CEN/TS 16919:2016

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-junij-2016
Poštne storitve - Vmesnik in oblika prenosa podatkov za zajem avtomatiziranih
poštnih dogodkov
Postal services - Interface and data transfer format for capturing postal automation
events IDT-PAE
Schnittstelle und Datentransfer für die Erfassung von postalischen
Automatisierungsereignissen
Services postaux - Format d’interface et de transfert des données relatives à la capture
des évènements sur des équipements postaux automatisés
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TS 16919:2016
ICS:
03.240 Poštne storitve Postal services
35.240.69 Uporabniške rešitve IT pri IT applications in postal
poštnih storitvah services
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN/TS 16919
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
April 2016
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
ICS 35.240.99; 03.240
English Version
Postal services - Interface and data transfer format for
capturing postal automation events IDT-PAE
Services postaux - Format d'interface et de transfert
des données relatives à la capture des évènements sur
des équipements postaux automatisés
This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 11 February 2016 for provisional application.

The period of validity of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to
submit their comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard.

CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS
available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in
parallel to the CEN/TS) until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2016 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TS 16919:2016 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 4
Introduction. 5
1 Scope . 7
2 Terms and definitions. 7
3 Symbols and abbreviations. 17
4 Generic Postal Process . 19
4.1 General . 19
4.2 Postal operations . 21
4.2.1 General . 21
4.2.2 Collection . 21
4.2.3 Sorting centre- for further transportation (Outward sorting) . 21
4.2.4 Transport . 22
4.2.5 Sorting centre-distribution (Inward sorting) . 22
4.2.6 Distribution (Delivery office / in office activities) . 22
4.3 Postal activities in postal operations . 23
4.4 Postal events . 25
4.4.1 General . 25
4.4.2 Handover Events . 27
4.4.3 Processing Events . 29
4.4.4 Storage Events . 35
4.4.5 Transport Events . 36
4.4.6 Delivery Events . 36
4.4.7 Delivery . 37
4.5 Business Steps . 38
5 MIS Interface . 40
5.1 General . 40
5.2 Information about processes which move Items . 40
5.2.1 General . 40
5.2.2 Item. 40
5.2.3 Object / Product . 41
5.2.4 Location . 42
5.3 Classification of Postal Business Events in EPCIS data model . 42
5.3.1 General . 42
5.3.2 Business steps in EPCIS . 46
5.4 The impact of events on MIS . 48
6 Data Collection and Transfer . 48
6.1 General . 48
6.2 Process Integration and Service Oriented Architecture . 49
6.3 Process Integrations Platform . 49
6.3.1 General . 49
6.3.2 Common components of integration platform . 50
6.4 Message based process integration platform . 51
7 Data Storage and Format . 53
7.1 General . 53
7.2 Data storage in a Repository . 53
7.2.1 General . 53
7.2.2 EPCIS Repository . 54
7.3 Data formats . 56
7.3.1 Data levels . 56
7.3.2 Identification. 56
7.3.3 Capture . 57
Annex A (informative) Typical Postal Industry MIS interfaces. 59
Annex B (normative) EPCIS standard summary reference . 61
B.1 Overview . 61
B.2 EPCIS Event and Master Data example . 63
B.3 EPCIS Data Exchange Components . 63
B.4 Services Approach . 63
B.5 Relationship to the EPC global Architecture Framework . 64
B.6 Elements of the EPCglobal Architecture Framework . 65
B.7 EPCIS Specification Principles . 66
B.8 EPCIS Specification Framework . 66
B.9 Layers . 66
B.10 Extensibility. 69
B.11 Modularity . 69
Annex C (normative) EPCIS Data Model assessment with respect to a standardised MIS
interface . 70
C.1 General . 70
C.2 Vocabularies . 70
C.3 Locations . 70
C.4 Extension points . 71
C.5 Prospective assertions . 71
C.6 Event Types . 71
C.7 Capture application . 71
Annex D (informative) Object Data Model definition in the postal process (Items and
Aggregations) . 73
Bibliography . 83

European foreword
This document (CEN/TS 16919:2016) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 331 “Postal
services”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent
rights.
