Where letters are sorted. The parcel has left the sorting center: what does this mean? The letter has left the sorting center: what does this mean? And now, as promised, let’s get back to flying parcels :)

December 24th, 2014

In November 2013, the Russian media reported in the background that Russian Post had opened a new logistics center for processing international mail.

The news passed in the background, but even by the New Year 2013/2014 celebration, thanks to this center, it was possible to avoid the previously standard pre-New Year collapse for Russian Post with delays in parcels and mail arriving from abroad.

By the end of 2014, the new logistics center reached full capacity and now processes up to 300,000 shipments per day!

Now everything you ordered for the New Year will actually be in your hands for the New Year, and not for the new school year)))

Thanks to the community mosblog I was able to go on a specially organized excursion to this site and see everything with my own eyes.

Let's get a look!

In the photo below you can see that the Russian Post is not going to stop there, because everything that I have already described is located only in the 1st building!

And there are 6 of them in total! So Russian Post is going to grow and expand even more:

1.

Conducted a tour of the sorting (aka logistics) center Alexey Skatin, Deputy General Director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Post” with his colleagues.

2.

Here he is! :)

3.

The security at the sorting center is adequate!

4.

And, believe me, everyone at the Post Office understands everything. New Year, everyone is waiting for parcels and quickly.

That's why... :) we set a reminder:

5.

But we didn’t come here for the Christmas trees.

The fact is that now this center processes about half of the entire Russian volume of international mail. The incoming flow of this mail.

And this was possible only thanks to modern technologies and a high level of automation.

Moreover, this is generally the first such facility in Russia in which customs clearance of international postal items is combined with their automated sorting by delivery directions. But we’ll talk about customs separately.

Take a better look at this giant with sparkling red eyes:

6.

No, this is not an automatic burner of your mail, and not even a system for entangling mail in Russian Post warehouses :) A couple of years ago, Russian Post, including thanks to new personnel (such as Alexey Skatin), abandoned this direction :)))

A couple of years ago, Russian Post set a course for a total change in old processes and installation of new equipment.

For example, in this logistics and sorting center the following were installed:

Multisorter for all types of postal items
-Conveyor systems for transporting bags, parcels and boxes
-Mobile conveyors with retractable sections
-Multi-beam scanners for reading information and devices for sorting items by size
-And other latest technologies that allow you to automate and speed up the process of processing shipments as much as possible

Naturally, it’s not 2115 yet, and the process cannot be completed without people:

7.

8.

Here, postal items are scanned to put a mark in the system that they have arrived in Russia and will now be sent for customs clearance.

Yes, the parcel is flying :) More on this later.

9.

A little out of order, but this is how customs unloads and controls the arrival of a certain volume of parcels into Russian territory:

10.

By the way, this bag is from China - I've mostly only seen them.

The flow of shipments from China is very large:

11.

Then the bags are delivered to the managers of incoming bags))) I don't know what these people's positions are called, but they do important work:

They take the parcel out of the bag, point the scanner at the sticker on it, all the information is automatically entered into the computer, and they do a quick check to see if the information on the sticker was scanned correctly. If everything is fine, then click “OK”, and a mark is placed in the Russian Post tracking that your shipment is now located in Russia.

Your shipment is placed on a belt and goes into the customs scanner.

12.

“How does it leave if nothing leaves?!”, you ask looking at the photo above.

Yes, there are such clusters.

And now, I’ll surprise you, but this is for your own good.

The fact is that 300,000 shipments per day is a very heavy load. And if people start making mistakes, then you will not receive your parcel soon. And what needs to be done to prevent people from making mistakes?

The right thing to do is to comply with working conditions. (not the only condition, of course, but very important)

The rules for work breaks are posted for everyone to see! Depending on the load level, everyone is given a certain number of breaks. And this is being monitored.

Therefore, in the photo you can see that on one side a few parcels have already accumulated. It's really not much, believe me.

Here are the rules. I was especially pleased with the cats showing exercises for the eyes))) If there are cats, then everything will definitely be fine with Russian Post:

13.

As I already wrote, this is the first facility in which customs clearance of international mail is combined with their automated sorting by delivery directions.

For the first time in Russian history, it was possible to unite the Russian Post and the Customs Service under one roof in a single process!

For example, in Japan these are completely different processes located in different places.

14.

Immediately after the mark of arrival in Russia, the mail is sent to the scanner to the customs officers:

15.

