Liberalisation, privatisation and regulation of postal services in Europe – First international experiences in the run-up to new European regulations
Read MoreWhile Postcomm’s measures to simplify its licensing procedures to make it easier for smaller businesses to enter the postal market might be encouraging, is it enough to increase competition in, what many still consider, a monopolised market? Or is Postcomm simply going through the motions?
The independent regulator has amended its licensing procedures to include a reduction in application fees and the removal of the licence requirement on all licensees to have contractual arrangements in place. The move is designed to encourage smaller businesses to enter the market (precisionmarketing.co.uk).
Post-Switch’s senior marketing analyst Jonathan DeCarteret says: “Royal Mail continues to deliver 99 per cent of all mail, so by simplifying licensing and removing the obstacles for smaller operators, it is trying to attract competition and promote self regulation. All of which offers small and medium businesses greater choice and lower rates.”
But OnePost managing director Graham Cooper claims simplifying the licensing procedure alone will not be enough. He states: “This loosening of the requirements for those wishing to obtain a licence is a direct move by Postcomm to assist in further development of the market. Although there have been many enquiries from small businesses about entering the postal market, the numbers of licence holders remain at less than 20.”
He believes the review of the Postal Sector announced by Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (DBERR) at the end of last year is vital to the future of the direct marketing industry and sets out to assess the impact of liberalisation in the UK postal market.
Whether the move will attract new players into the market, remains to be seen, but anything that injects money into direct marketing can only be positive.
Read MoreBusiness Direct, the leading In-Night and Specialist innovative logistics solutions provider, is using its new high-speed, through-the-night, inbound Continental European air service for its new Client Jungheinrich.
Business Direct has signed a four year, valuable contract with Jungheinrich, to provide a seamless, flexible and cost effective Continental Europe – UK delivery solution.
Service Parts and materials can be ordered up to 14.30pm local UK time by Jungheinrich clients. These are then picked at Jungheinrich’s European Parts Distribution centre in Lahr in Southern Germany up until 17.00hrs local. Business Direct GmbH collects all the UK bound consignments directly from Lahr and then, utilising its dedicated ‘airbridge’ out of Frankfurt, ships these directly into Coventry Airport for arrival same evening.
Once the freight has arrived into the UK, Business Direct injects the consignments into its extensive UK depot and delivery network, guaranteeing that the product is available to Jungheinrich’s 500 strong service engineers’ team by 7 am next morning.
Business Direct also utilises a full track and trace capability which, linked in with Jungheinrich’s SAP system, has enabled a 95 pct first time availability parts pick together with a delivery accuracy in excess of 99 pct to the UK field service engineers. In addition, Jungheinrich has full visibility of every spare part ordered from the UK – from the point of order, via the warehouse through to the final customer delivery point.
Business Direct’s high-speed inbound Continental European air service has also enabled Jungheinrich to maximise the uptime of its equipment for all its UK customers.
Following a share holders meeting, called by the APC share holding depots. the entire board were required to resign and then stand again for re-election.
Three members of the old board, including Quentin Abel (MD) where re-elected. Nick Taylor and Vince Friery were not,and are replaced by Sid Zillah, and Jon Barber.
Read MoreCharles Graham, Chief Executive Officer DHL Aviation, and Carsten Spohr, CEO and Chairman of Lufthansa Cargo AG, today launched the new cargo carrier “AeroLogic” at an event in Frankfurt. DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo each have a 50 per cent stake in AeroLogic, which will be based in Leipzig/Schkeuditz at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
The AeroLogic logo will be emblazoned in grey and yellow on the fuselage of the Boeing 777-200LRFs with which the new airline will launch its operations next year.
Both managers are confident that the new venture will benefit from the continued growth in transcontinental traffic.
Alongside building up the fleet and route network, AeroLogic has recruited a new management team to strengthen the airline. The experienced team is headed up by joint Managing Directors Dr. Thomas Papke (formerly Lufthansa Cargo) and Thomas Pusch (formerly DHL Express) and consists of Josef Moser as Director of Flight Operations, Wolfgang John as Director of Human Resources, Christian Schmucker as Director of Maintenance and Boris Hueske as Director of Finance.
AeroLogic will launch operations in Leipzig at the start of the 2009 summer timetable.
Read MoreDubai Customs has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with a number of key supply chain partners — Dnata, Danzas AEI Emirates, Al Tayer Logistics, Gargash Enterprises and Emirates Sky Cargo — to use electronic commerce to achieve paperless trading.
The initiative allows importers and exporters to electronically perform 51 Customs transactions remotely, without having to visit the Customs’ centres.
The new electronic environment allows for monitoring and tracking shipments from departure from country of origin through all destinations on their way to Dubai, and through coordination with the major shipping companies that signed the MoUs.
Ram Menen, Emirates divisional senior vice president Cargo said: “As a leading advocate of electronic freight movement, we are delighted that such a progressive program has been initiated by Dubai Customs and the Government. Such an initiative, when fully implemented, will allow a more fluid flow of legitimate goods through the air and sea borders and eliminate potential bottlenecks.’
Read MoreIn response to increasing demand from global pharmaceutical companies that conduct clinical trials in India, World Courier will almost triple the capacity of its ISO-certified, GMP-compliant investigational storage facility in Bangalore during 2008. The expansion will be undertaken in two phases, with the first phase being completed by the end of January and the second phase set to get under way in April. The facility will remain open for business throughout the construction period.
The delivery of this expanded state-of-the-art temperature-controlled structure to the international research community follows ground-breaking 2004 patent legislation governing the molecular composition of new and existing drugs. Since then, the progressive legislation – combined with the country’s widely varied and densely populated demographics – has attracted growing numbers of the pharmaceutical community to a local clinical trial market that is expected to exceed USD 1.5 billion (U.S.) in investment by 2010.
World Courier currently maintains a network of seven investigational drug storage facilities worldwide, with installations in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Mexico City (Mexico), Lima (Peru), Moscow (Russia) and Bangalore (India). Five new global locations are planned to come online in strategic and developing markets during 2008, increasing World Courier’s network of temperature-controlled biopharm facilities to 12 worldwide.
Read MoreUPS and FedEx have expanded their air freight services, predominantly in Asia. Rival DHL, meanwhile, is facing calls for a retreat from the US.
FedEx is out to get a larger share of the intra-Asian air freight market. On January 10, the integrator launched an economy door-to-door service for shipments between 10 markets in the region as well as for exports from these areas to North America and Europe.
The new “International Economy” offering is a day-definite product with transit times that are typically one or two days longer than the FedEx’s premium service. On intra-Asian legs, this means usually two business days, whereas shipments to the US or major European centres take three to four business days on average.
At this point, the service is available in Australia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. In March, FedEx plans to extend it to Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Small to medium-sized companies are the main target group of the new offering. According to the integrator, the product addresses the needs of customers in Asia who look primarily for reliability and cost efficiency.
Individual packages must weigh 68 kilos or less, but there are no weight restrictions on multi-piece shipments. The service includes Customs clearance and a money-back guarantee.
UPS has overhauled its international air freight portfolio, with the emphasis on markets outside its US home turf. The new line-up, which features three products, is a move to integrate the company’s air freight services into a single portfolio along the lines of its express parcel set-up.
Rival DHL is facing a bigger challenge to get its house in order, according to major Wall Street firms. Over the past couple of months, Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley both released studies that characterised the express outfit’s foray into the US market as a loss-making disaster with no black figures in sight.
Read More
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.