This document has been prepared under a mandate given to CEN by the European Commission and the
European Free Trade Association.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Introduction
This Technical Specification will be in the series of the Open Standard Interfaces defining manufacturer
independent interface definitions where needed. All Sorting equipment of the different manufacturers
in a sorting centre produce data which are relevant for service planning, machine and staff planning,
optimization of machine utilization and other sorting centre management relevant data. On the other
hand the major suppliers for postal IT systems have developed MIS systems for these or other purposes.
In sorting centres with mixed machinery and one or more MIS systems, data need to be converted for
integration. This Technical Specification will allow to define a common interface to avoid these multiple
conversions and by this save costs in the postal business. See Figure 1.

Figure 1 — Open Interface Illustration
As a conscious decision of the Project Team work it is assumed MIS standard will be an instance of
EPCIS standard with specific application of this Technical Specification to the Postal Process that will be
modelled in the chapters. The Technical Specification will then go through a number of significant
events of the process that an MIS interface should contain in order to guarantee the interoperability of
different proprietary MIS systems and different Postal Sorting equipment.
Focus of the development is:
— The specification will allow interfacing postal processes in order to gather information which shall
be prepared for presentation/aggregation to higher-level systems;
— The specification will not be in favour of one vendor over another;
— The specification will not be specific to a programming language, operating system or hardware;
— The specification will be specific enough, to allow any standards-compliant equipment to be
connected to standards-compliant higher level systems and get at least basic functionality without
any customization;
— The Data Model will use well-established terms, e.g. taken from the UPU data model, which are
suitable to describe postal processes accurately;
— The Data Model will categorize the information sent and received (e.g. into status, event, control-
message) and define standards for each of these categories;
— The specification will allow for vendor-specific or equipment-specific variations. The scope of these
variations will be limited (otherwise we would not have a standard at all);
— The specification will provide for future extensions and modifications, such that future versions do
not break existing installations;
— It will have to be easy to implement an interface which is compliant with this standard;
— The specification will define how to prevent unauthorized access, preferably by referring to an
existing security standard;
— The specification will use well-established technologies for Data Transport;
— The specification will use established standard for Data Format;
— The specification needs to state minimal requirements for data volume and frequency as well as the
permissible latency which an implementation needs to comply to.
1 Scope
An IDT-PAE interface enables interoperability among several systems and processes by providing
specifications to the following requirements:
a) Data Collection and Transfer: Specification of data transported from the devices to higher level
systems. There may be more than one permissible protocol referring to different OSI layers. The
standard will define where the communication requires polling and where asynchronous messages
are used.
The basis is messages triggered by events.
b) Data Storage and Format: Specification how data is formatted and structured. This concerns the
choice between XML, CSV, EDI, JSON and other formats including possible binary representations.
c) Data Model: Specification of the semantics (meanings) behind the data. This is the most important
part and the one of the most important objectives for the specification. This means that conceptual
data model and its mapping to the Data Format will be developed. Major focus on specifications
level of detail will be placed in order to provide a document that will provide detailed specification
information without being too general or too specific.
2 Terms and definitions
)
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply .
2.1
acceptance
process of examining a mail induction unit at the acceptance location, to ensure that the mail is
acceptable for postal processing and that the postal operator may take responsibility for it
2.2
acceptance location
location at which responsibility for a mail induction unit is handed over from the mail submitter to the
mail service contractor
2.3
acceptance of postal processing
completion of the process of ensuring that mail can legally be conveyed by post, fulfils postal system
requirements, regarding size, addressing, etc. and that correct postage has been paid or is chargeable
under normal contractual arrangements
2.4
activity
work performed by people, equipment, technologies or facilities
2.5
addressee
party that is the intended ultimate recipient of a postal item

)
1 The terms and definition in this document are defined in the UPU Standard glossary, Date of approval 26 February 2014, in
the bibliography and in this document.