If nothing illegal is found there, then your parcel automatically receives a status in the tracking system indicating that the customs check has been passed and the parcel has been sorted.

16.

But in some cases, your parcel will definitely be opened!

For example, this incident happened right during the excursion:

17.

If I remember correctly, only with me a knife passed through the scanner and 2 were already unpacked!

In general, thanks to such verification, several dozen criminal cases were opened, and some characters were even sent to prison... Such cases. So you shouldn't order any illegal things.

If the parcel is opened, everything becomes more complicated and the parcel will take a long time to arrive. Since in this case, everything needs to be photographed, recorded, etc. In general, in this case, paperwork cannot be avoided, even if everything is legal.

In other cases, all incoming shipments have a sticker on which one half is intended for scanning by the sending side, the second for scanning by the Russian side.

18.

If customs has no questions, they scan the sticker and...voila! Customs cleared :)

Well, maybe there are some other nuances, but overall it’s something like this :)

19.

And immediately after clearing customs, Russian Post employees put the items into trays and send them to a sorting machine:

20.

By the way, all zones in the center are divided by numbers. And each employee works only in his or her area of ​​responsibility:

21.

And taking into account the fact that the customs office is located right there, there is even a fence between the zones!

In the panorama below (*you can click on it and look at it in higher resolution!) you can see these fences.

If any package crosses this fence, without registering at customs, then this is smuggling. And smuggling is punishable in accordance with the criminal code! Roughly speaking, the area behind the fence from the sorting machine is like a conditionally neutral space BEFORE Russia. That is, what is behind the fence is actually already in Russia, but legally not yet.

22.

In the panorama you can also see that parcels are traveling upward along the travelator.

At the top, they fall under the all-seeing eye of a scanner, which reads information from the label on the parcel:

23.

Based on the reading results, the parcel is sent to the conveyor, and the information about the reading results is processed in a computer, which determines where exactly the parcel should be sent down for dispatch.

At the entrance of the parcel to the conveyor there is another scanner, which determines which carriage the scanned parcel landed on:

24.

This magical process happens like this:

And now, as promised, let’s get back to flying parcels :)

In the photo below, I even photographed this incredible process))) I couldn’t resist.

And, naturally, I asked Alexey Skatin a question about how legal and adequate this is.

It turned out that negotiations were held separately with the Chinese Post and subsequent enormous work was carried out to standardize the packaging of the parcel! That is, each parcel is packaged in such a way that it cannot be damaged. And your parcels remain safe. This applies to all parcels. But only parcels up to a certain weight and without certain markings can fly.

If your parcel is labeled or written “caution”, “glass”, “do not throw”, “handle with care”, etc. then they will only work with it manually! The same applies to parcels with heavy weight.

25.

Despite what is happening in the photo above. I personally observed how the same woman carried some parcels by hand. Even when it was very inconvenient for her due to the crooked cages for the parcels. And then she abandoned the others again.

That is, it really works. After all, for example, there is no point in manually carrying phone cases. But it’s definitely not worth abandoning some heavy items.

Moreover, if employees are found to be violating this rule, they will lose a large part of their remuneration for their work.

By the way, in the photo above and below the so-called "Hospital" for parcels :)

Parcels come here, if for some reason they cannot be processed by the sorting machine, then here they are “treated”, errors on the label are corrected, a new one is printed, glued, and sent to the sorting machine again.

26.

Judging by the photo of “Hospital” above, the rule of rest is strictly observed :) I think this is good. I wouldn’t want mail to be processed by angry, unrested and inattentive people.

Below is a photo of the sorting center plan.

My photo blurred, of course, but the main thing is clear - the Shipping Zone (1) for processing and the Reception Zone (10) (that is, sending further across Russia) of already processed parcels are located on opposite sides of the complex. This ensures the correct step-by-step passage and processing of parcels through this complex. Well, it becomes almost impossible to confuse something.

27.

And this is the central touch monitor for controlling this powerful machine.

The areas where something is going wrong immediately light up in a certain color. Or everything lights up green - this means that everything is fine:

28.

Here you can see how each of the carriages on the conveyor is doing, and which carriage contains what. If a carriage travels over the cargo for too long without sorting it, it is marked with a different color. And in 99% of cases, the machine itself sends parcels that it cannot sort to the “hospital”.

29.

This whole gigantic machine costs about 5,000,000 euros.

And its energy consumption, as they say, is only that of several irons;)

And here, in the photo below, you can see the diagram of the entire machine and influence its performance. For example, speed up the rotation of the conveyor :) Or stop everything.

