Central Government Communication strategy Whitepaper

Neopost : Postal and Communications Strategies

©2015 Neopost 3

Introduction

©2014 Neopost

in association with

April 2015

Postal and Communications Strategieswithin Central Government


©2015 Neopost 2

Contents

Introduction. 03

Executive Summary. 04

Mail Volumes: Outbound Communications 05

Mail Volumes: Inbound Communications. 06

The Post Room in Central Government. 07

Communications & the Environment. 08

Mail & Digital Communications. 09

Procurement. 10

Mailroom Technology. 11

Why Neopost? 12 How Neopost can help improve productivity throughout your business.

...mail processing

must keep up with

digital workflows...


©2015 Neopost

Introduction

3

Mail is a

significant area

of Government

expenditure...

Postal and communication strategies within Central Government is the latest in a series of white papers that seeks to throw light on communication strategies within public sector organisations as they look for ways to save money and make existing operations more efficient.

On top of £81 billion of public sector cuts announced in the 2010 Spending Review and further savings of £11.5 billion for 2015-2016, central and local Government are being encouraged to shrink their carbon footprint as part of a wider, legally binding commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% (from 1990 levels) by 2050, with an interim target of a 34% reduction by 2020.

The scale of the financial and carbon savings involved has forced managers to re-assess all aspects of their operations, including postal communications, an area already undergoing significant change due to the rise of electronic messaging, the decline in postal volumes and the emergence of new service providers following liberalisation of the postal market in 2004.

Mail is a significant area of government expenditure: the Crown Commercial Service has calculated that Central Government spends £257 million each year on postage and postal services and that smarter procurement could cut these costs by between 9% and 30%.

Despite its many qualities and its effectiveness as a communication medium, physical mail is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Using mailing equipment and software to make mailing processes more efficient and less wasteful can clearly help public sector organisations with their cost- and carbon-cutting agenda. But to what extent is investment in the post room being integrated with these wider aims?

Postal & Communications Strategies Surveys 2012

To help find out, Neopost commissioned the Government Policy Hub (GPH) to carry out a series of surveys into postal communications within Central Government, local authorities and higher education.

The Postal and communication strategies within Central Government white paper is based on a survey of 5,000 officials in more than 169 Central Government organisations carried out by GPH in November 2012. GPH received a total of 391 unique responses from 34% of the organisations targeted.

Other Neopost white papers in the series include Postal and communications strategies within local authorities, Postal and communications strategies within higher education, Postal and communications strategies within the NHS, Postal and communications strategies within Housing Associations and Postal and communications strategies within Charities.


©2015 Neopost 4

Postal & Communications Strategies Survey 2012: Central GovernmentExecutive Summary

Postal and digital communications are essential to Government operations and a significant source of expenditure and carbon emissions. Yet half (51%) of respondents to Postal and Communications Strategies Survey 2012: Central Government can’t say how many items of communications they send and a similar number (55%) are unable to quantify the volume of inbound post.

Four out of 10 (40%) don’t know the proportion of physical versus digital communications; and 44% don't know whether their organisation plans to increase or decrease outgoing mail over the next 12 months. Half don’t know whether their department is exploring the digitisation of mail or has either completed – or is investigating – the centralisation of physical and digital communications.

Digital growing, mail shrinkingDespite a lack of management awareness highlighted by the survey, mail remains an important means of communication for Central Government departments, even if it is declining as a proportion of total output.

Of the 114 respondents who were able to give a breakdown of digital versus physical communications, 57% said that physical mail makes up 25% or less of all communications. Even so, a sizeable minority still relies heavily on hard copy documents: a quarter of respondents who gave a breakdown said physical mail makes up more than half of their communications; 13% said it accounted for 75% or more.

A majority of respondents and almost all (94%) of those who were able to give a definitive answer said they expected to see reductions in the amount of mail both sent and received in the next 12 months.

e-substitutionFalling mail volumes are not just a product of e-Government initiatives: carbon reduction programmes and e-substitution are having an impact, too. More than a quarter of Central Government departments have aligned, or are in the process of aligning, their communications strategies with carbon reduction targets; and almost one in five (18%) has centralised, or is in the process of centralising, physical and digital mail so that messages can be sent by post or electronic means as part of an integrated workflow. Mail digitisation, which facilitates paperless communications by creating digital images of hard copy documents, has been/is being implemented by 16% of respondents.

Progress is being made in some areas, but relatively low adoption levels of mail digitisation, modest investment plans for the next 18 months and low levels of interaction with suppliers suggest that Government organisations could be doing more to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of physical and digital communications.