2.6
aggregate assignment (packaging)
assignment of an item or (lower-level) aggregate to a (higher-level) aggregate of mail which is to be
handled as a unit during the next processing or transportation step(s)
2.7
aggregate break-up (unpacking)
decomposition of an aggregate into its component mail items and/or lower-level aggregates
2.8
application identifier
numeric prefix to a data structure that defines the content, format and intended interpretation of the
data
2.9
attribute
named characteristic of an entity which can be expressed by a data value
2.10
bar code
symbol consisting of a series of printed bars representing values
2.11
business information system
business information systems represent a system of controls and processes which a business uses to
analyze information needed to effectively manage their business
2.12
bundle
mail unit whose physical constraint is a band or wrapper
2.13
clearance
operation of collecting postal items deposited at access points
2.14
control protocols
provides reliable, ordered, error-checked delivery of a stream of octets between programs running on
computers connected to a local area network, intranet or the public Internet
2.15
code
value, taken from a particular code list, which is used in messages to represent one of the possible data
values forth data element covered by the code list
2.16
collection
method of mail induction in which customers deposit mail in unmanned depositories (posting boxes)
which are periodically emptied by the mail service contractor or its agent
2.17
consignment
set of one or more receptacles of a particular mail category, using a common transport on a particular
occasion, from a specific place of loading to a specific place of final destination
2.18
containerization
process or act of packaging one or more mail units into a receptacle to simplify handling and
transportation
2.19
data element
smallest logical unit of data, about a postal item, aggregate or receptacle, which might need to be
communicated between postal applications
2.20
data captured
automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering that data directly into
computer systems
2.21
data collection and transport
collection and distribution of information to virtually any device or system
2.22
data format
standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file
2.23
data model
used in two related senses. In first sense it is a description of the objects represented by a computer
system together with their properties and relationships; these are typically "real world" objects such as
products, suppliers, customers, and orders. In the second sense, it means a collection of concepts and
rules used in defining data models: for example the relational model uses relations and rules, while the
network model uses records, sets, and fields
2.24
data storage
technology consisting of computer components and recording media used to retain digital data
2.25
data transfer
physical transfer of data (a digital bit stream) over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint
communication channel
2.26
delivery operators
postal enterprise which delivery the postal items on addressee of recipient
2.27
distribution
process from sorting at the distribution centre to delivery of postal items to their addressees
2.28
data identifier (DI)
smallest logical unit of data, about a postal item, aggregate or receptacle, which might need to be
communicated between postal applications
2.29
data identifier category
grouping of related data identifiers
2.30
date
characteristic of an event which defines, to an appropriate level of accuracy, the point in time at which it
occurred or is or was forecast to occur
2.31
delivery
postal process in which a postal item leaves the responsibility of the postal operator through being
handed over to, or left for collection by, the addressee, the mailed or an authorized representative, or
deposited in a private letter-box accessible to one or other of these
2.32
delivery address
postal address specified by the mailer to which the postal operator is requested to deliver the postal
item
2.33
delivery attempt
(so far) unsuccessful attempt to deliver an item or entity
2.34
delivery failure
event corresponding to conclusion, by a postal handling organisation, that it is definitely unable to
deliver the entity concerned and (if the entity is still available to it) intends to dispose of it in
accordance with its contractual obligations
2.35
delivery completion
successful delivery of an item, including the obtaining of proof of delivery where this is required
2.36
delivery events
cover events related to the final delivery of mail
2.37
delivery point
physical location recognized by a postal operator as a valid location at which delivery of a postal item
may occur
2.38
delivery post
postal operator, or other postal handling organisation, entrusted with delivery of a postal item
2.39
delivery routes
route followed by a delivery postman
2.40
dispatch
mail aggregate for which, under the terms of a single despatch agreement, responsibility is (to be)
handed over from one mail processing centre to another and which is accounted for as a unit between
the operators involved
2.41
despatch agreement
agreement under which mail is exchanged between mail processing centres operated by different postal
handling organizations
2.42
distribution