By the way, this machine uses modern carriages, either magnetic or with magnetic bases of some kind, to help sort mail. Plus, the surface of the carriages is made of such material that trays with parcels do not slip off.

For example, in Germany, wooden carriages are used in sorting centers because... these centers were built there more than 30 years ago!

30.

And on this screen you can see the “pulse” of the sorting machine.

As you can see, there are no failures or failures, there were only a couple of parcels that accidentally landed on 2 carriages at once:

31.

Here they are, parcels, riding at high altitudes, waiting to be sorted:

32.

When they reach the desired slide, the carriage throws them straight to an employee who sorts the items into bags for sending to your home!

33.

There are enough slides for everyone! :)

34.

Some packages even have to wait as long as 15 minutes! :)

For Russian Post, this is a speed close to the speed of light, compared to what it was just 2 years ago:

35.

Now pay attention to how the last stage goes.

Russian Post decided to step over the 30-50 year delay gap and immediately step into the future:

36.

Each employee at the sorting hump has a special scanner with a device attached to his hand and finger:

37.

Each parcel that comes down the slide is scanned and its passage at this stage is noted, after which it is thrown into a bag in a certain direction.

After this, the tracking system will show a status indicating that the parcel has been sent from Moscow to your region:

38.

I even found my home region here :)

39.

After filling the bag, it is placed in a cage and brought to the gate:

40.

41.

After the implementation of this sorting center the number of complaints against Russian Post has decreased by 25%!

The quality assessment according to some international standards before the implementation of this center was equal to, funny to say, 3.5%! Three and a half! :))) And now this figure is 90%!

By the way, the transit time for such a shipment in Moscow was reduced to 3 days. I'll have to check it out in person sometime :)

And below is the last photo! Panorama! You can and should click on it to view it in a larger size.

By the way, on the left, under the number nine, and a little to the right, you can see special catching nets for those items that you forgot to put on the tray (they then slide off). Let's look at the latest beauty photo:

42.

By the way, parcels up to 50 kg pass through this center. Heavier items are processed elsewhere.

By the way, in terms of installing equipment in Russia, in a sense, there is a big bonus.

The bonus is that we have nothing! :) This means that we are now installing the newest equipment possible!

Things like this were introduced here:
-Automated sorting of all types of mail
-In-line method of mail processing without warehousing
-Electronic data exchange with postal operators
-Refusal of paper forms and simplification of processing technologies

And by mid-2015, Russian Post plans to transfer such centers to 100% electronic document flow. Including with regard to interaction with the Customs Service. You understand that it is not so easy to come to an agreement with such a government agency as Customs...

But it is worth noting that what we were shown is only the first milestone, even in this location not far from Vnukovo airport.

By 2022, the mail processing center will be expanded and automated even more. And not only international, but also domestic Russian shipments will be processed here. And then the volume of processed mail will reach almost 22,000,000 (millions!) units per month!

If you have any questions - ask! Employees of the Russian Post promised to answer any of the most tricky and incredible questions regarding this center and the processing of international shipments.

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So as not to miss my next articles - Press

In order not to make a mistake in the approximate delivery time of the parcel, you should know what this or that status means. On this page we will consider in detail all possible statuses so that you do not have difficulty determining the location of the parcel.

Postal statuses when tracking shipments from abroad

Reception.

This status means that the sender has completed all the necessary forms, including Form CN22 or CN23 (customs declaration), and the package has been accepted by the postal or courier service employee. Simultaneously with receipt, the shipment is assigned an identification number, which is subsequently used for tracking.

Arrival at MMPO.

MMPO is a place of international postal exchange. At this stage, the parcel undergoes customs control and registration. After this, service employees prepare a grouped international shipment.

Export.

One of the longest periods in the delivery of postal items. This is due to the fact that sending a partially loaded plane is unprofitable, so you have to wait until there is a sufficient number of parcels heading to one country.

In addition, to optimize logistics processes, shipments can be delivered in transit through other countries, and this also delays delivery time.

It is impossible to name the exact duration of the parcel's stay in export. But on average it ranges from two weeks to one and a half months. Moreover, on the eve of the holidays, this period may further increase. But if more than two months have passed since receiving the “Export” status, and there are no changes, you should contact the postal service performing the delivery with a request to search for the shipment.

Import.

