Transcript
Page 1: Palletization Module User Guide

Palletization Module User Guide

Page 2: Palletization Module User Guide
Page 3: Palletization Module User Guide

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Palletization Utility for Toolbox (Optional Palletization Module for Editor)

Overview

The Palletization Utility/Module creates ‘mother pallets’ which are pallets that hold sacks or trays. It does not palletize flats or bundles of flats directly onto a pallet. This must be done by a presort program. When running the Palletization Utility you have options to palletize only mail that is not already on pallets, or re-palletize an entire job. You can also palletize each segment individually (each segment is usually a separate production run or presort) or palletize across all segments (usually done for copalletization). This Palletization module is NOT designed as a replacement for your presort program’s palletization option. A presort program’s palletization routines can palletize flats on pallets and can also change the production sequence of the mail in pallet order, so that pallets can always be built as mail comes off the production line. Creating USPS Sorted Pallets with this module can require you to stage multiple pallets at the same time since an unpalletized file may not be produced in pallet sequence. This is not a problem for mailers who co-palletize nor mailers who produce a job on multiple production lines who often find themselves in this situation. The DAT-MAIL™ Palletization module is designed to be a supplement to a presort program’s palletization program by creating what was formerly known as ‘courtesy pallets’ for all loose trays and sacks that are left over after the presort program’s palletization program is done. It can also be used to create USPS sorted pallets for non-palletized Mail.dat files that come from outside vendors. Another important use for this module is co-palletizing multiple jobs or versions together by merging the Mail.dat files for such jobs and versions, then running the palletization program across segments. This will reduce the number of total pallets you create, and maximize the cost-effectiveness of drop shipping. The challenging aspect of co-palletizing is the logistics of combining sacks or trays from different production runs without the necessary labor costing you more than is saved. Most Palletization options can be run automatically at the end of the import process, so that you can easily enjoy the benefits of this program without changing your standard operating procedures. The option to create USPS-Sorted pallets can not be run automatically, because you have to run Quick Plan or Planalyzer after the Palletization is complete.

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Why Use DAT-MAIL™’s Palletization Utility? There are a number of very important reasons to use DAT-MAIL™'s Palletization: 1. Palletization ensures that all mail is electronically represented on pallets within Mail.dat, which can be passed to USPS PostalOne! 2. Palletized mail is easier to transport and track using the USPS FAST system. 3. By electronically representing all of your mail on pallets, you can use DAT-MAIL™ to print barcoded pallet placards and skid sheets for every pallet. 4. The Sack/Trays on Pallet Reports can provide concise instructions to your shop floor for producing the pallets. If you are co-palletizing, the Copalletization Breakout Report will show you the make-up of each pallet by original job. 5. DAT-MAIL™ features a Pallet Tracking Database that crosses all jobs which will provide valuable reporting and eventually provide the basis of some exciting new capabilities. In order for any of these reports or features to be useful, all mail has to be represented on pallets, and all pallets must carry our system-generated UCID.

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Palletization Options USPS Sorted Pallets

A ‘USPS Sorted Pallet’ meets USPS requirements for weight, size and content plus is associated with a sortation level. When creating postal pallets, you must create a pallet to the ‘finest’ level possible that meets minimum weight and size requirements regardless of where the pallet may be entered. For example, if you can create SCF pallets, you must - even if you intend to bring the pallets to a BMC. The original entry point designations for the containers on these pallets are stripped off, requiring you to run Quick Plan or Planalyzer after your palletization process is complete to assign the appropriate entry points. Creating true USPS sorted pallets can change the entry points that your mail can go to. The need to run Quick Plan or Planalyzer after palletization is complete prevents this option from being run automatically after a Mail.dat file is imported. Description: a place to identify your Plan for easy reference in the listing Segments: Choose from: Across - Across all segments treats the entire Mail.dat file as a single mailing. Use this if copalletizing or if your file is ‘oversegmented’ where there is more than one segment in a qualification such as one segment per drop ship destination. By Segment - To palletize segments individually when each segment is usually a separate mailing and could be mailed separately.