A sizeable

minority of

departments

still relies heavily

on hard copy

documents


©2015 Neopost 5

Mail Volumes

Despite the importance of management and control to a cost/carbon-cutting agenda, fewer than half of executives in Central Government organisations know how many outbound communications (hard copy and digital) are sent by their organisation/department. This is perhaps not

surprising considering that the question relates to paper and digital communications, but it is indicative of a general lack of knowledge amongst decision-makers. Digital methods already account for the vast majority of communications: 65 out of 115 respondents who expressed an opinion estimate that physical

mail now makes up 25% or less of their communications volume. In the future, mail is expected to decline further, with 51% of organisations planning to reduce volumes of outgoing mail in the next 12 months, compared to just 5% who expect mail volumes to increase.

Increase 9 (5%)

Decrease: 96 (51%)

Don’t know: 84 (44%)

Q. What is the proportion of physical as opposed to digital items?

Q. Does your organisation/department plan to increase or decrease outgoing mail over the next 12 months?

Q. How many items of outgoing communications does your organisation/department send annually?

Outbound Communications

Less than 10,000: 39 (21%)

10,000 - 50,000: 16 (8%)

50,000 - 100,000: 6 (3%)

100,000 - 200,000: 2 (1%)

200,000 - 500,000: 9 (5%)

500,000 - 1 million: 2 (1%)

1 million +: 19 (10%)


Less than 25% physical: 55 (29%)

25% physical: 10 (5%)

26 - 50% physical: 23 (12%)

51 - 75% physical: 11 (6%)

Over 75% physical: 15 (8%)


0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40


©2015 Neopost 6

Managers’ knowledge of inbound communications is no better than it is of outbound traffic, with 55% of respondents unable to quantify how much physical mail their organisation receives. As with outgoing mail, more than ten times as many expect incoming

mail volumes to fall as rise over the next 12 months (38% vs. 3%). Even so, physical mail remains essential for service delivery: 10% of survey respondents receive more than 500,000 items of mail each year.

Q. How many items of inbound mail does your organisation/department receive annually?

Q. Does your organisation/department plan to increase or decrease incoming mail over the next 12 months?

Inbound Communications

Mail Volumes

Increase 5 (3%)

Decrease: 72 (38%)

Don’t know: 112 (59%)

Less than 5,000: 26 (14%)

5,000 - 25,000: 23 (12%)

25,000 - 50,000: 9 (5%)

50,000 - 100,000: 2 (1%)

100,000 - 250,000: 4 (2%)

250,000 - 500,000: 3 (2%)

500,000 +: 18 (10%)

Don’t know: 104 (55%)


©2015 Neopost 7

The Post Room in Central Government

Not all Government organisations are huge bodies staffed by thousands and spread over several sites. As the list of participating organisations on page 11 shows, there are plenty of smaller operations of more limited scope. This is reflected in the diverse nature of Government post rooms.

At one end are large operations that handle millions of inbound and outbound communications, employ more than 10 people (7%) and serve more than 15 sites (11%). The majority, however, are considerably smaller, with five or fewer staff (50%) serving between one and five sites (56%). Ten per cent of post rooms are

shared between departments. While more than half (51%) of mail rooms are operated and managed in-house, 16% of Central Government post rooms are outsourced. This is a significantly higher proportion than in local authorities or higher education.

Q. How many staff does your post room employ?

Q. How many sites does your post room service?

Q. What best describes the status of your post room?

Run internally: 97 (51%)

Run as shared service: 18 (10%)

Outsourced/run externally: 31 (16%)

A combination: 10 (5%)


1-5: 105 (56%)

6-10: 8 (4%)

11-15: 7 (4%)

More than 15: 21 (11%)


1-5: 94 (50%)

6-10: 9 (5%)

More than 10: 13 (7%)


0 10 20 30 40 50 60

0 10 20 30 40 50 60


©2015 Neopost 8

Communications & the Environment

Reducing waste and carbon emissions are priorities for Central Government bodies. Although seven out of 10 respondents say they are exploring ways to reduce controllable waste, relatively few have managed to align their communications strategy with carbon reduction targets: just over a quarter have either fully

aligned or are in the advanced planning stage, compared to one third who are still at the insight/planning stage or have yet to do anything. Alignment in Central Government is more advanced than in other sectors of the public sector surveyed by GPH.

Q. Is your organisation/department exploring ways to reduce controllable waste further?

Q. To what extent has your communications strategy been aligned to targets concerning waste and carbon reduction?

0 10 20 30 40 50

Not yet: 13 (7%)

Gaining insight: 17 (9%)

More planning needed: 31 (16%)

In advanced planning: 18 (10%)

Fully aligned: 30 (16%)


Yes: 135 (72%)

No: 5 (3%)



©2015 Neopost 9

Q. Has your organisation/department completed – or is it investigating – the centralisation of physical and digital mail?

