Australia Post: New shades of red

Ranked number one postal service in the world, Post is committed to expanding its core delivery services for Australian businesses and households, whilst maintaining one of the lowest postal prices in the developed world.

Letters

Reducing costs for business

Discounts are available for businesses using a range of cost saving Post products and services which help achieve greater accuracy of mail delivery. A prime example is the Clean Mail service which gives a 10% discount to customers who present 300-plus correctly machine-addressed letters. Other discounts range from up to 25% for small letters and 50% for large letters.

Cheaper for charities

Charity Mail ensures charities receive cost savings and the best possible service standards.

Discounts of up to 37% off the basic postage rate are available to registered charities.

Desktop mail

By using Post eLetter, major retailer Kmart is spending less staff time printing, collating and mailing important reminder notices to customers.

Post eLetter is a desktop mail service that allows clients to transmit, mail-merge or form letters and contact databases directly to Post to handle printing, barcoding, sorting, enveloping and posting. For major organisations, it is an easier way to handle high volume mailings such as invoices, statements, accounts, cheques or direct mail.

All Kmart stores in Australia now send their account information electronically to head office which then forwards it to Post. The file is sorted into postcode groupings and sent to EDIPost in each state for printing, folding and insertion into envelopes and lodgement.

Kmart's Operations Support Manager, Danny Crofts, says previously each store was involved in the time consuming tasks of handling the printing, collating and mailing of notices and statements.

He says a major problem was that the task was a big demand on staff, often during busy retailing periods. 'It's especially important in the lay-by cycle that reminder notices are timely.' The set up procedure was relatively easy according to Danny Crofts.

'The really useful aspect of Post eLetter is that we have templates for different reminder notices which can be easily tailored if required.'

Parcels

Faster parcels

The number of parcels Post sorts and delivers each day is growing significantly. So, Post continually upgrades its facilities and systems to anticipate customer demands. A good example is the $130 million invested in new facilities at Chullora (NSW), Ardeer (Victoria) and Underwood (Queensland).

State-of-the-art large parcel sorting machines, developed in Denmark and capable of sorting between 10,000 to 15,000 parcels per hour, have been installed in all three locations. Reduced manual handling ensures faster processing, improved sorting accuracy and enhanced delivery standards. As well as improving parcel sorting capability, the upgrade will facilitate new product development for the parcels market.

Stamps

Sending stamps to the world

The pioneers of Peel-and-Stick stamps, Post's 'Sprintpak' division is today supplying them to a growing list of nations around the world.

Ireland's An Post has been a Sprintpak customer for more than a decade and has purchased more than one billion self-adhesive stamps. In 2001, Sprintpak was confirmed as preferred provider to An Post after an intensive tender process involving companies from the UK, Europe and United States.

Gary Bramstedt, Business Unit Manager of Sprintpak, said it was very satisfying to extend the ten year relationship with An Post.

'This demonstrates that our staff's innovation is being rewarded and recognised internationally.' Over the years, Post's 'Sprintpak' division has produced stamps for a number of countries including Belgium, Fiji, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and United Nations.

At home, self-adhesive stamps account for more than 80% of Australian stamp sales.

Post eLetter desktop mail

* Forms/templates designed by EDI Post; approved by client; database established

* Client's staff compile eLetters; email to EDI Post

* eLetters enter EDI Post database: mail merged and checked

* EDI Post print letters and barcode envelopes

* Letters inserted into envelopes

* Lodgement at mail centres; qualify for discounts

* Post deliver

The extent of the task

Post has earned broad respect for its high standard of performance with mail delivery, but few customers would realise the extent of the task:

* Nearly 9.5 million letterboxes and delivery points are serviced by Post

* More than 5 billion postal articles are handled each year

* 24 out of 25 letters and parcels are delivered early or on time