Data Flips

[MarePare]

In the past few weeks I have seen so many data flips that I cannot even begin to count them (I'm a preloader). And I'm not just talking about simple data flips where two street names are similar except for a few letters. The ones that I see seem to be completely illogical and I cannot imagine how PAS can mess them up... I used to see maybe 1 data flip a week. Now I see 5+ a day.

For example, I see things along the lines of the following (I've made factitious examples):
- Hwy 132 to Hwy 78 (being on completely different sides of town)
- 2nd St E to Robin St
- Hwy 47 to Outer Cr

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed a recent increase in these PAS mistakes or if I just wasn't paying much attention before.

 

[scratch]

Sometimes the little printer that prints out the PAL label will "hiccup", meaning it will print the same label twice. If the SPA person isn't paying attention, then they start putting the wrong label on the wrong package. This can go on for a while before it is caught, so dozens a packages will get missorted to the wrong belts and maybe in the wrong Package Car if the Preloader doesn't check both labels. PAS/EDD has caused many times more missed service on packages then the way it used to be done.

 

[alister]

In the past few weeks I have seen so many data flips that I cannot even begin to count them (I'm a preloader). And I'm not just talking about simple data flips where two street names are similar except for a few letters. The ones that I see seem to be completely illogical and I cannot imagine how PAS can mess them up... I used to see maybe 1 data flip a week. Now I see 5+ a day.

For example, I see things along the lines of the following (I've made factitious examples):
- Hwy 132 to Hwy 78 (being on completely different sides of town)
- 2nd St E to Robin St
- Hwy 47 to Outer Cr

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed a recent increase in these PAS mistakes or if I just wasn't paying much attention before.

I am not sure but this may be a delivery intercept. I have not seen what happens when a pas station scans one.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

It's because there are more than 2 listings in the database, and those that data correct like myself use the iirst one that pops in if the original data was incorrect.

 

[speeddemon]

Bottom line is the system was not ready to go live. I STILL have to sort my entire truck in order to make service and keep miles down. What a waste of money.

 

[Mike Hawk]

I am not sure but this may be a delivery intercept. I have not seen what happens when a pas station scans one.

Intercepts that get scaned by the SPA station get a label that says iECS on them and they go to the clerk.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

PAS is all about the people doing data correction in UDC. If they aren't good, your PAL system won't be. This involves I.E. who updates the database, the mostly non-union people who sit in the office....they abuse me for data correction even though its not a union job.....you'd rather be preloading after staring at a screen and doing 300/hr data correction updates into PAS for 2-4 hours lol

PAS implemented in '05 during preload in Norwood, MA. Worst time to do it, and although a small center there was big volume, with half 30% Boston and SW Suburb...imagine bending over for peak, then dealing with a newly implemented PAS system

Worst double whammy ever.

Anyway, if you have troubles with PAS, talk with IE and preload management.

 

[Mike Hawk]

....they abuse me for data correction even though its not a union job.....you'd rather be preloading after staring at a screen and doing 300/hr data correction updates into PAS for 2-4 hours lol

I don't think they could have a non union come in and do the job, it involves package handling. I like doing it, 6.5 hours a day of easy work. If only that work station had a chair so I didn't have to stand...

 

[CFLBrown]

Sometimes the little printer that prints out the PAL label will "hiccup", meaning it will print the same label twice. If the SPA person isn't paying attention, then they start putting the wrong label on the wrong package. This can go on for a while before it is caught, so dozens a packages will get missorted to the wrong belts and maybe in the wrong Package Car if the Preloader doesn't check both labels. PAS/EDD has caused many times more missed service on packages then the way it used to be done.

A 'flip' would be when the tracking number matches (ie, the pas label is on the right package) but the address on the shipping label and the address on the pas label (also the edd listing) do not match.

 

[MarePare]

A 'flip' would be when the tracking number matches (ie, the pas label is on the right package) but the address on the shipping label and the address on the pas label (also the edd listing) do not match.

I forgot to include in my original post that the ones that I see are indeed data flips and not out of syncs or double labels. The tracking numbers match, but the street names don't. The street number, however, does stay the same on each label. Example: 123 Main St --> 123 Smith Ave

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

I don't think they could have a non union come in and do the job, it involves package handling. I like doing it, 6.5 hours a day of easy work. If only that work station had a chair so I didn't have to stand...

