USPS Office of Inspector General

No matter the industry, it’s always better to address the root cause of a problem than put a Band-Aid on the symptom.

We find data analytics — which includes data mining, risk assessments, and predictive analytics — lets us find the most effective ways to detect fraud, waste, and mismanagement at the U.S. Postal Service. Data analytics allows us to synthesize data in ways that get to the very core of a problem or inefficiency, so we can then identify possible solutions.

From the consumer’s perspective, the best possible result of calling customer service is a short conversation that resolves the issue. From a business’s standpoint, preventing that call in the first place is the ultimate goal.

Of course, no product or service is perfect, so customer service will always be a part of a business model. Improving that experience is key to satisfying and retaining customers. The goal, it seems, would be to make customer service efficient and responsive.

Nearly a decade since its rollout, the Flats Sequencing System (FSS) — the football-field sized sorting machines for flats mail — is still falling short of expectations. At its inception, stakeholders were optimistic FSS would improve productivity and reduce the U.S. Postal Service’s costs for handling flats mail.