Posts convene for UPU global mail workshop
Postal quality controllers from eleven countries have come together to increase their knowledge of the UPU Global Monitoring System (GMS). The inaugural GMS workshop, held at the International Bureau in Berne, will be followed over the next year by six other workshops in different regions of the world.
The GMS was initiated in 2009 and now has 50 participating Posts, with the aim of helping Posts monitor the flow of global mail by sending international test letters with radio tracking tags. By tracking the test letters, Posts can find and target problem areas that slow the flow of mail.
“It’s like going to the doctor and getting an x-ray,” explained Géraldine Krebs, a GMS reporting analyst at the UPU. “We can tell where something is wrong.”
Participants receive a 2.5% increase in terminal dues for joining the programme and an additional 2.5% increase if they meet self-set on-time delivery targets. Those who do not meet their targets receive a 0.3% reduction.
Participants from Belarus, Ghana, Gibraltar, Iran, Namibia, the Netherlands Antilles, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland convened for the workshop. Sweden Post and Royal Mail also sent representatives to share their experiences.
“We had some countries that are new to the project or joining next year, and others who know quite a lot about it,” said Antonio Caeiro, UPU GMS project manager. “This workshop was all about getting to know people and sharing best practices.”
Seminars were held on the design of the GMS system, how the data was gathered and analysed, and how the results could be used to target problems and improve quality and on-time delivery.
“For me it was quite interesting; I learned a lot,” said Samuel Nicholas, manager of operations for Nieuwe Post, the Netherlands Antilles designated operator. “I was able to visit all the departments of the International Bureau, and now I understand terminal dues a lot better.”
“I came to this workshop because we saw that it was going to help us raise our standards,” said Robert Ezekiel Asiedu, Ghana Post project manager. “I’m definitely going to go back home and apply what I learned to our practices.”
