2006 - 2007 Current Best Practices Award Nominees

These award nominees have shown outstanding professionalism and have contributed an overwhelming wealth of information for federal mail managers and mail centers to share in improving mail management.   

2006 - 2007 Federal Mail Manager of the Year Award Nominees

Roberta E. Hinton
Facilities Management and Services Division
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC  Roberta has developed and implemented several strategies that have enhanced the overall mail delivery services at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency which have resulted in driving costs down.

A Recent audit requested by the Chief Financial Officer looked at the Agency's ability to track postal expenditures for the preceding five year period.  This audit showed a flawless tracking system which accounted for every cent spent on postage and it also showed how the Program Offices were held accountable for the money they spent.

Roberta implemented a system of checks and balances that made it possible to track actual mail delivery times and ensured that contract personnel were meeting the applicable government standards.  The increased customer satisfaction is shown in the outstanding survey results we have been receiving.

Roberta worked very closely with our shipping vendors and was able to secure lower pricing which further reduced our expenditures.  Robert set up a system of inspections at our Regional Offices that increased accountability in the reporting of their expenditures.

Roberta has led the charge ensuring that Mail Center personnel received the best training available using the Protective Service, Postal Inspectors and others at little or no cost to the Agency.  Roberta's Mail Center personnel are highly motivated, well trained and display a viable "can do" attitude daily.

Roberta's work ethic exemplifies and attitude that no task is ever too large or too hard to accomplish and set out and finds a way to get the job done.

Winston Black
Office of Management Services
Farm Credit Administration

Winston Black is the Support Services Supervisor for the Agency's Mail and Communications Branch.  Over the last several years he has completed training and earned several certificates to improve the management and security of the Agency Mail Center.  He has completed Introduction to Improvised Explosive Devices and X-ray Interpretation Overview; Mail Center Security; Site Manager's Training; New Manager's Training; and many other hands-on instructions.  Mr. Black is constantly learning new procedures, equipment, and new requirements that are necessary to effectively scrutinize and protect all mail items.  He ensures that his staff, who process the mail, are always geared with latex gloves and proactive masks.  He has also ensured his staff are appropriately trained on anthrax and other hazardous materials.

Mr. Black has implemented effective performance measurement tools that track each mailing through the printing process.  He implemented the Postal Soft System, which consolidates each mailing for presort and bar coding.  This in turn gives the Agency the lowest postal rates.  He also utilizes state of the art software such as MCM, Postal Soft, and Smart Trak Systems, and other measures, such as consolidating shipments and making units accountable for their postal requirements.  His Unit has reduced the Agency postal budget by implementing an electronic Agency Handbook.  Previously, hard bound books were distributed to our employees and customers at an extensive cost.  This initiative, along with other cost saving methods in the mail center, has reduced the Agency's postal budget by 15% over the last fiscal year. 

Mr. Black's dedication to the job, his innovation management style and his cost effective performance has earned him this nomination.

Ernie Stevens
General Services Administration
Washington, DC

Ernie Stevens, GSA Mail Manager, played an important role as the strategic sourcing lead for the federal strategic sourcing initiative for GSA. He was an active member of the FSSI team for express and ground delivery services and was one of the multi-agency participants on the evaluation team, which led to an unprecedented award to FedEx via a BPA under the MAS, which includes tier discounts that encourages collective leveraging of the government's purchasing power. Many smaller agencies will benefit greatly that would not otherwise be capable of achieving large discounts on their own.

Ernie brought to the table years of experience and leadership, often working long hours, on his days off, and the weekend.

Ernie was, and still is, an invaluable team member for FSSI ExGDDS.

There are currently 11 participating agencies that will realize discounts of 24% off FedEx's MAS prices for express shipments, and an average of 4.8% to over 39% off ground shipments, depending on shipping profiles.

Ernie contributed to the procurement strategy, objectives, requirements, and finally the evaluation. He helped to identify key objectives that will result in the adoption of best practices, including streamlining business processes and the collection and utilization of business intelligence to achieve additional cost savings and efficiencies.

I proudly nominate Ernie Stevens for the best practices award.