You don't know what data correction is. It's just updating a database of packages that have not arrived yet, there is no package handling. again it's OMS work, not union work (unless youre skilled enough and management see it) But It's usually a non-union job. To do 300/hr you need to type at least around 60 wpm I'd say.

You do decap, correcting packages that have arrived and have bad PALS or no PAL, correct me if I'm wrong. huuuuge difference

 

[Mike Hawk]

You don't know what data correction is. It's just updating a database of packages that have not arrived yet, there is no package handling. again it's OMS work, not union work (unless youre skilled enough and management see it) But It's usually a non-union job. To do 300/hr you need to type at least around 60 wpm I'd say.

You do decap, correcting packages that have arrived and have bad PALS or no PAL, correct me if I'm wrong. huuuuge difference

Ya decap would be what I do.

 

[brownIEman]

It's because there are more than 2 listings in the database, and those that data correct like myself use the iirst one that pops in if the original data was incorrect.

ok, this scares me. Not really meaning to pick on you IDoLess, this is a practice I see all over and I just don't understand it.

MarePare - IDo is likely correct, what you are seeing is likely not an automated data flip by the system, but a data correction, performed by a data OMS (or an hourly like in IDLWTM' case that is weird by the way) or by a DataAqcuisition hourly or DA as Mike does. The system as algorithms it uses to flip to an address that is close but not a dead on match to a valid address in the data base. For example, say the customer sends a package to 1500 Vine Street. The system looks, sees there is no exact match, but finds a 1500 EAST Vine St in the data base. If there is no corresponding valid range on West Vine in that same zip, it will assume the customer meant E. vine, and flip to that. Similarly it might flip a Robert road to Robin, if Robert does not exist. But it will not flip a HWY to an Outer Ct (unless there is a street alias set up, but that is another discussion) or similar flips where there are no letters or phonetics in common.

Flips like you describe are most likely caused by someone correcting the address sent with the package. It is possible that these are correct flips, in that the person may have moved, and the PAL has the correct address, or that the person shipping just sent it to the wrong address. They should be pulled from the car and brought to the attention of your preload sup though, as there is no way to know, and if they are wrong addresses, they should be processed as an address correction.

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

ok, this scares me. Not really meaning to pick on you IDoLess, this is a practice I see all over and I just don't understand it.

MarePare - IDo is likely correct, what you are seeing is likely not an automated data flip by the system, but a data correction, performed by a data OMS (or an hourly like in IDLWTM' case that is weird by the way) or by a DataAqcuisition hourly or DA as Mike does. The system as algorithms it uses to flip to an address that is close but not a dead on match to a valid address in the data base. For example, say the customer sends a package to 1500 Vine Street. The system looks, sees there is no exact match, but finds a 1500 EAST Vine St in the data base. If there is no corresponding valid range on West Vine in that same zip, it will assume the customer meant E. vine, and flip to that. Similarly it might flip a Robert road to Robin, if Robert does not exist. But it will not flip a HWY to an Outer Ct (unless there is a street alias set up, but that is another discussion) or similar flips where there are no letters or phonetics in common.

Flips like you describe are most likely caused by someone correcting the address sent with the package. It is possible that these are correct flips, in that the person may have moved, and the PAL has the correct address, or that the person shipping just sent it to the wrong address. They should be pulled from the car and brought to the attention of your preload sup though, as there is no way to know, and if they are wrong addresses, they should be processed as an address correction.

Well on second thought, i meant the people that are involved with data correction *can* sometimes be subpar to put it nicely. I personally do not just default any address or guess, although i would imagine some do, especially if it's a new PAS system and the people are inexperienced.

I scrub them if I can't find a match. Meaning wipe it clean , So when it's SPA'd it will come up blank and goto decap. (you probably know this just clarifying for anyone reading) Others I'm sure do it differnetly.

 

[westsideworma]

Sometimes the little printer that prints out the PAL label will "hiccup", meaning it will print the same label twice. If the SPA person isn't paying attention, then they start putting the wrong label on the wrong package. This can go on for a while before it is caught, so dozens a packages will get missorted to the wrong belts and maybe in the wrong Package Car if the Preloader doesn't check both labels. PAS/EDD has caused many times more missed service on packages then the way it used to be done.

Agreed scratch, we were talking about that the other day. When I loaded originally we were still on the alpha charts and while in the beginning I had a few misloads, after I was used to it and knew the streets (a couple weeks) I would go weeks (sometimes months) without misloads.

