Arbitron Upgrades Diary Processing Center
Arbitron Upgrades Diary Processing Center
New State-of-the-Art Facility Provides a Seamless Workflow for More Accurate Assembly of Diary Packages
Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) has upgraded its diary processing with a new state-of-the-art facility that combines several business processes under one roof. The new building, new layout and new equipment were designed by Arbitron staff that collaborated to increase productivity, efficiency and accuracy for diary processing.
In a typical survey, Arbitron’s diary team assembles 60 different treatment configurations for diary packages. These are tailored to individual respondent requirements including different treatments based on age, sex and race/ethnicity. In 2007, the diary processing team assembled over 1 million diary packages. Ensuring that these individually tailored packages are assembled efficiently and accurately is essential to ensuring success in Arbitron’s diary service in more than 290 markets.
“Arbitron has a commitment to continued improvement of the diary service throughout the process,” said Mike Haggerty, vice president of processing and fulfillment. “This new home for diary processing was designed by our experts, the team that works with the diary packages every day and understand s the fulfillment process. Their input throughout the research and design of the new center will improve our current process and allow us to adapt quickly as Arbitron makes additional enhancements through annual diary sample improvement initiatives.”
Technological Improvements to Diary Fulfillment
Evolution of Lucy: Arbitron’s One-of-a-Kind Diary Box Assembler
Arbitron automated its diary process by creating “Lucy,” a machine designed to automatically assemble diary boxes and package all diaries intended for respondents in those boxes. Named for the episode of “I Love Lucy” when Lucy and Ethel worked on the assembly line in a chocolate factory, Lucy made her first complete diary box in 2000.
Prior to Lucy, 30 percent of diaries were sent in boxes, while 70 percent were mailed in white envelopes. The boxes (another diary service improvement initiative) showed a higher return rate than envelopes. Lucy provided diary processing with a cost-effective capability to package and send all diaries in the more impactful Arbitron diary box packaging.
Since 2000, Lucy has evolved as the business has evolved, with additional features to protect the diary packages and ensure weight and postage for each package is accurate. Quality Assessment for Lucy for 2007 was 99.98 percent.
In addition to improvements made to Lucy, the new facility includes a high-tech inserter machine that improves package assembly and efficiency by more than 100 percent and a new state-of-the-art printer. These new machines will also allow the diary processing team to adapt to new diary treatments more efficiently. It also allows them to send additional communications to respondents, bringing the printing and mailing entirely in-house.
The inserter has verification controls built in for each production station to ensure accuracy for every piece of respondent material for either the diary packages or additional printed respondent communication.
About the Arbitron Radio Diary
For more than 40 years, the Arbitron diary has been the most successful audience measurement tool in radio, reliably tracking audiences for more than 13,000 stations broadcasting in the United States as well as Canada and Mexico.
The Arbitron Local Market Radio diary services have been accredited by the Media Rating Council since 1968.
The Arbitron diary methodology has evolved significantly over the past four decades. Arbitron has continuously re-worked the diary to:
• Improve the instructions to motivate better compliance and return
• Enhance the layout for more accurate and complete entries
• Expand the collection of consumer and lifestyle information to assist local advertisers
• Update the appearance and functionality to keep pace with the consumer, media and marketing environment.
As Arbitron brings electronic measurement to radio in the top 50 markets, the company is committed to maintaining and enhancing its diary service as the most effective and affordable system of radio audience measurement for the medium and small makets
