Delivery Committee Minutes
June 13, 10:00 am
Hybrid Meeting (via Zoom)
Present: Amy Trumble
(NGL), Leah Fritsche (DEE), Eric Norton (MCM), Nicole Menzel (ROM), Emily
Whitmore (SGR), Janet Schroeder (PCPL), Amanda Wakeman (COL), Mark Penner
(MAD), Todd Cox (DCL), Jen Foster (FCH)
Excused: N/A
Moderator: Corey Baumann
Recorder: Jeff Grandt-Turke
SCLS staff present: Vicki Teal Lovely, Heidi Oliversen
SCLS staff not present: Shannon Schultz
1. Call to order time: 10:05 a.m.
a. Introduction of guests/visitors/new committee members: Jeff Grandt-Turke is now attending meetings to record meeting minutes
b. Changes/additions to the agenda: None
c. Requests to address the committee: None
2. Approval of previous meeting minutes:
a. Minutes for February meeting were unanimously approved.
i. Motion: Todd Cox/Eric Norton
ii. Second: Heidi O.
iii. Approved unanimously
3. Action items:
a. No action items
4. Discussion items:
a. Delivery update:
i. “Green” mail bucket expansion: several additional higher-volume libraries now have mail/oversize (O/S) buckets; previously all were green, but some new ones are red in color – they are interchangeable. Mail buckets are open with no close-top flaps, used to transport O/S items, as well as higher-priority items, such as mail. There is not enough space on the sorting floor to accommodate O/S mail buckets for all libraries. It is important to protect LP records or other fragile items in both O/S buckets and regular baskets:
· For libraries with mail buckets: do not place heavier items on top of LPs, and try to arrange things so if items shift in transit, LPs won’t be beneath them and get bent.
· For libraries without mail buckets: O/S items (incl. LP records) can be placed in regular red baskets, just leave the flaps open so drivers can see what’s inside. (This same option is also available to libraries with O/S buckets, if preferred, to prevent LPs from becoming bent.)
ii. Volume counting adjustment:
· Spring, summer, and fall, Delivery staff once hand-counted every single item coming through the warehouse, for one full week at a time. Eventually, a logarithm was developed, based on selective sample counting, to correlate the number of items per basket for each stop.
· During those days, a separation in types of baskets was agreed upon: for items (sometimes circulating, often not) going directly from one library to another, a goldenrod routing slip was used instead of laminated basket tags, and such baskets were designated as “bulk loan” or “bulk” baskets.
· Bulk baskets are sometimes full, sometimes not, much like those deemed “regular” baskets, which are counted on Delivery’s data volume spreadsheet. Yet “bulk” baskets have never been included in the count on that spreadsheet.
· Delivery is still transporting such baskets; they take up space in the trucks. There is some value in using these numbers to structure routes, and so beginning in July, there will no longer be a “bulk” designation. All baskets will now be counted as “1” on the data volume spreadsheet. As a result of this change, there may be a slight uptick in volume recorded on the spreadsheet, for some of the larger libraries.
iii. Delivery website: administration is working to transform the SCLS website, making it more accessible. As it pertains to Delivery web pages, we want to fix longstanding issues of outdated information, etc., and enhance the site, making it more user-friendly.
· Homework for committee members, for next time: what do you want from the Delivery web pages? What information would you find most useful/helpful to your organization?
iv. Delivery sorter topics:
· Corey: SCLS is investigating automated sorting options.
o Administration has been looking at vendors. I have seen the automated sorter in Racine (LLS/Prairie Lakes). From Delivery’s end of things, there may be value in increased safety, particularly with regard to reducing basket lifts.
o I have begun doing sample counts to determine current sorting accuracy vs. that claimed by automated sorter vendors. According to this initial, informal study, Delivery is at 99.7% accuracy, which surprised me.
o Currently, we are handling about 90% of our volume during a six-hour period. How much Delivery is now able to produce with more manpower in less time needs to be weighed against much higher overhead for slower automated sorting taking place over longer periods of time. What that might look like for how much volume can be generated out of our facility on a daily basis is uncertain.
o If an automated sorter is installed, there will definitely be an interruption in service; we may need time to physically install, move/reconfigure, re-tool, and offer training.
· Eric: what are the accuracy numbers from vendors, and are they actually what they claim?
· Corey: we need to make that determination. I would also like to visit FCH and look at their automated sorter.
· Jen: absolutely.
