Author: Archive

Deutsche Post CEO Zumwinkel threatens to launch price war in 2008

Posted by | Dec 13, 2006 | |

Deutsche Post AG chief executive Klaus Zumwinkel told journalists his company is prepared to make drastic price cuts in the German mail market should it lose significant market share to rivals when its virtual monopoly on letter delivery expires in 2008, the Financial Times Deutschland reported.

‘If I lose too much market share, then I have some price cuts in reserve that will certainly throw our competitors into disarray,’ Zumwinkel said in New York.

The chief executive did not provide further details on the possible price cuts.

The newspaper said that Deutsche Post currently controls about 90 pct of the German letter delivery market. This business last year accounted for 30 pct of Deutsche Post’s total revenue and almost half of its profits.

However, rivals such as TNT, Pin and a range of local delivery services are eager to expand their presence in the German market.

The newspaper said that TNT and Pin want to gain a 10 pct share of the German letter delivery market within the next five years.

Read More

DHL enhances service in hundreds of U.S. cities

Posted by | Dec 13, 2006 | |

DHL today announced significant progress on its Route Optimization Initiative, a component of a program announced earlier this year to enhance courier pick-up and delivery efficiency as part of DHL’s commitment to providing the best possible experience in the shipping industry. To date, DHL has improved pick-up service for customers in hundreds of cities across the United States, while decreasing vehicle usage and fuel consumption.

At facilities across the U.S., the DHL Route Optimization Initiative uses a customized software solution to pull pick-up and delivery data from courier data terminal scanners. The information is uploaded for analysis and route mapping, enabling DHL to increase efficiency and effectively balance its workload capacity across its entire U.S. fleet.

Since its inception, the route optimization program has decreased required drive times, limited route length and fuel consumption, and enabled more rapid processing of shipments. As a result of the initiative, customers throughout the country have more predictable regular delivery times. In addition, DHL has been able to extend the deadline for pick-up service by up to 90 minutes in over 400 metropolitan areas across the U.S., encompassing over one half million businesses.

Read More

Postal services comfortable despite competition-seminar

Posted by | Dec 13, 2006 | |

Alternative means of communication are not a serious threat to postal mail services, participants at a one-day workshop on ‘quality of service continuous testing’, held in Dar es Salaam, concurred yesterday.

They said that, the other options of communication, such as mobile phones and e-mail services, which are cheaper and faster, have only affected personal mails while business mails have increased.

Tanzania Posts Corporation (TPC) Manager- Mails Business, Mr Protas Mwageni said that the increase of business mails was attributed to growth of businesses in general and big numbers of people using postal services.

In his opening remarks, the acting Postmaster General of TPC, Ms Bertha Mallogo, said that the need for quality grows under fair competition and that quality of services constitutes a driving force in postal services.

Mr Mwageni added that the quality of postal services in Tanzania were of high quality internationally, delivering mails four to five days a week while domestic mails are delivered within 48 hours due to overnight mails services offered by TPC.

“Any letter posted by 6pm will be delivered on the same day due to the service, mostly reaching destination the next day,” prided Mr Mwageni.

The workshop was organised by Universal Postal Union (UPU) aiming at training participants from Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Sudan, Seychelles, Ethiopia and the hosts Tanzania, on the use of continuous testing with the goal of improving postal services quality.

Read More

Pinpoinr track and trace system goes live

Posted by | Dec 13, 2006 | |

PalletFORCE, one of the UK’s fastest growing palletised distribution networks, brings its pinpoint track and trace IT system to the IMHX Show as part of its commitment to “provide innovative logistics solutions for the benefit of our members.”

The pinpoint system, designed by logistics specialist Trans-aXion, is now live, providing comprehensive real-time ‘track and trace’ for all of the Network’s Member Depots and their customers. Every pallet is registered with a unique identification, which customers can use to trace deliveries throughout the distribution process via the pinpoint website.

The investment in pinpoint underlines PalletFORCE’s commitment to delivering a high-quality service. The Network has recently established a new mission statement – to “provide innovative logistics solutions for the benefit of our members” – which will be showcased at IMHX. As Chief Executive Mick Scarlett explains, “service means more than getting pallets from A to B. Networks must seek to offer ‘added value’ to members and their customers, and PalletFORCE is looking to actively develop the breadth and quality of the services we offer.”

PalletFORCE has been a significant success story in the five years of its operation. Since August 2001, when 560 pallets were handled from 36 Member Depots, PalletFORCE now handles around 6,500 per night (with the capability to handle twice that) and has more than doubled its number of Member Depots to 90.

