 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Guest Editorial Gary Taig garyt@melbpc.org.au |
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Your PC Update Was Late!
"You don't say!" I hear thousands of voices echoing across Melbourne.
Clearly your May issue was very late no matter where you live and for that I apologise sincerely. However, in
all probability your April issue was also late. Two months in a row - unthinkable.
PC Update is supposed to be delivered to members before the monthly meeting. We always aim for the
Friday. Figure 1 depicts the schedule I devised months ago - based upon Australia Post's usual delivery of
90% complete within two days in the Melbourne & Metropolitan Area, when lodged locally. In case you
didn't realise PC Update is printed in Sydney. Past schedules have allowed for it to be given to Australia
Post in Sydney at the end of week 3; delivery started in Melbourne at the beginning of week 4 and was usually
complete by mid-week. However, not only did my schedule rely upon peak delivery performance, it was
established on the belief that PC Update was being brought to Melbourne by Australia Post to be processed
locally. As it turns out that wasn't exactly the case. Then we hit a delivery trough that would dismantle
anyone's best plans.
The schedule over the past few months allowed maximum possible time for members' contributions. Unfortunately
that has changed and most deadlines are coming forward by three days. In future, files will be given to
the printer a week earlier and he will have PC Update ready to be collected five days earlier. The printer
now has less work to do and our new schedule is based upon all mail processing being done in Melbourne (refer
Figure 2). The combined effect is that PC Update will be lodged a day earlier and lodged in Melbourne rather
than Sydney. This removes the possibility of our magazine again missing the Australia Post over-night (sic)
line haul service and promises a much better outcome.
What Happened?
When there was a delay within Australia Post during delivery of the April issue it was clear very early that
something had gone amiss. Our printer has been doing the plastic wrap, sorting and delivery to Australia Post
on our behalf for a long time and apparently he did everything the same as usual. It was a real mystery.
The bad experiences from April turned to disaster for May when I experienced a delay in production and the
combined Easter/Anzac Day holiday break caused more lost time during printing. Rather than the printer being
able to pick up a lost day as he would otherwise, it grew worse and PC Update wasn't completed until after it
was supposed to have been delivered.
At that point the thought of something also going wrong with May delivery was horrific, but something did go
wrong. For the second consecutive month delivery via Australia Post took many days. As I write this some
copies are still undelivered. Where on earth are they?
Anyway the delivery problem was eventually traced to a Sydney Mail Exchange which has taken on extra
responsibilities after the closure of several smaller centres. Australia Post acknowledges there have been
delays and is currently investigating the problem for us to determine precisely what happened to PC
Update. A sign of the times I guess where merger is very much flavour of the month and mergers introduce
new problems.
We hope you enjoy your PC Update and gain some inspiration from it. We set out each month to provide
enjoyment and education. Hopefully we achieve that, at least some of the time. We also greatly appreciate
letters to the editor - and usually publish them.
Reprinted from the June 2000 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