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Containers: This option only available for creating USPS-Sorted Pallets. Choose from: All - will wipe out existing Palletization scheme and recreate it for all containers when creating Postal Pallets Loose – only palletizes mail not already on pallets. When you select the option to only create Courtesy Pallets, only non-palletized mail is palletized no matter how this is set. Finest Sort Level: Only available (mandatory) when creating USPS Sorted Pallets. Choose from: Carrier Route; 5 Digit; 3 Digit; SCF; BMC – by regulation you should start at the Carrier Route level; we give you the ability to change the finest level for special situations. First Pallet Number: Allows you to choose a starting pallet for control purposes – If you are adding courtesy pallets we recommend setting the starting number high, like 5000, so it does not create duplicate pallet numbers with those already present. If you enter 0, the first number will start where the last existing pallet number leaves off. Maximum Sacks: Allows you to limit the amount of sacks per pallet Minimum Weights/Maximum Weights: (MUST be filled in) Skip 3D Pallets: an option which allows you to build larger SCF pallets on certain types of mail – we recommend activating this option, since you are not required to build 3D pallets and in most cases you will create larger, more economical pallets when you create SCF pallets. Do Not Palletize Origin Sacks: If you bedload your origin sacks going to the local post office, check this box. It will not palletize your residual origin sacks.

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Palletization Options

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Courtesy Pallets

Courtesy Pallets by Production Sequence: A Courtesy Pallet is a ”mother-pallet” of sacks or trays that did not get palletized in the original presort. These are not truly postal pallets in that there is no pallet presort level defined and these pallets usually do not meet minimums for USPS sorted pallets. Though the USPS officially discourages the use of these pallets, they aid in the effective transport of this mail and most transportation companies insist that loose trays and sacks be placed on such pallets. It is very important that these courtesy pallets be marked appropriately. The production sequence option will create a new courtesy pallet every time the entry point changes. If you find that there are too many pallets being created, use the Courtesy Pallet by Entry Point option below. Courtesy Pallets by Entry Point: This creates the same kind of pallet as the option above only we are going to create one pallet per entry point (unless a maximum weight or height is reached which could result in additional pallets to any such entry point).

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Production Pallet by Entry Point

This option can be used with non-palletized Mail.dat files and create pallets that are either USPS sorted or courtesy based on their size, weight and content. This option mimics the process many mailers use when creating pallets on the shop floor when presort palletization is not used.

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Palletization Options

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First Class Courtesy Pallet

Although palletization of First Class mail is not required by the USPS – at least of yet – we do offer our customers the ability to create them for expedited handling of large volumes files. You can choose to create pallets Across all segments within your file or By Segment. The “by Segment” option would work extremely well and provide efficient transport/delivery of your mail if you were to segment large by files by Air, Surface and Local entry.

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Tare Weights Tab

The tare weights in the Palletization Utility are not related to others in DAT-MAIL™. When you setup a Palletization Plan, you can enter the tare weights in each profile, or press the Defaults buttons in order to bring in the values from your Tare Weights as defined in Program Setup

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Palletization Plans Creating a Palletization Plan

Before you use the Palletization Utility, you must create at least one Palletization Plan that will determine how pallets will be created. There are two ways to access the Palletization Program:

1. With all Mail.dat files closed, go to the Toolbox menu, select “Palletization” then “Pallet Parameters” from the top line menu. Toolbox users who select the Palletization program from the Toolbox menu will have to select the Mail.dat file they want to palletize.

2. With a Mail.dat file open, go to either the Mother Pallet View or the Transportation View where you can click on the Mother Pallet tab of the container list at the bottom of the screen. In both cases, you will see a “Palletize” button appear. This brings you directly to the Palletization Plan browse.

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Click on the INSERT button to add a new Palletization Plan to the listing

Be sure to review the section on Backing Up Your Data to find out how to keep a backup copy of your Palletization Plan(s).

