DHL Global Mail
When the UK mail industry was opened up to private competition, Pinesoft developed the SpeedSorter system for DHL Global Mail, allowing it to become a major force in this new market .
DHL Global Mail, owned by Deutsche Post, operates one of the world’s largest domestic and international delivery networks, handling massive quantities of mail and parcels. DHL Global Mail is one of the UK’s largest Downstream Access providers, the market opened up by deregulation of the mail market. Downstream Access involves the carrier collecting and transporting pre-sorted mail through its delivery network, before handing it over to the Royal Mail for final transport and local delivery.
DHL Global Mail’s existing system for processing Downstream Access mail had become un-manageable, requiring much manual intervention, normally in the middle of the night. The application was not scaling well as delivery volumes increased, and the interfaces to Royal Mail were often passing inaccurate data, which can result in entire mailings being rejected. Furthermore the day to day operation had become cumbersome, it was time for a change.
Pinesoft worked closely with both DHLGM IT and Operations staff and developed a Downstream Access management system for DHL Global Mail to control their bulk mail management and processing. This system interfaces to the Royal Mail E*Pro system, and supports the complex business models operated by DHLGM as a major DSA poster.
The SpeedSorter system works seamlessly to reduce the operational and management load that the old system was inflicting on DHL Global Mail’s Downstream Access business. Designed to simplify the operational processes and ensure consistently accurate postings to the Royal Mail, tight integration with the DHL’s scanning systems has ensured that the data submitted to Royal Mail Wholesale very accurately matches the mailings posted to the Royal Mail. Furthermore this integration has ensured that the real world problems caused by printing of mail are handled at an operational level, rather than requiring management input and corrective actions.
SpeedSorter has been a versatile and flexible solution over the years, being expanded to support the rich variety of mailings supported by DSA as they have evolved; bulk mailings (sorted) and unsorted mail (processed using sort machinery), Responsible Mail and Agency Overlays. Further the system has been extended to fully support the Royal Mail Wholesale WMS system currently under development at Royal Mail and destined to be the replacement for the E*Pro system. The flexibility to offer users their own view on data, and design their own report formats has minimised the cost of maintenance, and the stability and automation inherent in the product has reduced systems maintenance requirements to a minimum. Tight integration into a number of key systems, including SAP for billing and the DHL operational systems for transit and tracking of bags, has led to seamless workflow, with the minimum amount of management intervention, handling 400 Million mail items a year.