delivery of postal items to the home or business address of the final recipient
2.43
entity
distinct physical or logical object of interest in the context of a postal application
2.44
event; postal handling event
occurrence of a significant change in the actual or predicted values of one or more attributes of an entity
2.45
flat
letter-post item which is too large, too thick or too stiff to qualify as a small letter, but which has a size
of 229 mm by 324 mm or less; a maximum thickness of 20 mm and a maximum weight of 500 g or can
otherwise be automatically processed on the flat sorters used by the delivery post
2.46
flat sorter
sorter which is designed for and capable of processing items of size up to at least C4 (229 mm by 324
mm) with a thickness of up to at least 20 mm and weight of at least 500 g
2.47
forming
process by which individual postal items, bundles and/or postal receptacles are assembled into mail
aggregates
2.48
handover events
events associated with the transferor responsibility of mail between parties
2.49
holding start
commencement of a (temporary) suspension in the processing of an entity
2.50
holding continuation
continuation of a (temporary) suspension in the processing of an entity
2.51
holding end
resumption of processing of an entity after a period of suspension
2.52
identifier
attribute of an entity that distinguishes that entity from any and all other entities existing, within a
specified domain, during a specified time
2.53
ID-tag
globally unique postal item identifier allocated in accordance with UPU standard S18, a machine
readable encoded representation of which is placed on the item concerned by, or on behalf of, a mail
service contractor
2.54
ID-assignment
allocation of an identifier to an entity
2.55
image controller
system designed to handle the flow of images and data issued by the Image Supplies and sent to the
Enrichment Devices
2.56
internet protocol
set of rules to send and receive messages at the Internet address level
2.57
interoperable
ability of information and communication technology (ICT) systems and of the business processes they
support to exchange data and to enable the sharing of information and knowledge
2.58
induction
process whereby mail is handed over to a postal operator by a mail submitter and which 8culminates in
the postal operator taking responsibility for the induction unit concerned
2.59
interchange
single instance of electronic data involving the sending from one party (the interchange sender) to
another party (the receiver) of an identified set of one or more messages
2.60
inward processing facility
postal processing facility in which mail is sorted by delivery office or route
2.61
item identifier
unique feature of a postal item that distinguishes that item from any and all other items handled within
the postal system during a period of time that is long in comparison with the normal period of time
spent by an item within the system
2.62
layers
way of hiding the implementation details of a particular set of functionality
2.63
loading (containerisation)
placement of mail items, aggregates or lower-level containers into a (higher-level) container or into the
conveyance (aircraft, ship, train, truck, …) to be used for (one of the legs of) a journey the mail
concerned is to undergo
2.64
mail aggregate
set of mail units that satisfy specific criteria defined in the context of a particular application
2.65
mail category
specification of the traffic class and handling priority of a consignment or despatch of mail, expressed as
a UP code list 115 value
2.66
mail processing
event corresponding to the undergoing, by an entity, of processing
2.67
mail class
indication of the class or type of mail, expressed as a UPU code list 116 value
2.68
mail processing centre; international mail processing centre (IMPC)
mail processing facility, identified in accordance with UPU standard S34 [15], in which inter-
administration mail is processed
2.69
mail recipient
individual who actually receives a postal item at delivery, or who first accesses the postal item if it is left
for collection
2.70
message
collection of data communicated as a single unit, between a sender and a recipient, using a single
specific means of communication
2.71
network protocols
system of digital rules for message exchange within or between computers
2.72
online services
referred only to a commercial computer communication service in which paid members could dial via a
computer modem the service's private computer network and access various services and information
resources such a bulletin boards, downloadable files and programs, news articles, chat rooms, and
electronic mail services
2.73
open file formats
open file format is a published specification for storing digital data, usually maintained by a standards
organization, which can therefore be used and implemented by anyone
2.74
operations information system (OIS)
specification that enables users to freely choose and switch between suppliers, creating a free and open
competition between suppliers
2.75
OSI model
layered, abstract description for communications and computer network protocol design, developed as
part of the Open Systems Interconnection initiative by ISO
2.76
outward processing facility
postal processing facility in which mail is first sorted, usually to separate it into aggregates which are to
be transported to different inward processing facilities