Read More

Pitney Bowes – Chairman & CEO Interview

Posted by | Dec 13, 2006 | |

BECKY QUICK, CNBC ANCHOR: Next year is looking a whole lot greener for the U.S. Postal Service. An overhaul bill passed through the Senate over this last weekend. And that is set to relieve the Postal Service of billions of dollars in retirement expenses and keep the cost of postage down. Of course, the president still needs to give his stamp of approval on this whole thing. So let`s get into what is at stake for business with Michael Critelli. He is the chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes.Michael, thanks for being with us today.

MICHAEL CRITELLI, CHMN. CEO, PITNEY BOWES: You are very welcome, Becky.

QUICK: You know, we have heard a lot about this bill that is out there. What is it actually? What would it do? And what does it mean for business?

CRITELLI: Well, you know, we are in a USD900 billion industry that employs 10 million Americans. It stabilizes the Postal Service financially by fixing and funding its retirement obligations. It sets an annual cap on price increases of the CPI, the consumer price index. And it gives the Postal Service the same ability that we are used to with utilities, airlines and other people, promotional rates, off-peak rates, discounts for other benefits to promote the use of mail, all of that that is now possible, that just wasn`t possible under the old law. And that will start to go into effect in 2008.

Read More

Polish Post Offices install value-added payment services

Posted by | Dec 12, 2006 | |

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. have announced that PKO Bank Polski’s wholly-owned acquiring arm, eService, will be delivering value-added payment services to Polish Post offices via VeriFone’s Vx 510 payment platform and PINpad 1000SE system. Polish Post branches will be able to use eService and the VeriFone solution to deliver services including cash advance, mobile top-up, and electronic bill payment.

The initial rollout of the solution has started at Polish Post branches in Silesia. VeriFone is now partnering with eService to expand the solution to Polish Post regions nationwide, with further systems set to be installed in 2007.

eService is already providing this range of value-added services to agencies of PKO Bank Polski – the largest bank in Poland – via an installed base of VeriFone Vx 510 and PP1000SE PINpad systems.

The compact Vx 510 payment solution offers value-added applications, while reducing transaction time to just a few seconds and features include; a backlit display, easy-to-read menu prompts and an intuitive ATM style interface.

Read More

UPS system delivers savings; UPS has spent USD600 million to automate package sorting and cut time, miles and cost. For drivers, it's a real help.

Posted by | Dec 12, 2006 | |

When Rick Schetinski starts his United Parcel Service truck each morning, he no longer worries about overlooking packages during a rapid-fire delivery schedule averaging 17 stops per hour.

Thanks to a huge computer-automation project at the Maple Grove distribution center where his truck is loaded, Schetinski receives a list on his handheld computer of everything in his truck and where it’s going. “In years past, the truck was loaded but you didn’t know what was in it” or where it was, Schetinski said. “It would take you 20 minutes a couple of times a day to go through the truck to see what you had.”

UPS says the automation system – akin to putting the Dewey Decimal System in a library to replace random book piles – is a key to handling increasing package volume, up 8 percent this year, and coping with the increased volume of holiday deliveries. The Maple Grove distribution center, one of three serving the Twin Cities, expects a peak volume of 86,000 packages a day around Dec. 20, up from 59,000 packages a day the rest of the year.
Automating a fleet of delivery trucks is quite a feat considering that the back of a United Parcel Service truck resembles a cardboard-box jungle. Hundreds of boxes and envelopes crowd the floor and eight shelves in each truck, differentiated only by small labels that spell out their destinations.

Read More

Feature on the BBC’s ‘Watchdog’ programme

Posted by | Dec 12, 2006 | |

Spring Global Mail was featured on the BBC’s ‘Watchdog’ programme broadcast on 12 December 2006. The BBC were highly critical of Spring’s role in delivering what it considers to be ‘scam’ mailings from foreign companies to UK consumers. We feel that Spring was misrepresented in the programme and we are now considering what action to take in response.

The issue of deceptive or scam mailings is something we take very seriously and we have considered our policy on this matter carefully. This is summarised in the following statement:

“Spring Global Mail is a provider of international mail services. Whilst we are responsible for the delivery of the mail, we are not responsible for the content. This is the responsibility of the customers who send it.

We have a clear policy for dealing with deceptive mailings. If the ASA or OFT inform us that one of our customers has breached the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion or the Misleading Advertising legislation, we inform the customer and either request them to change the content in accordance with the advice received or, if the complaint is more serious, we terminate the customers’ contract and cease trading with them. This policy has resulted in the direct cancellation of 13 customer contracts and, we feel, clearly demonstrates our willingness to take action.”

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

Have you noticed a decrease of non-EU inbound parcel volumes since the implementation of the new €3 charge?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!


View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest