How does Capita staff get their mail before
the postman even arrives?

The issues

A FTSE 100 company, the Capita Group receives thousands of pieces of mail every day.

'Snail mail' meant that all documents, including the most vital, were at the mercy of any weak link in the postal service/mail-room chain.

Delayed or lost mail might include vital contracts, purchase orders, request for tenders, invoices and cheques.

Capita's business revolves around increasing efficiency and reducing running costs for its clients, so it's essential that key mail items are received by the right people at the right time, wherever they are.

Challenges and opportunities

The most 'business critical' documentation is typically paper based - requests for tender, contracts, purchase orders, invoices, payments etc.

The rationale was therefore; "if we can speed delivery, improve trackability and eliminate the issues of location, of either the individual or the office, then we can speed service levels, response times as well as improving cash flow".

In addition to this was the promise of saving the costs and space dictated by fully staffed mailrooms at every Capita location.

The challenge was receiving and processing all group mail early enough in the day to make this possible.

The answer

A truly unique solution, ensuring that mail was forwarded to the desk top of the correct contact, all before the postman even arrived at most companies.

The solution was to re-route invoices, remittances and other mail to a centralised Capita TDS mailroom operation.

• The first step was to develop a unique relationship with the Royal Mail under which mail is delivered and processed as early as 6.30am - hours before it would normally arrive.
• A dedicated PO Box number directed incoming mail to a secure Capita TDS central mailroom where it is sorted, opened, prepared and converted to electronic format.
• Mail is indexed and, using data capture technology information such as invoice number, company name, amount and due date, is collected in an electronic record before the mail is forwarded electronically.

Capita TDS is also able to receive cheque payments, match these with the relevant account number and submit payments in the correct bank account within hours of arriving.

To complete the service the original documentation is then securely shredded or stored within our secure storage facility - received, processed, stored - all under one roof.

The volume of mail is growing and anticipated to approach 20,000 business-critical items
per day.

Meanwhile Capita competitors are still waiting for the postman to arrive and the mailroom
to deliver.

Technical process

• Mail is addressed under own company name but received in confidence by Capita TDS
• Mail is received, processed and forwarded to recipient the same day
• Cheques can be processed and banked the same day
• Original documents can be processed and then stored or shredded under one roof
• Electronic documents provide backups for admin trails and disaster recovery.