FAST for Periodicals MTAC Workgroup 95 Washington, D.C. November 8, 2007

MTAC #95 2 Current Status October – November 2006: FAST conducted a Periodicals Pilot with select titles in the New York Area June 15, 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, Periodicals mailers will be required to have appointment numbers on all PS Forms 8125 as software vendors will be able to comply.

MTAC #95 3 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 or (W) (202) Surface Visibility and barcode scanning is limited  Customers have been advised to direct these concerns to: BMCs –Steve McElroy Plants –Ron Porter

MTAC #95 4 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 18 th 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.

MTAC #95 5 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  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

MTAC #95 6 Appointment Progress Since January, total Periodicals appointments have increased, growing from 3,498 to 20,485 (as of 10/31/07) one-time Periodicals appointments were created through Web Services for October. Unscheduled arrivals have decreased 32.5% since the peak in June 2007.

MTAC #95 7 FAST/PostalOne! Registration To register, log on to PostalOne! at and follow instructions to create a new accountwww.usps.com/postalone For customers who already have a PostalOne! account, FAST registration begins with a call to the PostalOne! Customer Care Center (800) or Activate a Corporate Account (one time for each company)  Go online,  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

MTAC #95 8 FAST/PostalOne! Registration To register, log on to PostalOne! at

MTAC #95 9 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 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

MTAC #95 10 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 website.  Navigate to Resources > Reference Documents

MTAC #95 11 FAST Pre-login, Facilities Pre-Login users can click on Facility > Facility Profile to access:  Facility Profile information  Facility Redirection information

MTAC #95 12 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

MTAC #95 13 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: 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 NameCIN GroupPallet Code DiscountZIP/Carrier Route Serviced Effective Dates BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT Package Services (Perishable)/Irregular Parcels Y SCF104 09/21/ /31/2999 BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNITBRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT Package Services (Perishable)/Irregular Parcels N SCF104 09/21/ /31/2999 BRONX DETACHED MAIL UNITBRONX DETACHED MAIL UNIT Package Services (Perishable)/Machinable Parcels YSCF104 09/21/ /31/2999

MTAC #95 14 FAST Pre-login, Reports Pre-Login Reports click on Reports to access:  Appointment Calendar  Closeout Data Report  Mailer Direction Search

MTAC #95 15 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

MTAC #95 16 FAST Mail Direction Search – Screenshot

MTAC #95 17 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.

MTAC #95 18 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