) 522-9085 or email postalone@email.usps.gov

• Activate a Corporate Account (one time for each company) Go online, https://www.usps.com/postalone On the Customer Information Tab, enter contact information Add Corporate information, and follow steps to add locations and verify

information PostalOne! will send Welcome Kits to approved corporate accounts

• Submit USPS Form 1357-C to request Corporate or Scheduler IDs for users

• User names and passwords will be sent to all individuals for whom a USPS Form 1357-C is submitted

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FAST/PostalOne! Registration

• To register, log on to PostalOne! at www.usps.com/postalone.

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FAST Resources

• Pre-login users can click on Resources > Reference Documents to: Download updated Customer

Web-Based Training Download FAST User Guide View, link to or download

– Publication 804 - Drop Shipment Procedures for Destination Entry

– Domestic Mail Manual– All PS Forms

View FAST Job Aids

FAST Training, Job Aids & Resources are available on the FAST Customer website at https://fast.usps.com

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FAST Resources (cont.)

Customer Web Based Training

• USPS Customers can now access a web based training course to learn about the FAST system.

• The training course includes information about:

Facility Profile and Drop Entry Point Information

Drop Shipment Appointment Creation and Management

Scheduler and Corporate Rating

Reporting

Additional Resources and Reference Materials

• The FAST Customer Web Based Training Course is available for download on the https://fast.usps.com website.

Navigate to Resources > Reference Documents

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FAST Pre-login, Facilities

• Pre-Login users can click on Facility > Facility Profile to access:

Facility Profile information

Facility Redirection information

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Facilities contains functionality to view physical and operating characteristics of USPS Facilities.

FAST Pre-login, Facilities

•Facility Profile - Displays the Facility Profile page (Bronx Shown).

•NOTE: Please utilize the facility information to contact facilities if issues arise prior to contacting Operations

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FAST Pre-login, Facilities (cont.)

Facilities Additional Information contains information on the default processing responsibilities for a facility, as well as any redirection information.

Default Processing Responsibilities: (Bronx, 558 Grand Concourse)Facility Name: 100053763-BRONX BRONX is the main processing facility for: ZIP/Carrier Route Serviced: SCF: 104 Redirect Processing Responsibilities:

Bronx is also accepting the following mail: None

Bronx is directing mail to the following facilities:

Facility Name CIN Group Pallet Code

Discount ZIP/Carrier Route Serviced

Effective Dates

BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT

Package Services (Perishable)/Irregular Parcels

Y  SCF 104  09/21/2006-12/31/2999

BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT 

Package Services (Perishable)/Irregular Parcels

 N  SCF 104  09/21/2006-12/31/2999

BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT 

Package Services (Perishable)/Machinable Parcels

Y SCF 104  09/21/2006-12/31/2999

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FAST Pre-login, Reports

• Pre-Login Reports click on Reports to access: Appointment

Calendar Closeout Data

Report Mailer Direction

Search

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FAST Pre-login, Reports (cont.)

The pre-login Reports section allows users access to a subset of the reports available in FAST.

Closeout Data Report

The Closeout Data Report allows users to enter appointment or recurring appointment IDs and view those appointments closeout information.

Mail Direction Search

The Mail Direction Search allows users to view current and future drop entry points by ZIP, Discount, Mail Shape, Mail Class and Effective Date combinations.

• New Enhancements include: Drop Entry Point view

– Eliminates the concept of “Defaults” and “Redirections” and returns the “Drop Entry Points” based on search criteria similar to the “Default and Redirection View”

– Groups differing “Drop Entry Points” for the same mail together in grey Label List view - Allows search by Label or Labels and returns all default drop entry

point and redirections available

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FAST Mail Direction Search – Screenshot

ALL ADCBMCSCFDDU

Discount Type:

ALLPackage Services Package Services – BPM/Library/MediaPackage Services – Parcel SelectPeriodicals (News)PeriodicalsStandard

Mail Class:

ALLFlatLetterIrregular ParcelMachinable ParcelNon-Machinable Parcel

Mail Shape:

Last 7 Days Modified:

Content ZIP Code: 100*

POSTAL INSPECTORS Preserving the Trust

site map contact us government services jobs National & Premier Accounts Copyright © 1999-2003 USPS. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Policy

Search> Cancel

Mail Direction SearchSelect all applicable search criteria:

Effective Date Range:

* If left blank, all applicable ZIP Codes will be retrieved* Use an asterisk (*) for wild card searches at the end of 3-Digits

Next 7 Days

Show combined ZIP/CRIDs

Both Palletized:

Show Redirection Address

Show Default AddressShow Default and RedirectionsShow Results For:

Search Criteria

Display Options

Search and Display Results

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Resources contains functionality to download and link to various resources such as the Drop Shipment Product files and the Domestic Mail Manual. In addition, Resources provides links to the AMS Resources Area-District 3-Digit Data, Message Board, and What’s New.

FAST Pre-login, Resources

•Reference Documents - Displays the Reference Documents page.•Drop-Ship Product File Download - Displays the Drop-Ship Product File Download page.•Label List Files Download - Displays the Label List Files Download page.•Message Board - Displays the Message Board page.•What's New Board - Displays the What's New Board page.•View CIN List - Search for and view CIN details.•View CIN Group List - View CIN Group list and details.

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• The MTAC 95 workgroup began in June 2005 with the following goals:

Incorporate information about Periodicals mail entry into the FAST/Surface Visibility network while still affording some scheduling flexibility to accommodate the special needs of the Periodicals Class product. Traditionally, Periodicals have not needed to make drop ship appointments. This results in suboptimal use of both transportation and postal operations resources

Allow scheduling of all classes of mail, resulting in a more orderly flow through drop ship facilities

Give USPS access to complete delivery appointment information without inhibiting the special needs of Periodicals

• The initial advanced notification processes and the FAST MTAC 95 objectives have been achieved per the workgroup.

Charter Objectives