A Feasibility Study on the Implementation of a Digital Mailroom for UTi

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.