Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Guest Post written by: Becky Ringwelski, Minitex
In November, Carol Nelson and Becky Ringwelski from the Minitex office visited the South Central Library System (SCLS) Delivery Service headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. The visit provided an opportunity to see how a high volume operation
handles statewide delivery, to share information, and to learn more about each other's delivery service. Minitex has exchanged ILL materials with Wisconsin libraries for over 45 years. They are an important partner and we are both motivated to provide the most efficient, fastest and affordable service we can. The SCLS delivery staff comprise 31 full and part-time employees. They own their own vehicles and have drivers traversing much of Wisconsin on a daily basis. They make about 170 stops per day at libraries within the Madison area and in outstate areas. The delivery system distributes materials going between branches of the South Central Library System as well as interlibrary loan materials and other materials that need special handling. In 2017 they delivered over 12,000,000 items.
We were fortunate to plan our visit during their peak time when all the staff were working furiously to get the materials sorted into bins for hand-off to the drivers. The flurry of activity was impressive as the staff worked on sorting the 600-800 tubs they pack each day. Everyone had their task and the work was done to maximize efficiency. While there we discussed doing a check of our turnaround time for items going between Minitex and the SCLS delivery headquarters and have since verified that we have 24-hour delivery between our sites. We appreciate the partnership we have with SCLS and the opportunity to view their operation firsthand. Many thanks to Brinnan Shaffer, Delivery Operations Manager for her hospitality!
Written by: Becky Ringwelski, Minitex