This status is assigned to the shipment at the Russian AOPP (aviation mail department), where it arrives from an airplane. Here, according to the service regulations, the parcels are weighed, the integrity of the packaging is checked, the barcode is scanned to find out the place of departure, the flight number is recorded, and it is determined to which MMPO the parcel should be sent. The length of time an international shipment stays at AOPC depends on the workload of the department and its employees, but on average it is 1-2 days.

Handed over to customs.

After sorting, the parcels are sent for customs inspection, where they go through an X-ray scanner. If customs officers suspect the illegal transportation of prohibited substances or items, the shipment is opened and inspected in the presence of an inspector and the responsible operator. After this (if the fact of transportation of prohibited goods has not been confirmed), the parcel is packed again, an inspection report is attached and sent along the route.

Detained by customs.

This status is optional. It is assigned to a shipment only in cases where customs officers identify a weight that exceeds the permissible limit, a cost of more than 1,000 euros, and other violations. In this case, the recipient will have to pay additional fees. If there are no violations of customs legislation, the parcel will bypass this status.

Customs clearance has been completed.

After receiving this status, the parcel is again transferred to the place of international postal exchange, where it is processed by the department staff. In some cases, this status may be replaced by “left MMPO”.

Arrived at the sorting center.

From MMPO the shipment arrives for sorting. There are postal sorting centers in all major cities. As a rule, the parcel is sent to the center closest to the MMPO, where logistics service employees develop the optimal delivery route to the point of issue.

Left the sorting center.

This status means that the parcel has been sent along the delivery route. The time it takes for it to arrive at the recipient depends on several factors, including traffic congestion, remoteness of the region, etc.

There are Russian Post sorting centers in all major cities.

Arrived at the sorting center of the city N.

Upon arrival in the recipient's city, the parcel is delivered to the local sorting center. From here, the goods are distributed to post offices or other order delivery points. Delivery speed is affected by: traffic congestion, weather conditions, distance. For example, delivery within the city takes no more than 1-2 days, but within the region it can take about a week.

Came to the place of delivery.

After the shipment arrives at the nearest post office, it is assigned this status. Next, postal employees are required to issue a notice and deliver it to the addressee within 1-2 days. In fact, this period may be slightly delayed, so it is better to use the “My Parcel” tracking service. As soon as you see the status “arrived at the place of delivery”, you can go to the post office. It is not necessary to wait for notification, since postal employees are required to issue the item using the identification code (tracking number). Upon receipt, you must have your passport with you.

Delivery to the addressee.

This status is assigned to the parcel after it is received by the addressee and means the end of the journey.

Domestic Russian shipments are assigned the same statuses, with the exception of those related to the customs stage and MMPO. Therefore, the information will also be useful to those who make purchases in Russian online stores or are expecting a package from loved ones living in another city or region.

Now you know the interpretation of each status and can not only determine the actual location of the parcel, but also approximately calculate the delivery time.

Friends! Please tell me!

If The parcel left the sorting center in my city on 03/05/13 at 9 am. Can I safely go with my passport and documents with my address (which I requested from the seller) to receive my parcel the next morning? Or sit on your butt straight and wait for a status update?
The parcel was sent by regular Russian Post.

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Added by moderator:

What does the status “Left the sorting center” mean?

The “Left Sorting Center” status in tracking postal items means that your shipment has been scanned at the sorting center in your city and is being prepared for loading onto a vehicle that will deliver it directly to the post office (place of delivery). Those. this status does not yet mean that the parcel has physically left the sorting center. But, as a rule, the parcel still leaves the sorting center on the day this status appears and must be delivered to the post office on the same day.

When can I receive a parcel if the status is “Left the sorting center” in my city?

It all depends on the practice of your post office. Formally, you can (without waiting for a notification or the status “Arrived at the place of delivery”) go to the post office the next day and present the tracking number of the parcel there. In the vast majority of cases, your shipment is already physically at the post office.

But there are several nuances here:

1) Physically, the parcel may already be in the software, but it has not yet been processed and its number has not been entered into the Russian Post accounting program. Those. software workers simply will not find your shipment in the database. That. it all depends on the speed of processing incoming mail in your software.

2) The Russian Post database is not updated online. Updates occur 2-3 times a day. Therefore, it may turn out that your shipment has already been accepted and processed in the software, entered into the database, but the database has not been updated. Those. The parcel is already ready for delivery, but you still do not see the corresponding status.

Considering what was written above, it is best to go to the post office only when you already see the status “Arrived at the place of delivery”.