Outsourced manual data capture closes the gap in automated mail and parcel sorting
Are your sorting center teams struggling to keep up with the rising volume of parcels? Despite major investments in automated sorting systems, staffing shortages and fluctuating shipment volumes continue to pose a significant challenge for postal logistics providers. Employees are working at full speed and must be deployed as efficiently as possible. However, shift systems, staff absences, shortages of skilled workers, rising minimum wages and fluctuating shipment volumes pose significant challenges in sortation for parcel and postal companies. How can stable sorting, independent of dynamic volumes, be achieved efficiently and reliably without frustrating the workforce with boredom or stress? And how can this be reconciled with excellent delivery quality and consistent prices from the customers’ point of view?
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Dynamic shipment volumes are a challenge for mail and parcel logistics in sorting centers
Daily shipment volumes and staff absences cannot be planned. Therefore, only a flexible approach can solve this tense situation. To do this, companies in mail and parcel logistics should take advantage of technological advances and outsource manual activities in data entry. In automated sorting, this is quite easy: a photo is taken of each item on the sorting machine during OCR scanning to read out the data and identify the sorting destination. If the sorting system cannot automatically assign a shipment, employees must take over the video coding.
The biggest challenge with video coding is the manpower issue. On the one hand, it is very difficult to find, train and retain personnel for a job that mostly takes place at night and is not very attractive. On the other hand, the daily fluctuating and unpredictable volume of shipments places special demands on the planning of personnel requirements for manual data entry. Either too many employees are scheduled, who in the worst case serve their time, or unforeseen breakdowns or shipment volumes mean that not enough workers are available.
In times of staff shortages and booming e-commerce, it’s a balancing act! Therefore, more and more mail and parcel logistics companies are turning to outsource data capture to maintain stable operations. In the case of video coding, an outsourced solution makes it possible to have trained external support teams quickly, cost-effectively and reliably decode data that has not been captured.
Process optimization through outsourcing of manual data capture as the key to greater competitiveness
Postal and parcel logistics companies are caught between constantly changing customer requirements, shrinking margins and limited resources. In order to remain competitive, business processes must be made even more efficient through automation and digitization. By outsourcing manual activities in the area of data capture and data maintenance, postal and logistics companies can:
This gives companies in mail and parcel logistics more room to maneuver, enabling them to respond promptly to changing customer demands.
Are you maximizing the efficiency of your operations?
Would you like to learn more about specific use cases in the area of data maintenance, data capture and digitization for postal companies (f.e. video coding, digitizing CN labels or returns management)? Then watch our webinar recording from March 8.