· Vicki: we’re really just getting started. This is a complex process.
o Our primary concern is not so much accuracy, which I think will be about the same or better, but rather what the benefit might be to member libraries, especially as it impacts processing time and workflow.
o If we can get rid of post-its, entirely, or even if not everything is 100% RFID-tagged, we can significantly reduce that cost.
o There is potential for a manifest upon which you could place an entire basket of materials that can then be checked in all at once.
o We also want to look at how automated sorting impacts the Delivery side of things. We’re talking with vendors, but we need to develop a uniform set of questions to ask them, so that we’re retrieving the same data set from all vendors for a proper comparison.
o Individual library sorters like that at Racine are useful to see, but we’re interested in looking at more centralized sorting operations, like the one we saw in Cincinnati and the operation we plan to visit in San Diego County.
o It is definitely also important to look at how an automated sorter will integrate with ILS.
o We have been recruiting volunteers to discuss these topics. We have representatives from all clusters except Green County, to meet once per month, virtually, possibly the first or fourth Thursday of each month in the early afternoon (TBD). Representatives from Delivery will be present at these meetings, too.
· Heidi O.:
o When we went to the Cincinnati distribution center, they use same colored totes we do. They use transit slips for the baskets, which can sometimes fall out, but the totes have the same bar code, so it’s easy to match that up with the one on the slip, if it does fall out. And you use the same slip on the hold shelves at the libraries.
o Our current system is efficient, but I’m more interested in the long view: reducing physical injuries is another reason to look into this.
o We had tabled this entire discussion years ago; now, we’re un-tabling it because of all the potential benefits. It is useful to look into potentially decreasing library processing time.
· Eric: what does the manifest itself look like at the libraries?
· Vicki: there is extra software that is required. There are lots of unanswered questions about all of this, we’re really just getting started, but we need to find out more.
· Corey: this will be a repeat-topic, every time we meet, from now on.
b. Fleet update:
· Delivery’s fleet is aging. We’re driving about 650,000 miles per year, spread out across about twenty vans. Jesse has done well to keep our older vehicles running, but he has to spend more and more time fixing/maintaining them until, eventually, this becomes untenable.
· We haven’t bought a new van in 3-4 years. We have bought used vans, some of differing types; some of these have worked out and some not.
· It is difficult to find vans right now. We don’t get enough attention as a customer purchasing only a couple vans at a time every few years; priority from manufacturers goes to higher-volume buyers. We just purchased two new Chevy Express vans, which are white; rather than spend additional monies having them painted, libraries may begin seeing different colors and types of vans.
· We may have to look at renting trucks, especially for the larger box-trucks.
c. Budget: our budget is in balance for 2025.
· Our goal for 2024-5 is to keep our fees flat for member libraries. When we plug our data into the spreadsheet, the cost formula determines the actual fees for each library.
· Fees for 2025 will be similar, but volume and frequency of stops will impact fees. Example: HAW, LAK & MEA all only receive deliveries once/day now; so MPL will pay somewhat less, meaning that costs will increase slightly elsewhere, as the cost formula shifts fees to other libraries to make up the difference.
d. Safety: this is our number one priority both on-site and on the road.
· We had one serious accident on our Sauk route, not our fault: an SUV hit our driver from behind, airbags deployed causing some injury to our driver. He is okay, but for such instances – and potentially also for instances of mental/emotional trauma (drivers witnessing fatalities on the road, for example) – we instituted a policy of getting that driver off the road. Give them a day or two off.
· Facility safety: we monitor and encourage safe lifting/moving practices, but injuries can and do occur. We have added anti-fatigue mats and protective coverings over protrusions on our shelves.
· We are always looking to see what we can put into practice to increase driver safety, but we never want to do so at the expense of libraries. Ideally, we want both SCLS and the libraries to see a benefit.
e. Cart supply (ad hoc topic): we may have a new, inexpensive solution for alleviating the high costs of our red cart system.
· Current manufacturer charges $350/cart for a minimum order of 20 carts, and that’s just for the frame; we have to purchase/install casters for each one, and they cannot make the cart handles.
· Recent visit from Madison College rep was appalled at the cost and offered to have metalworking/welding students manufacture carts, cart handles, and also our little black wheelies for free! This might result in less carts at a time and take somewhat longer to make but would be a constant influx.
· Madison College rep also offered to look at other design possibilities. Corey wonders whether there’s an even better way to move materials. Example: we could work with a higher-volume library like MAD, to see if larger, wheeled bins might be more efficient than the red carts/baskets.
5. Next meeting: Thursday, August 8, 2024
6. Adjournment: 11:05am
For more information about the Delivery Committee, contact Corey Baumann: cbaumann@sclsdelivery.info
SCLS staff are available to attend cluster meetings to share information and answer questions pertaining to this committee meeting and other departmental projects.
Delivery Committee/Minutes/06-13-2024