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OVERVIEW:
Roggen Management Consultants provides unique expertise in distribution logistics for newspapers including; evaluating and improving Company and leased fleet operations, setting up distribution centers, optimizing on-time delivery and preprint zoning accuracy, plus developing customized fee formulas for compensation of Newspaper Carriers, Distributors and Haulers.
SNAPSHOT HISTORY:
Since our inception in the mid 1970's, Roggen Management Consultants has provided distribution counsel to newspapers. We have performed overall reviews of newspaper packaging and distribution operations, created efficient new layouts for mailrooms, docks and distribution centers, engineered delivery vehicle specifications, evaluated proposed delivery fleet leases, and developed computerized routing and on-time delivery models to support effective design and improvement of newspaper delivery networks.
In the late 1970's we initiated the pilot program for reimbursement of vehicle operating expenses to independent Home Delivery and Single Copy Distributors of the Washington Post. This was soon followed by installation of other successful contractor compensation plans at the Houston Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today. Over the past 25 years we have continued to fine-tune and improve newspaper delivery compensation packages. More recently we have completed new Delivery Contractor Fee Formulas for the Orlando Sentinel, the Sacramento Bee, the Dallas Morning News, the Providence Journal, and the Advocate in Stamford, CT.
In response to the increasing focus on accurate zoned delivery of newspapers and alternate products, we have been heavily involved in the realignment of Home Delivery Ad Zones and Delivery Districts, to assure effective utilization of Distribution Centers and accurate delivery of preprints. In addition to refining the underlying Home Delivery routing and procedures in the field, this process has typically also included development of new zoned Single Copy delivery routes.
COST REDUCTION STUDIES FOR NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONS:
IN TODAY'S CHANGING MEDIA MARKET, THERE IS A NEED TO FINE-TUNE THE CAPABILITIES AND EFFICIENCY OF NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS. Rising costs for delivery equipment, fuel, vehicle maintenance, driver labor, and contract delivery services have made effective control of distribution activities an important factor in today's changing newspaper industry. Additionally, demands by advertisers for more targeted delivery zoning, and the need to distribute household specific multiple products have resulted in complex distribution networks which require sophisticated management control systems.
This increasing expense and complexity of distribution operations justifies timely reviews of Newspaper delivery activities. Use of an outside newspaper distribution consultant for performance of these reviews assures objectivity and fresh insight, and is an excellent approach towards minimizing costs and implementing new capabilities.
KEY AREAS TO BE INCLUDED IN A REVIEW OF NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION OPERATIONS:
IN THE MAILROOM
• Layout and Product Flow
• Scheduling of Inserts
• Assembly and Packaging
• Staffing and Equipment
ON THE LOADING DOCK
• Arrangement of Loading Bays and Conveyers
• Dispatch Schedules for On-Time Delivery
• Utilizing Carts and Skids
• Transfer to the Loading Dock
ROUTING OF DELIVERY VEHICLES
• Bulk Routing Efficiency
• Driver Scheduling and Performance
• Selection of Delivery Equipment
• Automated Route Development
FIELD CONTROL SYSTEMS
• Management of Carriers, Routes, and Distribution Centers
• Single Copy Reporting and Control
• Managing Country & State Delivery
DELIVERY FLEET MANAGEMENT
• Vehicle Specifications
• Fleet Maintenance
• Owned vs. Leased Equipment
• Vehicle Replacement Cycles
DISTRIBUTION LOGISTICS
• Plant and DC Site Location
• Accurate Zoned Distribution
• Managing Multiple Publications
• Utilizing Delivery Contractors
CUSTOMIZED FORMULAS FOR COMPENSATING NEWSPAPER DELIVERY CONTRACTORS:
THERE IS AN IDENTIFIED NEED IN THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY TO CALCULATE OPERATING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH CONTRACTED HAULERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND CARRIERS. Many newspapers have perpetuated outdated negotiated contracts with independent distributors and carriers. Compensation adjustments, to these contracts, are often based upon approximations of changes in distribution costs. Key factors affecting distributor operating costs, such as increasing contractor expenses, revised routing, heavier papers, and multiple publications "sharing the ride," are seldom analyzed in detail.
To cover rising fuel costs most newspapers pay a frequently updated fuel surcharge to their contracted distributors and carriers. Adjustments of distributor and carrier fees to remedy other increasing operating costs, however, are often tied to changes of economic indices or renegotiation of Company labor contracts; rather than an itemized projection of actual changes in route costs.
Development and implementation of a customized compensation formula will relate an independent distributor or carrier's compensation to his, or her, total projected operating costs. Resulting benefits for the Circulation Department will be reduced transportation costs and improved coordination of contracted route activities.
WHY DEVELOP A CUSTOMIZED DISTRIBUTOR OR CARRIER COMPENSATION FORMULA?
1. To accurately project contracted distribution costs on a route by route basis.
2. To quantify the impact on distributor or carrier operating costs resulting from changes on contracted routes.
3. To reduce distribution cost and carrier turnover by eliminating uneven contractor compensation.
4. To assure appropriate compensation for delivery of multiple publications.
5. To evaluate and update existing delivery contractor compensation agreements.
SUMMARY: LOGISTICS EXPERTISE FOR NEWSPAPERS
CONSULTATION TO MANAGEMENT
*Strategies for Zoning Accuracy and On-Time Delivery
*Carrier and Agent Compensation Formulas
*Company Fleet and Delivery Operations
*Mailroom and Packaging Operations
*Management Information and Control Systems
SIMULATION AND DECISION SUPPORT
*Determine Optimal Strategies for Future Operations
*Identify Opportunities to Reduce and Control Costs
*Revised Product Flow and Distribution Modeling
*New Plant and Distribution Center Site Selection
*Computerized Mapping and Routing Applications
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