Author: Archive

High postal costs disappoint many

Posted by | Jan 10, 2007 | |

Citizens and residents are complaining about a 300 percent increase in fees for postal services, something that is unaffordable for a huge section of the population. When the new Saudi postal service was launched, many people thought prices would decrease and at the least services would dramatically improve. On the contrary, prices have increased and the quality of service has worsened leaving many people disappointed.

“Fees have now increased not only for companies but also for private individuals. Individuals have to pay SR100, families SR300 and companies between SR1,000 and SR3,000 for renting post boxes. In the past a post box was worth SR100 regardless of who the owner is,” Saad Al-Tukais, a Riyadh resident, told Al-Riyadh newspaper.

Many people complain about the miserable conditions of their post boxes and how insecure they are. “Government offices are now obliging every individual, let alone every company, to have a post box.” said Baleed ibn Ateek, another Riyadh resident.

Ateek said people have to travel long distances to post offices in order to be able to collect their post. “Those boxes are easily and commonly broken into and are totally insecure. The increase in prices is not in line with the way the quality of service is developing. The authorities need to balance prices and improve their services,” he added.

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FedEx Kinko's introduce two new offerings to their portfolio

Posted by | Jan 10, 2007 | |

FedEx Kinko’s, an operating company of FedEx Corp. today announced the introduction of two new offerings – FedEx Kinko’s Direct Mail Services and Print Online – further establishing the company as a convenient resource for office, printing and shipping services.

For advertising and marketing campaigns, FedEx Kinko’s Direct Mail Services helps small and medium-size businesses easily communicate to target audiences.
Print Online is the company’s new Web-based print management tool that enables customers to digitally send documents to FedEx Kinko’s Office and Print Centers for printing.
Research shows that direct mail is an effective way for businesses to reach consumers and motivate them to action. According to InfoTrends, Inc., a leading consulting and market research firm, USD64.2 billion was spent on direct mail marketing in North America in 2006, and spending is forecasted to grow at 4.5 percent annually.

Extending the FedEx legacy of technology innovation, Print Online delivers the next generation of print-on-demand and e-commerce, connecting customers via the Web to FedEx Kinko’s network of office and print centers in the U.S. as well as select international locations.

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Spain's Nacex expands Portuguese services

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

Spanish express company Nacex is improving its distribution in Portugal by expanding daily services and increasing geographical coverage to cover the whole country, including the islands of Azores and Madeira.

The three mainland services consist of next-day, door-to-door delivery before 10.30, within a 30km radius of one of its now 24 agencies spread across the country, and before 13.00 or 19.00 within a 100km radius.

Delivery times to Madeira vary between 24 and 48 hours, and transit to the Azores is estimated at 72 hours. The island services have the same tariff as the Portugal 10.30, subject to weight supplements.

Nacex has been part of Grupo Logísta, which also has subsidiaries in France, Italy and Portugal, since 2002, and only first formed 11 years ago.

Since then the carrier has expanded and now says it can deal with 60,000 items an hour through 275 agencies, 18 Spanish hubs, 1,170 vehicles and over 2000 staff.

Nacex is the sixth leading express company in Spain, behind DHL, Seur, MRW, TNT and Mex, according to the trade magazine Logística, Paquetería y Almacenaje.

In 2005, the company increased revenues by 21.5% on the previous year to EUR 164 million and, in the first quarter of 2006, registered a 12% rise in volume of items transported compared to the same period in 2005.

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Siemens wins 55 million euro order from Royal Mail

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) has won a 55 million euro order from Royal Mail, the British postal service provider, to upgrade its Integrated Mail Processor Systems (IMP) for standard letter sorting. The systems will be fitted with new letter flow and reading equipment which will increase throughput by up to 20 percent. Conversion work is due to be completed by October 2008.

The IMP sorting systems from the I&S Postal Automation Division were put into operation between 1996 and 2002 and form the foundation of automatic letter processing at Royal Mail. The systems can perform the entire letter processing functions – such as preprocessing, reading, coding and sorting – in one process operation. Installing the Advanced Color Recognizer system will make new reading technology functions possible. This will enable more letters to be channeled into automated preprocessing and thus reduce manual handling. There will also be further improvements to the letter facing and reading processes. The separation of first and second class mail will become simpler and more efficient. Moreover, the recognition of postage stamps, meter marks, barcodes and electronic stamps will provide automated revenue protection.