U.S. Department of Agriculture
Mail Center Design Team

Ed Murtagh, Vi Fassett, Doreen LaRoche, Tom Hoffman, Michael Sazonov, Michael Butler
Design and Construction Division 

Betty G. Froehlich, Randall Carter, Howard Neverson, Tommy Smith, Tony Myers                  
Mail and Reproduction Management Division

Before June 2006, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Mail Center was located in the 4th wing basement of the USDA South Building.  It was open to anyone walking down the 4th wing basement area.  Construction of a new mail center started out as part of Phase 3A in the South Building Modernization Plan, but was expedited after the 2001 anthrax attacks on the U.S. Mail and government agencies.  USDA knew they needed a safer and more secure mail center. A Mail Center Design Team was formed to determine the features needed for this new mail center.  An architect was contracted to help design the layout.  The Mail Center Design Team worked with the architect to design a separate and secure mail center.  This new mail center includes features such as emergency shower, eye wash systems, key card access, an independent ventilation system, and an alarm system.  The alarm system alerts all mail center staff of any potential danger. 

There was also great care given to the flow of USDA’s mail processes.  There were meetings and coordination between the Design and Construction Division and the supervisors of each mail center unit in regards to the flow of mail in and out of the mail center as well as the flow of mail within the mail center.   Each mail center unit had different requirements and the cooperation between the Design and Construction staff and the Mail Services staff was vital to include all requirements. 

To assist with the mail flow, the mail center is equipped at all entrances to the mail handling work areas with automatic door openers for easy accessibility for mail center employees.  Another feature that helps with the flow of mail through the mail center is that the delivery supervisors’ (one contract and the other is a USDA employee) office is close by their employees as well as have glass windows to watch mail movement in the mail center delivery units.  Also, to brighten up the mail center, designers gave the mail center plenty of light as well as high windows to let in natural light. 

The Accountable Mail Unit needed to be a secure area in which registered mail, express mail, certified, checks, etc. are processed with barcodes and a tracking system.  A customer service area was also needed to provide for employees to walk up and obtain and/or fill out labels, forms, etc., and pick up mail and packages.  This new Accountable Mail Unit provides both a secure area as well as a very employee-friendly area for obtaining assistance from the mail center staff. 

The USDA Mail Center Design Team also worked with the USPS to design the loading dock to meet the specifications of the USPS vehicles as well as the APC’s (All Purpose Carriers).  As the APC’s are rolled to Security for X-ray, this area needed to be near the loading dock.  Along with the new mail center, USDA built a separate mail screening unit that is bomb-proof on the right near the loading dock.  All mail is received in this separate building for screening before coming into the mail center.  The loading dock area that is attached to the new mail center is a dedicated mail loading dock.  USDA also has another dock in the same court 4 area for shipping and receiving. 

The Courier Unit is located near the outside door to court 4 so that employees in this unit can have easier access to their vehicles carrying mail to and from the mail center to the other USDA DC sites.  The Courier Unit makes two regular runs to the leased facilities around the metro area as well as emergency runs as required.  Mail and packages are taken to the loading dock on dollies and loaded into the vans.

The Metering Unit also had several requirements for the location of their space.  Due to the mail processes in this unit, it was located close to an exit to the loading dock.  There is also a staging area for the mail before going out onto the loading dock.  This makes it easier to get the APC’s out of the meter section and ready to go out onto the loading dock when the USPS arrives to pick up USDA’s mail.  Another requirement of this section was that it needed to be more secure due to the postage monies on the meters.  An additional key card access was put on this access doors before an employee can enter into this section. 

There were also support space requirements that were discussed and implemented into the new space.  These areas include a mail center conference room.  This room is used for weekly Division staff meetings, bi-weekly Mail Services Branch meetings, and Agency Mail Managers meetings, which are held quarterly.  Storage areas were also built in for tubs, bins trays, supplies as well as storage for the electronic carts used for courier deliveries throughout the DC South and Whitten Buildings.  For mail center employees, a break room was built in for break times and lunch.  This break room includes two vending machines, a refrigerator and microwave.  Men and women locker rooms are also provided in the Mail Center for Mail Center staff personal belongings.  A computer room is provided for the mail center staff to check their e-mails, surf the internet as well as provide computer training classes to the staff.  These training classes were implemented to empower any employee that is willing to learn various levels of computer skills.

In the old mail center, employees on the mail center staff were divided by a hallway.  Now in the new mail center, employees are working in the same large room for sorting mail.  This promotes teamwork and effective communication between the mail units.  This set-up has also improved the mail center’s sort rate as well as improved morale.  The new mail center is a more cohesive and pleasant working environment for employees. 

An Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony was held in July 2006 with the entire Office of Operations in the Departmental Administration.  The USDA Assistant Secretary for Administration was on hand to cut the ribbon. 

