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SO, WHAT IS MISSING IN THE INTELLIGENT MAIL BARCODE IMPLEMENTATION?

The following is a perspective by postal consultant Mike Winn, President of Greylock Associates. Mike also serves as a member of the PostCom Board of Directors, its Executive Committee, and as Chairman of its Education Committee. The views expressed, however, are solely the author's.

Given the number of unanswered questions and doubts about Intelligent Mail barcode [IMB] readiness on both the industry side and the USPS side, what is missing? Simple question, and a simple answer in two words – project management. The Postal Service is practicing a methodology of project management once employed by the earliest inhabitants of North America when hunting buffalo. The method was simple. Chase a heard of buffalo toward a cliff and drive them all over the edge to their demise. The end was usually achieved, but with consequences that were unpredictable and probably quite wasteful.

The Postal Service seems to be employing the same methodology of project management with the Intelligent Mail Barcode. A date for implementation has been set for May 2009, but absolutely no milestones or goals for preparation have been discussed or determined. USPS management seems confident that herding the industry to implementing the IMB is as simple as conquering a herd of buffalo. Unfortunately, the result may be very similar.

Projects of the impact, significance, and magnitude of implementing the IMB require very sophisticated controls and communications to insure a reasonable chance of success. Let’s face it, implementing the IMB is not an everyday change in the way we do business. It is a revolutionary change and something not to be taken lightly. It includes major technology changes, verification and acceptance policies/ procedures, business rule changes, service re-definition, pricing changes, personnel training and extensive specification revisions. Consider the number and types of mailpieces requiring the IMB application, the different rules for classes of mail, container applications, data collection, data management, data distribution, security, and even the training of personnel for the USPS, mail service providers, and mail owners. Is this an initiative or project that can be managed similar to the herding buffalo methodology?

Project management methodologies may vary, but they all share these common traits – control, communication, goals/ milestones (timeline), definition of responsibilities and a dedication to a well defined goal that has been agreed to by all parties. It does not matter if the project manager employs formal Pareto charts or if he/ she utilizes simple lists of who owns what, what is to be accomplished, and by when. It does matter that there is a point of control over all of the various work streams to insure proper preparation, coordination, and delivery of the agreed upon components at the required point in the project’s execution. Ask yourself this simple question – can you identify these characteristics in the Postal Service’s implementation of the Intelligent Mail Barcode?