2.77
postal address
set of information which, for a postal item, allows the unambiguous determination of an actual or
potential delivery point, usually combined with the specification of an addressee and/or a mailee
2.78
postal item
indivisible mail able entity in respect of which a mail service contractor accepts an obligation to provide
postal services
2.79
parcels
postal item with determined dimensions and weight containing merchandise with or without a marked
value
2.80
postal operator
public or private entity providing postal services
2.81
postal facility despatch
despatch of an entity from a mail processing facility
2.82
postal services
postal services: services involving the clearance, sorting, transport and delivery of postal items
2.83
pre-sortation
cover events related to evaluate the postcode level and assign standard selection codes
2.84
primary activities
receive, sorting for further transportation, transport, sorting for distribution and distribute product
item end-to-end
2.85
processing data
collection and manipulation of items of data to produce meaningful information
2.86
processing events
events related to the processing of mail entities
2.87
protocol
set of rules and formats that govern the communication between parties (set of valid messages;
meaning of each message)
2.88
receptacle; postal receptacle
physical device which can be used to contain or carry mail so as to assist in its handling or
transportation as a unit
2.89
returned item
postal item which is being returned to the mail service contractor or by the latter to the mailer, because
it is not possible to deliver it in accordance with the contractual arrangements applicable to the item
concerned
2.90
route-code-based sorting
method of sorting and/or sequencing mail items which is based on the use of a routing code
2.91
sorting
manual, mechanical, etc., separation of items according to destination, addressee, etc.
2.92
sorting for distribution
sorting and distribution of postal items per delivery regions
2.93
sorting centres
office specializing in sorting operations
2.94
sorting machines
mechanical, electrical, etc., device used for sorting
2.95
stamp
mark imprinted or otherwise applied to individual items as evidence of postage accounting or payment;
for service identification and for support of mail processing applications
2.96
storage events
relate to the suspension of processing of mail
2.97
suppliers
enterprise that contributes goods or services in a supply chain
2.98
support activities
measure, analyse and improve the process, plan, lead, allocate costs and resource management
supporting the primary activities in the postal process
2.99
technical standardisation
established norm or requirement in regard to technical system s. uniform engineering or technical
criteria
2.100
traditional postal value chain
process of collection, sortation, transport, and delivery of addressed postal items
2.101
transmission control protocol (TCP)
set of rules to exchange messages with other Internet points at the information packet level
2.102
tracking
process of recording the occurrence of significant events in the processing and transportation of an
entity, in order to provide a historical record of such events and to support tracing of the entity
2.103
tracking
determination, from processing records, of the last known physical location and status of an entity
2.104
transit entity
postal item, aggregate or receptacle which is despatched to an intended destination via an intermediate
mail processing facility whose only task is to forward the entity to its intended destination
2.105
transport
ordered sequence of transport legs executed under the responsibility of a single postal handling
organization which, taken together, result in a consignment being conveyed from a specified place of
departure to a desired destination location
2.106
transport assignment
(re-)assignment of an entity to a conveyance for (one of the legs of) the transport it is to undergo
2.107
transport departure
commencement of (one of the legs of) a transport being undergone by an entity
2.108
transport event
event which occurs during physical transportation of an entity (possible need for periodic reporting of
geographic coordinates and for the reporting of significant events, such as shocks or excessive
temperature or pressure variations, occurring during actual transportation)
2.109
transport arrival
arrival of the conveyance transporting an entity at the end of (one of the legs of) the transport
2.110
transport leg
component of a transport corresponding to the scheduled conveyance of a consignment from one
location to another by a specific carrier, using a specific mode of transportation
2.111
unforming
process by which a mail aggregate is unpacked into its constituent parts i.e. lower level aggregates
and/or individual postal items
2.112
unloading (decontainerisation)
removal, from a container or conveyance, of mail items, aggregates or lower-level containers
2.113
unpacking
dis-aggregation of transported items into the elementary components of the aggregation to be
processed in the following steps of the postal process
2.114
vendor
system which can determine the most appropriate result for a mail piece using data and/or an image of
a mail piece
3 Symbols and abbreviations
For the purposes of this document, the following symbols and abbreviations apply.
