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Full Traceability and Quality of Service for Millions of International Postal Deliveries: International Post Corporation (IPC) Case Study
International Post Corporation (IPC) is an association of 24 postal operators in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. Founded in 1989, IPC provides its members with systems and programs to ensure that international mail is delivered efficiently and competitively. IPC uses Axway's Synchrony™ Integrator to manage over 120,000 electronic data interchange (EDI) messages daily.
IPC's members handle 80 percent of all the international mail delivered in the world. Members include the United States Postal Service (USPS), Groupe La Poste (France), Australia Post, and Deutsche Post AG (Germany).
Axway's solution enables IPC to monitor the postal service quality, ensure traceability, and measure performance against targets. "Our objective is to provide postal organizations with tools that enable them to monitor and upgrade the quality of their services," said Johan Van den bergh, head of systems technology, IPC.
IPC is recognized by its members as a natural partner and industry organization for improving service quality, promoting cooperation and interoperability, and providing informed analysis on the postal and adjacent markets. "This expertise is not only to our members but extends to posts that are not IPC members as well. Well over 100 postal services worldwide are being monitored for performance standards," said Johan Van den bergh, head of systems technology, IPC.
"Axway's platform enables us to process an enormous volume of EDI information. The information is received, translated, verified and integrated into our database," added Lionel Gilmont, responsible for EDI infrastructure, IPC.
International mail items such as parcels and registered letters are barcoded. When an item is ready to be shipped, the local postal organization scans the item, and a pre-advice EDI message is automatically sent to the receiving postal organization. Once the item is received by the postal organization at the destination, it is scanned again and an EDI message is automatically sent. A parcel can be scanned several times as it makes its way through the postal pipeline to the final delivery. It may be scanned as it comes into customs, as it leaves customs, and again when it is delivered to its recipient.
Scanning Parcels Into The Track and Trace System
With each of these scans, an EDI message is produced, and information about the parcel is constantly updated. IPC receives a copy of each and every EDI message for centralized tracking and tracing. "Axway's solution is the foundation of our business.
We cannot afford to miss a single message. Axway's system enables us to offer full traceability in our complex EDI infrastructure so that we can report back to our members should any anomalies arise.
- Johan Van den bergh, head of systems technology, IPC
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We cannot afford to miss a single message. Axway's system enables us to offer full traceability in our complex EDI infrastructure so that we can report back to our members should any anomalies arise," stated Van den bergh.
When a postal organization has a problem with a parcel, IPC must locate the messages relating to the parcel. IPC has an auditable system that enables it to report that the message has been received at a specific time. This factor is critical because it can impact monetary compensation among the postal organizations.
Monitoring, Setting Standards, and Offering New Services
Another important role IPC plays is in assessing adherence to international postal standards for EDI messages. With such high volumes, it is important that messages are in the correct format, and that the contents are always correct.
All the information that Axway Integrator receives is sent to Axway Sentinel (Business Activity Monitoring or BAM). Axway Sentinel stores all the data in a central EDI repository to manage updates, provide reports and dashboards, and monitor the system.
"We use the information coming from Axway's tools to inform the postal operators when there are flaws in their messages," said Van den bergh. "We also inform them whether their messages are delayed. If there is a problem with the messages or with their syntax, we need to communicate the problem. Axway's Sentinel is not only crucial for tracing and tracking, but also for validating the messages and automatically flagging anomalies. Sentinel provides the dashboarding and alerting functions that are inherent to the value of our organization."
Van den bergh added, "By raising the standards and by putting an infrastructure in place where tasks are handled automatically, we ensure that EDI service between postal operators is monitored continuously. This is essential to our members."
Many services are built on top of Axway's system. IPC is currently implementing the Synchrony Gateway. "Some of our partners would like to exchange information with IPC using AS2 and file transfer protocol (FTP). The Synchrony Gateway will provide a common interface to the outside world to exchange information in a secure way," said Gilmont.
You can read the IPC-Axway Success Story in its entirety, including a detailed outline of IPC's business needs, problems, solution and benefits here.
To learn more about IPC, visit their website at www.ipc.be.
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