Setting Up Automatic Palletization: If you are going to automatically create Courtesy Pallets during import, or create both Courtesy and USPS Sorted Pallets based on predetermined entry points (Option 4: Production Pallets by Entry Point), you must setup activate Automated Palletization and Select a Default Palletization Plan. In Palletization, click on FILE, Palletization Set Up. You will get this:

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Palletization Plans

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Using Automatic Palletization:

Once you have setup Automatic Palletization, you can invoke when doing single file imports. You will see a checkbox on your import dialog – Palletize Courtesy Pallets Automatically After Import (this can still work with ‘Option 4’ which can also create USPS Sorted pallets to the original entry point). Check it to invoke automatic palletization using your default pallet plan.

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How to Run a Palletization Plan Once you have a plan or plans entered, you would then select the plan you wish to run from the listing by clicking on the SELECT button.

The Palletization Parameters review box will come up, giving you the opportunity to review/edit the plan prior to applying it to the selected Mail.dat file. Edits here are not saved to the original plan unless you click on the SAVE PLAN button in the lower right hand corner. You will need to enter an Origin Zip Code Click on the PALLETIZE button to process the plan

Once the plan has been processed, the DEFAULTS button will change into a VIEW button, and the UNDO button will become active. Click on the VIEW button to see the processed file

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If you would like to view more information about a pallet, click on VIEW DETAILS button:

If you would like to see which containers were assigned to that pallet, click on VIEW LIST OF CONTAINERS button:

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If you do not like the results you see, typically too many pallets going to the same entry point when creating courtesy pallets by production sequence, you can undo the palletization then try again using a different plan such as Courtesy by Entry Point. If the original presort is not in entry point order, excessive numbers of pallets can be created with the Courtesy by Production Sequence.

Updating the Mail.dat File with Your Palletization Plan: When you are ready to apply this palletization plan to your Mail.dat file, you press the “Finish Button”. After the pallet data is updated to Mail.dat, we recommend that you print a Sacks/Trays on Pallet report to see the pallets you created, and to provide shop floor instructions for the creation of the pallets.

If you have created USPS Sorted Pallets (option 1), you must run Quick Plan or the Planalyzer AFTER you palletize. Postal Pallets are built the same way regardless of where they end up being shipped but once mail is palletized, the entry plan could be very different than it would have without pallets. When you create Postal Pallets, the original entry plan for the job is cleared so you must rerun your planner.

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If you are creating Convenience or “Production” pallets (options 2-4), we create them based on the original entry plan which is not cleared during Palletization.

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Co-Palletization Co-Palletization is useful for palletizing different version of the same job in order to ship them together. This can result in freight cost savings and better Entry Point penetration. A Co-Palletized pallet is more likely to meet transportation company and USPS minimums. We recommend using option 1, USPS Sorted Pallets, to achieve the best copalletization results. The challenging part of Co-Palletization is physically building the Co-Palletized pallets. Many mailers will create working pallets when each job and version is created, and stage these pallets in specific areas for each entry point. They will then physically combine the contents of these working pallets onto a single pallet. Mailers that work this way need to have a great deal of space to do their staging. Another technique is placing trays of mail on rolling racks during production and there would be one rack per entry point. When producing the jobs and lots, you would roll the rack to the end of the inserting line and add the trays as they come off the inserting line onto the proper rolling rack for that entry point. When you are ready to build your co-palletized pallet, you just empty the rolling racks for each entry point onto a pallet.

Steps in Co-Palletization: 1. Identify the Mail.dat files that have the mail you wish to co-palletize. Print your qualification reports for each of these jobs. If these Mail.dat files contain multiple segments, we recommend printing the qualification report by segment since each segment is likely to represent a separate presort qualification. If you are mailing at Saturation or High Density rates, print your Walk Sequence report as well, selecting the ‘By Segment’ option if your Mail.dat contains multiple segments. 2. Merge 2 or more Mail.dat files that represent the jobs and versions you are mailing together with the Merge Utility. The Merge Utility is accessible from the Utilities Menu as either Merge Containers (merges parts of different files) or Merge Mail.dat files (merges entire Mail.dat files). 3. Palletize your new merged file using Option 1, USPS Sorted Pallets and be sure to palletized ACROSS segments. 4. Run Quick Plan or Planalyzer, again going across all segments.

