The week that was: 16 September 2011
Deutsche Post and UPS invest in German operations, Magyar Posta prepares for market competition and USPS unveils processing network cutback plans… Rounding up the top stories of the past seven days on Post&Parcel, it’s clear the industry has a careful eye on the future, with major investment going into European operations, but major cutbacks in the United States…
Deutsche Post reveals ambitions for parcels
Deutsche Post DHL announced a EUR 750m investment plan for its parcel processing centres and a restructuring of its entire transport network – so that parcels can be delivered anywhere in Germany “as fast as we can deliver a letter today”.
The major investment in Deutsche Post’s parcels unit is directly related to a “booming” market for e-commerce in Germany, where parcel volume growth has gone from a 3.5% yearly average to a near-10% year-on-year growth rate in the first half of 2011.
The move is also in response to changing consumer behaviour and expectations for shipping services.
UPS invests $200m in Cologne air hub
Another industry giant – UPS – is also investing in its facilities in Germany. In this case, a $200m investment in the UPS hub at Cologne/Bonn Airport.
The largest investment made by the company ever in a facility upgrade outside the US, the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
As well as a “major” extension to the building itself, UPS said it will invest in state-of-the-art technology to significantly boost the hub’s package sorting capacity from 110,000 to 190,000 packages per hour.
Magyar Posta prepares for postal liberalisation in Hungary
Hungary’s Post Office has a new chief executive this month – former oil industry executive László Geszti – who already has his eye on the future of the organisation.
Hungary’s postal market must open to competition from 2013 under European law, and Geszti said that for Magyar Posta to compete, it will have to push for efficiency and quality in its services, as well as expanding into new markets.
“Competition is transforming the market, but it is not necessarily going to take out the profit. We are considering it as a positive driving force for change – the new situation inspires us,” said Geszti.
USPS unveils plan to reduce processing network by half
Across the Atlantic, the US Postal Service revealed the list of 252 mail processing plants it is now going to review for possible closure.
A crowded press conference revealed just how high-profile the problems at the Postal Service have become, as Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe explained the plan to reduce operating costs by $3bn by reducing the USPS processing network by more than half.
Congress and a little help from the unions will also be needed to enact changes elsewhere if the Postal Service is to close the $20bn hole in its budget by 2015, however.
And finally…
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