scenario: John, the postmaster general for a small post office in Centertown, Missouri, needs to redesign the business process to reduce labor costs and increase automation due to budget cuts. The current operation includes:

Receiving$/$Intake: One employee handles deliveries from the main distribution center, taking $1-2$ hours per delivery.

Sorting: One employee sorts mail by delivery mechanism, type, and destination, which can take $1-3$ days.

Staging: One employee schedules delivery routes and moves mail to the appropriate locations, taking up to $8$ hours.

Mail Delivery: Three employees each manage a daily delivery route, taking $3-5$ hours depending on volume. Using the Post Office scenario, how would you apply the Six Sigma DMAIC approach to help John improve the process? In your answer, describe the goals for process improvement, the project scope, performance measures, data collection methods, identification of cause$-$and$-$effect relationships, implementation of solutions, and monitoring for sustained performance improvement.