Further to my posting yesterday, I will continue to write about Packing and Dispatch work and make the picture clear.
Conveyor Work and Counting: When the paper comes out of the conveyor, there were four workers assigned for the job of collecting the paper from the conveyor and count the copies in 25s and stack them ready for issuing labels.
This work needs some training because collecting the papers from conveyor if not done properly will lead to problems. Papers will be thrown out randomly and I have to deploy additional workers to stake them neatly for issuing labels. Apart from this, the stakes of papers are to be counted in 25s for easy labeling.
Counting has to be done very fast and the workers are trained to count in 5s quickly. When a new machine was installed, the machine did the counting, but the worker at the conveyor had to look for every 25 copies separated by a distance from the next 25-copy heap to allow the other workers to keep the papers in stacks of 25s.
Packing Parcels: If an agent’s indent is 235 copies, there will be two parcels of 100 and one parcel of 35. If an agent’s indent is more than 120 copies, they are packed as two parcels. The 100 labels are separated from the label set and those parcels are packed by one set of packers of two workers.
Then a worker again stacks the papers as per each agent’s indent for the day. There were agents who were receiving as low as three to four copies. The label issuing person sent to each set of packer a stack containing around 150 copies which may contain parcels for 10 to 15 agents depending upon the indents of each agent in that set. There were four sets of packer (including the one set who packs parcels of 100 copies only).
After the parcels are packed, one worker carries the parcels near the loading area, where one worker checks the parcels for each transport to ensure that no parcel is missed for that particular transport. He checks and marks in his data sheet as the parcels reach him after packing, including the number of parcels is more than one for a particular agent.
Checking Parcels: Before loading the parcels in the car/van, one worker must keep ready the supplement parcels and other parcels such as Sports Star and Frontline in the order in which they are to be loaded along with the main newspaper parcels.
The work of the parcel checker and the worker in-charge of supplements is very important in that they ensure that all the parcels and supplements and other parcels that are meant for one transport are loaded correctly.
These two workers know all the center’s name, how many parcels each agent receives, and by which transport the parcels are sent, and whether the supplement parcels and Sport Star and Frontline parcels are sent separately or enclosed in the main newspaper parcel.
Loading of Parcels: The parcels are loaded in a car in the front seat, rear seat, and trunk. The parcels of each transport are packed in the reverse order in which they are delivered to make it easier for the drivers to deliver the parcels, and also the work done quickly.
The very last parcel that a transport delivers is kept in the trunk. After the trunk is full, the parcels are loaded in the rear seat. After the rear seat is full, the parcels are loaded in the front seat. The parcel checking worker and the supplement parcel checking worker keep the parcels at the respective places near the car front door, rear door, and the trunk in the order in which they are loaded and make sure that he has received and loaded all the parcels for the day and sign a trip seat consenting that he has received all the parcels.
The dispatch work will be over usually around 4 to 4:30 a.m. If the work goes well without any hiccups, I would be satisfied with that day’s work.
When the supplements were started to be printed here in Coimbatore, at first, for one or two days a week, I had to come to the printing office at around 4 to 4:30 p.m.
The packing of supplements was done in a more casual manner in that no time constraint was there. There were only two editions of the supplement, and sometimes only one edition. One was Kerala edition, and the other edition was for both Tamil Nadu and City Centers. Therefore, there will be only one change in edition, and the press people will finish the printing by 8 to 8:30, and I will have nearly three hours before the printing starts for the daily edition.
Supplements sport Star and Frontline: I personally regularly check the labels prepared for the day. Other than that, I only supervise the work and do not any particular work in packing and dispatch. Sometimes, whenever there is shortage of workers, I can do and have done any kind of work such as label issuing, counting, parcel checking, etc.
For the Kerala edition, any delay in the transports leaving the office would lead to added delay at the check post at the Tamil Nadu and Kerala borders. Many trucks carry goods from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and as a result there will be heavy traffic in the border due to the checking.
If the last Kerala transport leaves the office at 12:30, there would not be much traffic and the cars carrying parcels need not have to wait at the border. Even though the newspaper carrying cars are not stopped for checking, due to traffic, they have to move slowly near the check post, and this would lead to delay in the parcels being delivered to the respective agents.
At such times, the time at which each Kerala transport left the office would be scrutinized by the branch office, as well as the head office, to find if there was any delay in packing and dispatch work or whether it was due to delay in printing for one reason or another.
During the winter months, particularly in the rainy days, the one problem that I often had to face was shortage of workers. At such times, I had to manage with 12 to 13 people instead of 17. In such days, I usually do the work where hands are needed, either in counting copies, issuing label, or checking parcels, etc., and try my best to keep the delay in packing or parcels as minimum as possible and see that the Kerala transports leave the press as early as possible.
On Sundays, there is another problem of the number of supplements parcels that are to be sent along with the daily newspaper parcels. There are usually two supplements on Sundays, and sometimes every three to four supplements. On those days, even if there is not delay in packing work for any other reason, the loading of parcels will take more time than usual because of more supplements being carried by each transport.
I think I have explained in detail about my work as Packing and Dispatch contractor. In my future posts, I will write about the manager and his attitude toward me and my work. You will be able to understand and judge him as a manager and what he had done to me as packing and dispatch contractor in The Hindu.
