Circulation employees deserve their place in Circle of Champions

Time out for a few words and some big numbers about the most unsung heroes in the newspaper business, people in circulation.

Most readers probably think of circulation as just delivering the newspaper, and that is a monumental challenge. Imagine putting hundreds of thousands of newspapers where each customer wants, on time, every day, 365 days of the year. In the dark. And the rain.

Just the transportation aspect of circulation at The Seattle Times Co. involves delivering some 275 million pieces, or 174 million pounds, of products a year. As unbelievable as that task is, "circulation" also involves sales, marketing, customer service, distribution, billing and collections, data management, budgeting and more.

"It's its own little company," said Alan Fisco, vice president for circulation. He quickly added, "I shouldn't say little. It's its own big company."

There are about 560 employees in his department, and they work with some 1,400 carriers, who are independent contractors. "We really are a 24/7 operation. We have people working every minute of every day," Fisco said.

Some of those folks took a few minutes one morning recently for what the department calls its Circle of Champions and Superstar Awards, recognizing the top performers and role models from the previous year. It was a true celebration for a team that has gone through amazing changes in recent years.

One of the financial challenges facing the newspaper industry is that so much of its cost structure is embedded in raw materials (newsprint and ink), production and distribution. Emerging competitors on the Internet don't have those costs and can invest more dollars directly in content and technology.

All newspaper departments must reinvent themselves to be more efficient and effective, and no department at The Times has been more successful at that than circulation. "I'm incredibly proud of everyone and all of their accomplishments. And what I'm really proud of is that change is expected rather than seen as an intrusion," Fisco said.

"We do not spend much time defending. Our people want to know, 'Where are we going? How soon do we need to get there? And when do we start?' "

One cost-saving measure concluded last year was consolidating routes for The Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Instead of two carriers in a given area, each delivering a different newspaper, one carrier can now serve customers of both newspapers, which is better for carriers and subscribers alike.

The consolidation sounds obvious and straightforward, but the logistics were complicated, ranging from labor issues to computerized route mapping. The opportunities for error were enormous.

Raising the single-copy price from a quarter to 50 cents sounds pretty simple, too, but not when it involves some 3,600 sales locations. Changing coin mechanisms on racks was a daunting task, and they all had to be changed on the same day.

Another efficiency was consolidating warehouses where newspaper sections are assembled for delivery. The Times has 12 warehouses, from Tacoma to Smokey Point, north of Everett. They operate from 9 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. seven days a week. In addition to The Times and P-I, the warehouses handle The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Barron's, which also are delivered by the independent contractors.

Work of the customer-call center was subcontracted in a way that saved money, gave access to state-of-the-art technology and improved service.

Despite all of those changes, customer complaints last year fell 16 percent from 2004 and remain well below industry standards. For the daily newspaper, we receive less than one complaint for every 1,000 customers served. (I know that statistic doesn't help if you are the one customer who isn't happy, but it's still phenomenal.)

Another measure of success is safety, especially in the transportation part of circulation, which includes almost 50 large trucks, 91 vans, 12 cars, three tractors (I have no idea what for), 58 drivers, 28 loaders, a garage and more. Six employees achieved significant milestones for accident-free driving in 2005. One at 15 years, three at 20 years and two at 25 years. Together they have more than 3 million miles without an accident.

These are just some of the achievements celebrated at the Circle of Champions breakfast. "The best thing about those events is the reminder of the personal contributions people make and how special they are," Fisco told me.

The Circle of Champion winners were: Chuck Dearing, home-delivery district adviser; David Tatarek, customer-service operations clerk; Tracy Moore, warehouse manager; Gloria Hiten, Newspapers in Education outreach specialist; Bill Knapp, training manager; and Gary Mendes, alternate products and home-delivery information manager.

The real winners, of course, are you readers. So, please join me in thanking these winners and all of the people in circulation.

Inside The Times appears in the Sunday Seattle Times. If you have a comment on news coverage, write to Michael R. Fancher, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, call 206-464-3310 or send e-mail to mfancher@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/columnists