NZ Post looks at postcode options
NZ POST is reviewing the future of the country’s postcode system, used to help with the computer-assisted sorting of mail.
It is evaluating “two or three options” for the future of the addressing system, says spokesman Iain Long, and aims to consult widely over the course of the next few months.
NZ Post has asked companies involved in the GIS (geographical information systems) business for their views, but is reluctant at the moment to discuss the possible options.
Address manager Stuart McKenzie accepts NZ Post doesn’t exploit the potential of postcodes as heavily as overseas postal operators do in countries such Britain.
The Royal Mail uses six digit alphanumeric postcodes to identify addresses down to about 16 delivery addresses per postcode, for example, in a system which has been running for 45 years.
Most Britons know their postcode off by heart.
However, Mr McKenzie says the Royal Mail has about 100 staff maintaining the “marvellous” system. NZ Post has just one, senior address specialist Eoin Gibb, and it is not clear New Zealand’s demographics justify a similar system to Britain’s.
“Some postal authorities put in a huge effort,” says Mr Gibb.
“I can’t imagine NZ Post putting in a dozen or a hundred people.”
Mr Long confirms NZ Post is unlikely to adopt a scheme similar to Britain’s, but isn’t ruling it out.
NZ Post has recently updated the population’s postcodes to ensure every delivery address registered as of July 1 has a valid code.
Till recently, there were no clear boundaries separating postcode areas, but NZ Post is now making these available on disk to businesses that want them.
It has also updated its website to let people find their postcode by searching on their address.
Mr Long accepts there is no advantage for consumers in using a postcode on regular mail.
Bulk mailers get a discount on postal charges if they put postcodes on the direct mail they send, so long as more than 90 per cent of the codes are accurate.
Steve Chritchlow, managing director of Wellington business mapping company Chritchlow Associates, says New Zealand’s postcode system is “a bit flaky”.
Businesses overseas sometimes use postcode boundaries to display market penetration in different regions, but New Zealand’s postcode zones aren’t suitable for that because the areas they cover are too large, he says.
Overseas firms sometimes approach Chritchlow Associates seeking to buy a database of New Zealand postcodes.
That’s a product no one is currently able to supply.
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In the box: While NZ Post uses computer-assisted sorting of mail, some of it is best suited to being sorted by hand. Picture: WAIKATO TIMES
The Dominion Post, Copyright of Fairfax New Zealand Limited 2004, All rights reserved.