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5. Print your Pallet Placards by pressing the Tags button, selecting all entry points, and selecting ‘Pallets’ for printing. 6. Run the Co-Palletization Breakout Report. You will see contribution each of your original files has for each pallet. 7. When you generate statements, be sure to create a consolidated statement for each segment unless the USPS allows you to place all mailing entries for all lots on a single consolidated statement. If you are allowed to do this, you now have the option of creating 8125-C’s during the statement generation process by clicking on the Options Tab of your Statement Generation dialog and selecting to create 8125-C’s instead of 8125’s. 8125-C’s are required if you are mixing mail from different Jobs or clients or mail paid for by different permits or payment types. If you are mailing different lots of the same job paid for on the same permit, you can produce either a regular 8125 or an 8125-C. The 8125-C provides a breakout of each version being mailed.

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Pallet Tracking Database Overview The Pallet Database can be updated with pallet information using three methods:

1. Existing Pallets in your Mail.dat files.

2. Pallets created from DAT-MAIL™’s Palletization Utility/Module. 3. Using the Mother Pallet view to manually create pallets.

Most changes made in the Mail.dat file are automatically updated to the related pallet records. The pallet database currently serves two production purposes:

1. It allows mailers to view pallets for a given ship date by entry point across multiple jobs and versions! This eliminates the need merge Mail.dat files or generate statements in advance. This can be of great importance in evaluating drop ship opportunities, requesting quotes or writing up purchase orders for freight charges. 2. It provides data across all jobs to the Trailer Assignment program we will be offering our Toolbox customers. This feature will allow mailers to plan trailers and stops or just record trailer and stop information then pass that information back to the Mail.dat files so that statements and 8125’s can be generated for each trailer.

Setup 1. Select “Program Setup” from DAT-MAIL™’s file menu and go to the Pallet Tracking/Intelligent Mail tab. 2. Check mark the “Enable Pallet Tracking” checkbox right below the Generate Unique ID’s for Pallets checkbox. The “Generate Unique ID’s for Pallets” box will be automatically checked for you.

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3. Go the Mailer Information and make sure your IDEAlliance User License code is entered. This is the first 4 characters of the unique ID for each pallet so that it is unique across all mailers.

Using the Pallet Database Whenever a Unique Container ID is assigned to a pallet, it creates a record in the new pallet database. These pallets will then be included in the Pallet Shipping Report and can be used in the Trailer Assignment program if you are using DAT-MAIL™ Toolbox. After you have made your Program Setup selection mentioned above, all new Mail.dat file imports will have Unique Container ID’s assigned automatically as will any Pallets you create using our Palletization module and any Pallets you manually create (insert) at the Mother Pallet View. If you would like the Pallets in your existing Mail.dat files to be included in pallet database and appear on the Pallet Shipping Report, simply open each file and go to the Container Summary View. Press the button at the bottom of the screen named “Renumber Unique Cont. ID’s (Pallets Only)”.

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Pallet Shipping Report This report will display all pallets that are scheduled to ship for a selected date range. You can access this report either through DAT-MAIL™ Toolbox’s Trailer Assignment program or from inside a Mail.dat file off DAT-MAIL™’s Report Menu. This report can be very useful to forecasting transportation needs and enable mailers to save postage and freight.

Minimum freight charges continue to increase and most mailers may not realize just how much this has inflated their freight costs. Avoid minimum charges from freight companies by combining multiple Jobs or Versions on a single freight PO. If the freight company bills from 8125’s, you should also create 8125-C’s for these mailings. When you request freight costs by Job or Version, you become subjected to freight company minimums by Job and Version. This report helps you overcome that problem by providing the data to create ‘consolidated’ freight quote requests that span multiple jobs and versions.


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