Under PAS I did that once when I was given an 800-850 piece set of cars and 4.5 hours to do it (190-210+ pph). I could pull and double check every label and build a really good load. After I didn't have any for like 3 months they stepped me up to a 1200 piece pull and gave me 5 hours to do it....as my pph was off the plan (214 pph) something was a little fishy there lol. Basically, they knew I could load faster (I averaged 240-250+ pph before PAS) and provide decent service instead of loading at a respectable pace and giving near perfect service. Needless to say, my streaks went from weeks/months to days.

If service is of the utmost importance, then it can be done. Instead of IE studying the most we can get out of people, they should study the rate someone can load and be effective at catching the problems PAS creates (label flips, out of sequence PALs). It seems thats the way it is to us. I'm not saying IE is the devil. We are going beyond IE's plan in some areas and I think that is the problem. Some of the standards they've set in our building are very respectable. We then go beyond them and thats when the trouble starts (people loading/unloading/sorting etc too fast). In theory, PAS is a great system, and maybe works really well at some buildings. It also is implemented differently at some buildings than others. In some ways it works, others not so well.

 

[westsideworma]

Well on second thought, i meant the people that are involved with data correction *can* sometimes be subpar to put it nicely. I personally do not just default any address or guess, although i would imagine some do, especially if it's a new PAS system and the people are inexperienced.

I scrub them if I can't find a match. Meaning wipe it clean , So when it's SPA'd it will come up blank and goto decap. (you probably know this just clarifying for anyone reading) Others I'm sure do it differnetly.

That is a big problem at our center. Some people guess and sometimes that guess is the right street...but the wrong town...its comical (but not) sometimes. I'm pretty good at catching them (I catch like 4-6 a day) when auditing package cars and sometimes I just feel like slapping myself on the forehead when i see some of the mistakes.

Come work at our center please! haha

 

[IDoLessWorkThanMost]

That is a big problem at our center. Some people guess and sometimes that guess is the right street...but the wrong town...its comical (but not) sometimes. I'm pretty good at catching them (I catch like 4-6 a day) when auditing package cars and sometimes I just feel like slapping myself on the forehead when i see some of the mistakes.

It's all about the preloader, SPA or auditor. A package that has an enitrely wrong address for a company lets say, but the town and street name/ number match and exist, its going to go there. No one will see it until it physically enters the building. it'll never make it into data correction queue because it's a match as far as PAS is concerned. That is a flaw in the system.

 

[Mike Hawk]

"Out of sequence" labels or misSPA's as they are called at my center are not that hard to avoid, IF you pay attention to what you are doing.

 

[brownIEman]

Well on second thought, i meant the people that are involved with data correction *can* sometimes be subpar to put it nicely. I personally do not just default any address or guess, although i would imagine some do, especially if it's a new PAS system and the people are inexperienced.

I scrub them if I can't find a match. Meaning wipe it clean , So when it's SPA'd it will come up blank and goto decap. (you probably know this just clarifying for anyone reading) Others I'm sure do it differnetly.

I am very relieved to hear this. Guessing is a very bad practice some of our data scrub folks have gotten into that I just cannot understand. Whenever I audit an operation, I always emphasize that there are 3 possible outcomes when looking at package data that has failed validation 1) correct it to the right address so it gets SPA'd to the right car when it arrives, 2) do not find a good match in the data base and just F10 past it so it will go to DA when it arrives, and 3) correct it to a match in the database that is the wrong address. Of these, number three is far, far, far and away the worst of the possible outcomes. Yet I still see data OMS' looking up "Robert Smith" in choicepoint and then throwing in the first address that pops up. Like there is sure to be only one Robert Smith in a major metropolitan area.

 

[brownIEman]

"Out of sequence" labels or misSPA's as they are called at my center are not that hard to avoid, IF you pay attention to what you are doing.

Agree with Mike here. I have seen truly good SPA people, and they are aware of the rhythm of the system and know when the timing is off. When I am training in the operation, I always tell them better to shut off the belt and double check if they think something is amiss.

As a side note re an earlier post, the system does not hiccup, nor does it get hives or belch. What does sometime happen that looks like a SPA hiccup is that the SPAer scans the Maxi barcode and then the scanner picks up the 1z as he is pulling the scanner away from the package to be ready for the next one. In this instance, the SPA system will give two labels for the same package, but the scanner will have beeped twice indicating that it read two labels. So as Mike has indicated, if you are paying attention you can catch it.