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
B2B Business to Business
B2C Business to Consumers
CEN European Committee for Standardization
CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture.
CSV Comma Separated Values
DC Distribution Centre
EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code
EC European Commission
EFTA European Free Trade Association
EIA/TIA-23 The Electronic Industries Association/ Telecommunications Industry Association
EPCIS Electronic Product Code Information Services (GS1 standard)
FTP File Transfer Protocol
HSSI High-Speed Serial Interface
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol
ICS Industrial Control System
IDT-PAE Interface and Data Transfer format for capturing Postal Automation Events
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IGMP Internet Group Management Protocol
IP Internet Protocol
IPC International Post Corporation
IPX Internetwork Packet Exchange
ISO International Standardisation Organisation
IT Information Technology
IS Information System
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group
JSON Java Script Object Notation
MHS Material Handling System
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface
MIS Management Information System
MPEG Moving Picture Experts Group
NEN Nederlands Normalisatie – instituut
NetBIOS Network Basic Input/output System
NFS Network File System
NLM Network Lifecycle Management
OCR Optical Character Recognition
OIS Primary Operation information - systems that generally concentrate on operational process
control and customer service measures.

OOP Object Oriented Programming
OPSM Oracle Pedigree and Serialization Manager
OSPF Open Shortest Path First
PO Postal Operator
PIP Process Integration Platform provides a unique basis for easy development pf already
existent and new business applications.

PostEurop is the association which represents the interest of European public postal
Post Europ
operators.
PPP Point-to-Point Protocol
PTJ Project Team J
RARP Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
RFID Radio Frequency Identification
RFID An ID system that uses small for identification and tracking purposes.
tagging
RIP Routing Information Protocol
RPC remote procedure call
SKU Stock Keeping Unit
SLIP Serial Line Internet Protocol
SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
SPX Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange.
SQL Structured Query Language
SSL Secure Sockets Layer
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
Telnet network protocol
TFTP Trivial File Transfer Protocol
TIFF Tagged Image File Format
ToR Terms of Reference
UDP User Datagram Protocol
UPU Universal Postal Union
VCS Video Communication Server
X.21 interface specification for differential communications
XML Extensible Markup Language
4 Generic Postal Process
4.1 General
In order to conduct the generic postal process, all activities of the postal operators can be split into
primary and support activities. Primary activities are those that are related with product services, while
support activities are those that provide the background necessary for the effectiveness and efficiency
of the postal operators, such as measure, analyses, plan, lead, allocate recourses etc. See Figure 2.
Figure 2 — Generic Postal Process
All activities in the generic postal process can be divided into:
— Primary activities:
receive, sorting for further transportation, transport, sorting for distribution and distribute product
item end-to-end.
— Support activities:
measure, analyse and improve the process, plan, lead, allocate costs and resource management
supporting the primary activities in the postal process.
Primary activities: The primary activities of the postal operators include the following:
— Receive/Collect items from customers - receiving the postal items from sender, storing, and
handling them within the receiving post office;
— Packing – aggregation of items (postal mail or another aggregated item) into one (or multiple)
object/s for transportation;
— Sorting for further transportation – sorting of postal mail for distribution centres and further
transportations;
— Transportation – transport mail from the sorting centres points to points of distribution centres;
— Unpacking - dis-aggregation of transported items into the elementary components of the
aggregation to be processed in the following steps of the postal process;
— Sorting for distribution – sorting and distribution of postal items per delivery regions. The
transport of postal items from distribution centres to the delivery post offices is included at this
stage;
— Distribution – delivery of postal items to the home or business address of t
...