Q. Has your organisation/department completed – or is it investigating – the digitisation of mail?

Mail & Digital Communications

The integration of physical and digital communications, including the scanning and routing of incoming mail, has the potential to reduce costs, improve productivity and reduce paper usage and associated carbon emissions. Not surprisingly, it is an area of great interest to Government organisations. More than a quarter of respondents have either already completed

(14%) or are in the process of completing (12%) the digitisation/scanning of mail. Similar proportions – 10% and 8% respectively – are at the same stages in the centralisation of physical and digital mail. About one in six respondents has no interest in centralisation (18%) or digitisation (16%).

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

0 10 20 30 40 50

Yes, completed: 19 (10%)

In process: 16 (8%)


No: 21 (11%)

No, will not centralise: 13 (7%)


Yes, completed: 7 (4%)

In process: 20 (12%)


No, probably not: 27 (16%)



©2015 Neopost 10

Procurement

Framework agreements are the preferred procurement route for 48% of respondents, with just 5% favouring an alternative. Of these, the Crown Commercial Service has much the highest profile, with awareness standing at 56%, followed by 16% for GPS (Hybrid Mail). Royal Mail is the most popular source of information on developments in communications.

Even so, just one in five organisations has approached it for advice. This raises the question of whether organisations could identify additional efficiency gains or cost-saving opportunities by working more closely with suppliers.

Q. To which providers has your organisation talked to with regard to innovations in communication?

Q. Please select all the framework agreements your organisation/department is aware of.

Q. Where available, are framework agreements your preferred procurement route?

FP Mailing: 2 (1%)

Neopost: 11 (5%)

Pitney Bowes: 19 (9%)

Royal Mail: 41 (20%)

UK Mail: 3 (1%)

TNT Post: 21 (10%)

Don’t know: 106 (52%)

Universities Purchasing Consortia (APUC):

10 (5%)

Pro5: 5 (3%)

YPO: 5 (3%)

Crown Commercial Service

(Hybrid Mail): 30 (16%)

Crown Commercial Service

107 (56%)

ESPO: 8 (4%)

None of the above: 27 (14%)

Yes: 83 (48%)No: 9 (5%)



©2015 Neopost 11

Mailroom Technology

The potential of modern mailing equipment to improve productivity and cut costs is not reflected in respondents’ investment plans for the next 18 months. Whether as a result of cost-cutting or a projected decline in mail volumes, traditional items of mailing equipment are a low priority for Central Government organisations, with just 5% planning to look at franking

machines, 3% at folder inserters and 2% at letter openers. Technologies with the highest ratings are all linked to digital communications, including secure email (13%) and digitisation (10%). Not all aspects of the digital mailroom scored highly: centralisation solutions were mentioned by just 4% and hybrid mail by 3%.

Q. Please select from the list which solutions/areas your organisation/department will be looking at over the next 18 months.

Downstream access: 5 (2%)

Secure email: 31 (13%)

Shredders: 10 (4%)

Mail scanners: 19 (8%)

Letter openers: 6 (2%)

Address data verification: 9 (4%)

Address printers: 5 (2%)

Digitisation: 25 (10%)

Franking machines: 12 (5%)

Inserting & Enveloping systems: 7 (3%)

Hybrid mail: 8 (3%)

Centralised Solutions: 11 (4%)



©2015 Neopost 12

What Next?

Why Neopost?

To help Government organisations identify how they can improve communications and mailing processes, Neopost offers free, no obligation audits from which we are able to develop bespoke communications solutions and strategies.

For more information, please contact Antony Paul on 01708 714576 or email [email protected].

Neopost is a leading global supplier of mailing and communications solutions, with annual sales of 1.1 billion euros worldwide.

We provide a broad range of products and services to facilitate incoming and outbound communications and help organisations manage the transition to digital communications. These include franking machines; data accuracy software; output management software for print and digital distribution; folding and inserting; envelope addressing; letter opening; electronic document management; and tracking and tracing of letters and parcels.

Neopost solutions support every stage of sending and receiving communications by mail, email, SMS and parcels. In addition, we offer complementary services including consulting, maintenance, finance and online services..

We are the only manufacturer from the postal solutions industry to have served local authority purchasing consortia, central government and the wider public sector on successive framework agreements for over 15 consecutive years.


Neopost is a global player with a local presence in business solutions for the postal, parcel delivery and related digital world of tomorrow. We have an intimate understanding of physical and electronic communications and work in collaboration with over 800,000 enterprises around the world. Our business has evolved to meet the growing demands of a technology-driven environment. This means we can help our customers successfully make the transition from physical mail to quality multichannel communications management.

About Neopost

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Survey Participants

Neopost and the Government Policy Hub would like to thank the following organisations for taking part in Postal & Communications Strategies Survey 2012: Central Government.

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Central Government Communication strategy Whitepaper

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