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Customer Satisfaction InitiativeDepartment of Education Publications Center |
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The ED Pubs project originated from the Department's desire to get the right information to the right people on time. The Department wanted to control its inventory, reduce warehousing and shipping costs, promptly process customer requests, and track order histories. To accomplish these results, ED Pubs was created and now serves the Department and its customers through a state-of-the-art information, warehousing, and distribution center that processes phone, fax, Internet, e-mail, and mail orders for publications and other products.
ED Pubs was created after more than 2 years of dedicated planning efforts, benchmarking and effective teamwork from Department employees. In September 1997, during the ED Pubs planning stage, the Department of Education published its strategic plan. The plan's Goal 4, Objective 4.1, http://www.ed.gov/pubs/StratPln/goal_4.html, focused on providing customers fast, seamless service in the dissemination of information and products. One core strategy of Goal 4 was to "establish a OnePubs system that enables our customers to receive publications and other information products without having to track them down from several offices."
The team tasked with meeting this objective maintained three basic goals while developing the system:
ED Pubs is a total customer care center that focuses on quality control and customer satisfaction as it facilitates referral and distribution services. It is a state-of-the-art information, warehousing, and distribution center that processes phone, fax, Internet, e-mail, print-on-demand, and mail orders for publications and other products. The 95,000 square foot facility, located in Jessup, Maryland, provides services for mail management, storage, ordering, and distribution using a toll free number, a searchable database of publications, inventory systems, referral capabilities, enhanced mailing list capability, and bulk distribution. ED Pubs Customer Service Representatives answer 3,000 to 4,000 phone calls and e-mails per week through the four toll free lines. Inclusive audiences are reached through Spanish-speaking operators and TTY/TTD systems which provide ordering materials in Braille and audiotape formats. The Customer Service Representatives take orders for products and refer callers to other agencies and departments within the federal government when appropriate. ED Pubs centralized call center representatives answer lines Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (EST), to take orders for products and to make referrals to appropriate ED offices. Customers speak with an operator within 25 seconds. Immediate automated ordering is also offered. After business hours and during weekends, callers are offered the option of leaving voice mail messages to request publications. To encourage use of electronic copies, when electronic copies are available the Customer Service Representatives refer calls to an Internet Web site. If the document is available by fax-back, callers are referred to the ED Pubs Fax-On Demand service for printed versions.
Warehouse personnel pick, pack, and ship materials in record time with accountability built into every step of the process. Up to 6,000 skids can be stored at the facility and approximately 110 people work in the warehouse. The staff is capable of handling more than 2 million copies of publications per day. ED Pubs Online Ordering System lists ED information products and web users may order up to five product titles or customers may link to full-text electronic copies saving printing and shipping costs.
Customer service needs are evolving with technology. ED Pubs' focus for the future is for more electronic and web-based interaction with the customers, which allows for more timely and accurate service. An integrated inventory and order fulfillment system allows for an ongoing evaluative program to measure progress toward meeting specific customer related needs for education information and a vehicle to coordinate and disseminate information proactively. Print-on-Demand fills a void where print products are not available but are still required by the customer. Increased use of barcodes on individual products enables better service to the customer inquiring about their individual order and supports the Department's need for higher accountability and responsiveness.
The first strategy for ensuring quality service is hiring only the best in the field of dissemination and continual staff training. In concert with an expert staff, ED Pubs developed the Real-time Inventory/Order Status Management System (RTIO), integrating inventory management, fulfillment, and shipping operations. RTIO allows staff to find information such as product type, location in the warehouse, and available quantities. RTIO produces orders, prints packing slips in sequential order by warehouse location, provides order status, and captures activity history of the product. RTIO's barcode technology captures all tasks and functions associated with inventory, fulfillment, and shipping. The barcode technology helps managers track orders and production quality levels from picking and packing to shipping, and compile statistics that help determine base labor costs for future jobs.
ED Pubs second strategy for ensuring efficiency is integrated partnering with selected carriers. This reduces overall shipping costs and allows customer service representatives to relay shipping status to customers. Through award-winning efficient operations, ED Pubs has saved the federal government more than a million dollars in shipping and postage in its 2 years of operation.
The ED Pubs project was competed in early 1998. The contract was signed on March 13, 1998 and runs through March 1, 2003. Aspen Systems Corporation was awarded the contract. The procurement was written as a fixed price/fixed unit price, performance-based project. An incentive program was installed under the performance-based portion of the contract.
The performance-based portion of ED Pubs is based on a Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) that is re-negotiated every year to ensure that critical performance measurements are addressed. The ED COTR audits all performance measurements and scores how well the contractor performs to the stated measurements. Aspen is evaluated against the following measurements included in the QASP:
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This page last modified June 12, 2003 (kms)