Passport Canada
About this project
Service Canada’s Passport Program mailroom team provides logistics services for all Passport Canada and Service Canada offices across the country, shipping out passport application forms, urgent notifications to clients, rush passport requests and marketing material to every location each day. The mailroom team’s mandate is to provide each shipping request with the best price based on the required delivery date, along with the estimated time of arrival and the tracking information to ensure each shipment is delivered on-time at the lowest possible price.
Challenges Encountered
Multiple couriers, each with different pricing, made choosing the lowest price option difficult and time consuming for shippers. Government transparency rules require that shippers call all companies listed on the National Master Standing Offer (NMSO) to obtain a quote for each shipment being prepared. Reports were generated manually, making invoice reconciliation inefficient and cost control inconsistent. Operationally the work was getting done, but at a higher cost than necessary because efficient, automated shipping logic and streamlined processes were not in place.
Strategies Employed
Service Canada’s Passport Program mailroom team registered for access to a new Government of Canada online Transportation Management System (TMS) powered by 2Ship. This web-based TMS allows Government of Canada employees to search and compare the NMSO courier and freight rates, as well as ship, track, report and manage daily shipments online, from a single interface
Outcome
The TMS has allowed Service Canada to streamline and improve internal processes, creating immediate savings in time and money. Shippers can now quickly search the NMSO for the best price based on the service and delivery time requested, place quotes on hold for future shipments and access all shipping options with ease, making single shipments and bulk shipments for all suppliers efficient. Shippers can then track shipments to ensure they are received and advise recipients when a delayed shipment will arrive, reducing inbound customer calls and quickly balancing invoices for delayed shipments. The system offers a full suite of automatic follow-up notifications and warnings that can be activated to improve our service standards. We used to receive calls from clients that didn’t receive their package, one month later.
With our 2Ship powered TMS, if the package has a problem, I am notified automatically and in real time, allowing me to advise clients that their package will be delayed. I can also generate notification reports to reconcile delivery charges for late/delayed deliveries.” The new TMS has also empowered mailroom staff to take action on international shipments that are in transit with missing information and get this information to the courier before return fees are charged, while generating reports electronically to easily check and question courier invoices before they are paid .