Social Security Administration
Mail and Postage Team
George Rosch, Carol Hoskins, Bernadette Gross

The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Mail and Postage Policy Team (MPPT) was responsible for approximately $23.1 million in postage savings during fiscal year (FY) 2006.

A few years ago, SSA began outsourcing the printing and mailing of its notice workloads which previously were printed and mailed by SSA staff.  These notices were outsourced to commercial printers through Government Printing Office (GPO) contacts.

These workloads were previously processed through SSA's Program Service Centers which utilized a presort vendor for securing postal automation discounts.  Contacting out these workloads required a new approach securing postal savings.

SSA contracted out over 2,000 printing orders in FY 2006.  Collectively, these orders involved mail over 400 million notices at a cost of $132.9 million.  Full-rate postage for these notices would have cost approximately $156 million.

MPPT developed mailing requirements which were incorporated into the Agency's notice print and mail contracts.  MPPT developed contract clauses specifying envelope and mailing requirements which allow SSA to maximize USPS automation postage discounts.  As a result, SSA saved approximately $23.1 million in postage expenses.

FACTORS CONSIDERED IN DEVELOPING MAILING REQUIREMENTS

Number of notices mailed daily.

Weight and size of each mail piece.

Mailing schedules.

Selecting the most appropriate mailing option such as indicia mailing.  Federal postal meter, permit mail or manifesting.

Ensuring SSA addresses have a Post new barcode.

Ensuring SSA addresses are processed through a CASS-certified program.

Ensuring SSA addresses are processed through a National Change of Address program.

Determining the number United States Postal (USPS) rate groups each mail piece.

Providing pre-sorted files whenever possible.

Designing mail pieces and envelope specifications so that they will meet USPS standards/requirements in seeking postage discounts.

HOW THESE FACTORS ARE USEFUL

These factors provide the Agency with the management information needed to define workload requirements and determine the USPS automation discounts SSA will qualify for from each of its printing workloads and determine the total postal expenses.

COLLECTING OF POSTAL DOCUMENTATION

One of the contract clauses developed by MPPT requires each GPO printing contactor to fill out a database spreadsheet provided by SSA.  The contactor emails an MS EXCEL database spreadsheet within 2 days of each mail drop.  The fields completed include:  Job Title, Jacket Number, Program and Print Order Numbers, as well as the itemized breakdown of the postage computation found on the USPS Form PS 3600R.  The contactor is instructed to provide SSA with Postal Form 3615 with the complete breakdown of how many pieces went at a certain USPS postage rate category and the date the mail was entered into the USPS mail stream.  This provides verifiable mail-related information for the agency's budget office and the authorizing component regarding the total postage expenses.  It also provides management information for future mailings.

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Department of Justice

Dolores A. Gibbs, Domion O. Gross, Beverly Jeffress

An important factor in the FBI's overall success is the ability to effectively communicate throughout the world.  Obtaining, exchanging, and disseminating information either internally or externally among law enforcement agencies, or with the general public is part of the foundation of law enforcement.  In this regard, mail plays a critical part in the Bureau's overall success.  By sending and receiving evidence, publicizing fugitives by distributing wanted flyers, receiving and sending fingerprint cards for identification, or exchanging sensitive or routine law enforcement information, every piece of mail supports the FBI in one form or another.  Without excellent mail service, the FBI could not properly function.

Like any other Mail Management Program, analysts must augment each other to have a successful mail operation.  As a team, Ms. Dolores A. Gibbs, Mr. Damion O. Gross and Miss Beverly Jeffress have lifted mail service to an exceptional level.  They have demonstrated the vision and creativity necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  Besides their accomplishments, Ms. Gibbs, Mr. Gross and Miss Jeffress have brought a wealth of knowledge to the FBI's Mail Management Program.  Prior to taking their current positions, Ms. Gibbs and Mr. Gross have served in other mail related jobs.  They are leaders in every sense of the word, sharing their 25 plus years of mail knowledge both inside and outside of the FBI.

Department of Homeland Security
Mail Management Committee

Throughout FY06, the DHS Mail Management Committee successfully operated as the Department's Mail Manager.  Using effective and aggressive policies and practices, the Committee raised the standard in federal mail operations by implementing various programs and initiatives (Implemented Effective Performance Measurement Tools, Instituted Better Business Practices, Promoted Efficiencies, Provided and Improved Excellent Customer Service, Reduced Overall Cost) that made the Department's mail program more efficient, effective, progressive, and adaptive to support the needs and mission of users within the Department of Homeland Security.