Abstract:
Most organisations are faced the task of sorting through large amounts of incoming mail on a daily
basis. This mail can be in the form of paper mail, electronic mail, faxes and other digital documents.
Usually, mail is sorted manually and then forwarded to the relevant departments for further
processing. This is a labour intensive process that it is not optimal and has a number of
inefficiencies.
UTi delivers a large amount of mail to four major banks across the country every day. Bank A in
Johannesburg, has a large mailroom that requires an innovative solution to reduce costs, increase
customer satisfaction and improve the quality of the entire process. A digital mailroom automates
the process of incoming mail. It uses scanning and capturing technologies that allow incoming mail
to be digitised. This helps automate the classification and distribution of mail within the
organization. Internal mail distribution procedures can be standardised through the
implementation of a digital mailroom because both paper mail and electronic mail can be managed
through the same process.
This final research project report focuses on Phases 1 to 6 that are detailed in the Project
Approach in Chapter 1. Chapter 2, the Literature Review, explores concepts surrounding digital
mailrooms and investigates similar processes that are used in industry. It places the problem in
context and expands on the approach to the project by explaining various Industrial Engineering
tools, techniques and methods that can be used to develop a solution to the problem that has been
defined in Chapter 1. Chapter 3, the Problem Investigation, explores the problem in greater detail
using the tools and techniques that are defined in Chapter 2. Chapter 4, the Solution Approach
and Development, describes the approach to the solution by exploring and evaluating the solution
alternatives; it illustrates a conceptual process model of a proposed digital mailroom solution and
describes the simulation model construction and formation. Chapter 5, the Solution Analysis,
interprets and analyses the final results of the simulation. Lastly, Chapter 6: Recommendations
and Conclusions draws up valid recommendations and conclusions on this feasibility study.
The ultimate goal of this project is to identify whether a digital mailroom solution is a feasible
option that UTi could offer to their clients in the future. This goal can be achieved by assessing
the current system at Bank A , designing a conceptual digital mailroom process model, developing
simulations on both scenarios (the current mailroom and the proposed digital mailroom solution)
and conducting a comparative analysis to decide which system is the best option for Bank A s
mailroom.