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India Post to emerge as a key player

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

The multi-crore courier services sector, dominated by the multi-nationals and indigenous private players, will soon see India Post emerging as a key player in the arena.

Come Wednesday and the India Post’s fresh initiative ‘ Mail Business Centre’ on this front will unfold. Delhi will be the first among the major cities to have three such stops catering to the bulk mailing requirements of the corporate and government organisations.

To begin with, first of the three such centres will become functional at Foreign Post Office near ITO. The other two MBCs will be located at Rail Mail Service Bhawan and Army Mail Postal Service Centre, Vasant Vihar.

In what could be perceived as image make-over for the India Post, its General Manager, Business Development, John Samuel, described the MBCs as “one stop mailing centres” primarily eyeing the corporate clients. Soon all major cities of the country will have this facility, he said adding : “Basically, we are adopting a businesslike approach to woo the customers by providing an efficient service.”

Believe it or not, trained Marketing Executives and Key Accounts Managers will be available at these centres to interact with the clients and study their needs. They will hold business negotiations and offer financial packages to suit their requirements.

Not only will it be faster and more accountable, it will also replace the prevalent system of sending the bulk mail and parcels through ordinary post, Samuel said.

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Government department snubs Royal Mail over GBP12m postal contract

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

The Communication Workers Union (UK) yesterday attacked the decision by the Department for Work and Pensions to award a GBP12m contract for post services to UK Mail, a leading rival to Royal Mail.
The union said it was disappointed that, at a time when the Department of Trade and Industry was finalising plans for investment in Royal Mail’s postal services business, other departments were giving work traditionally done by the state-owned former monopoly to private sector rivals.
The union’s general secretary, Billy Hayes, said: “This is a prime example of how disjointed departments in government are. Instead of using private postal services it is essential that the government understand they have a moral and social responsibility to the network and by not using the service themselves it does not exude confidence to the British public in a government-controlled institution.”
At a time when the DTI was conducting a review of the postal service, it was vital other departments did not make rash decisions which could affect its future, the union said.
A DWP spokesman said it had been urged by the government’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, to look at the way it bought postal services to see if it could achieve efficiency savings. The decision to award the contract to UK Mail, a subsidiary of Business Post, followed that review and would save the department about GBP2m over the 13-month life of the agreement.

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Spring's position regarding ‘scam’ mailings in the UK

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

Spring takes very seriously any concerns about the content of mail but as we have no powers to act as a censor, we work closely with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to identify scam mail and, where necessary, cancel contracts – to date we have cancelled 13 contracts.

It is just not possible to identify scam mail even when the mail is sent in transparent wrapping. A recent mailing claimed to be an example of scam mail was subject to legal action brought against the sender by the OFT. The judge ruled that the mailings were not illegal or scams and ordered the OFT to pay all legal costs.

We allow our customers to use Spring’s UK address when they have no UK address of their own. This is standard practice for all overseas mail and is provided purely to enable undeliverable or response items to be returned to the sender. It does not mean that the mail originates from this address or that the staff in Spring’s UK office are responsible for it.

We do work with the ASA and the OFT to combat the issue of scam mailings and we are the only international mail services provider to have signed an Information Sharing Protocol with the OFT.

Scam mail is a problem that is damaging not just to consumers but everyone involved in our industry. Our future is dependent on a healthy direct mail sector and this is why we constantly review the processes that we have in place to combat the issue.

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Postal union urges halt in Whitehall switch to private sector

Posted by | Jan 9, 2007 | |

The UK government has been urged to stop Whitehall departments switching to Royal Mail competitors for their postal services, after the Department for Work and Pensions signed a deal with a private operator to handle its bulk mailings. The Communications Workers’ Union said it was disappointed that government departments were considering using private contractors at a time when the Department of Trade and Industry was still mulling its investment plans for the state-owned postal service. The DWP said the decision to put the work to tender reflected its need to make savings and followed the recommendations of the National Audit Office.

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