Author: Archive

Agreement on Royal Mail pay offer and modernisation and support for pension reform

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is pleased to announce that the Communications Workers Union has accepted the company’s offer on pay along with plans to modernise the company and reform the pension scheme.

Royal Mail has made a two year proposal which provides a stable base from which the company, its customers and our people can move forward. The CWU’s acceptance of the proposal means that Royal Mail can now go ahead with essential plans to modernise the business and make it more flexible, efficient and able to compete properly in the marketplace. It also secures support for the pension reform that is a major element in safeguarding the future of the business and our people’s jobs.

Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier said: “All along we have been clear that to become competitive we needed flexibility to modernise and we needed to reform our pension scheme because the costs were crippling the company. This deal, which is within the parameters we clearly set for pay this year, gives Royal Mail a fighting chance of success in the future.

The key points agreed today are:

• An increase of 5.4 pct on basic pay and weekday overtime from 1 October (equivalent to a cost of 2.5 pct in the financial year from April 2007 to March 2008).
• A one-off lump sum of GBP 175, from an existing employee “share of savings” scheme and so at no extra cost to Royal Mail.
• The flexibility we need to modernise our operations so that we can compete effectively against rivals who have already modernised and so have lower costs and prices than Royal Mail.

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Western Union Signs Up Postbank Uganda

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

Post Bank Uganda has joined the ranks of four other local banks in the country as a fully-fledged Western Union money transfer agent.

The bank that has over the last three years undergone a number of changes and expansion aimed at delivering more value to its customers will add 22 agent locations to Western Union’s existing network of over 160 Agent locations in Uganda.

Diamond Trust, Crane, Barclays and Centenary banks are the other financial institutions providing Western Union service in Uganda.

“The key of Western Union’s business is a comprehensive and extensive network that operates hand-in-hand with reliable partners through localised resources, such as banks, post offices and even some retailers,” a statement quoted Mr. Hikmet Ersek, the executive vice president and managing director Western Union for Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia as saying.

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DHL USA chosen as exclusive carrier for Chico's online and catalog business

Posted by | Oct 22, 2007 | |

DHL announced today it is has been chosen by fashion apparel retailer Chico’s FAS, Inc. as its direct-to-consumer delivery service provider. DHL will serve Chico’s online and catalog sales business, providing US domestic and international express services to support its retail distribution network.

Chico’s operates 965 women’s specialty stores, including stores in 48 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico operating under the Chico’s, White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates names.

Through the new agreement Chico’s and its related brands will use DHL@home business-to-residential service to deliver directly to their consumers nationwide. All shipments ordered by customers through online, catalog, or 800 number sales will be fulfilled at Chico’s Distribution Center in Winder, Ga., and transported to DHL locations nationwide – with the U.S. Postal Service handling the final mile delivery as part of the DHL@home service offering.

DHL will also be the express delivery provider for Chico’s international customers – many of whom are Americans living abroad who want access to the unique styles offered by Chico’s, White House | Black Market and Soma Intimates. These customers will now have access to Chico’s fashions wherever they live, in over 225 countries and territories served by DHL.

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DHL initiative makes it No. 1 courier in China

Posted by | Oct 21, 2007 | |

Since the 1990s, China’s international courier market has gradually been taken over by the four international giants — DHL, TNT, UPS and FedEx, which have been growing by more than 20 percent to 40 percent per annum. EMS, the courier service by China Post, has been declining by 4 percent year-on-year.

The domestic courier market has a lot of potential. According to World Trade Organization (WTO) requirements, the Chinese courier market had to be fully opened up to competition by the end of 2005. But in most regions, especially central cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, private courier companies command 80 percent of market share.

Today, if one calls the customer-service departments of FedEx, UPS, DHL and TNT to courier documents from Guangzhou or Shanghai to Beijing, UPS would respond that it only serves clients with whom it has contracts; FedEx, DHL and TNT would take the business, but the quote would be more than 100 RMB from FedEx and DHL; TNT emphasizes medium-to-high end clients and would actively persuade the customer to sign a long-term contract.

Furthermore, international giants hope to acquire domestic courier companies to quickly fill the gaps of their domestic coverage. But there are not many candidates for acquisition. Large private courier companies are mostly alliances of small franchisees. The headquarters have limited managerial control over franchisees, which fight for their regional turfs. If international giants acquire these franchisees, they have to inject a lot of capital and energy to remedy this situation.

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Deutsche Post expands outlet network for business customers

Posted by | Oct 21, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post today began testing special business mail drop-offs for letters and parcels at 38 locations. The company will be testing these additional posting offices for business customers at a total of 100 locations throughout Germany until late 2007. Since April, Deutsche Post has been conducting a pilot project with business mail drop-offs at five locations in Dortmund for those business customers who must otherwise make daily trips to retail outlets to post their items. Deutsche Post is thus responding to the desire expressed by this customer group for faster and easier handling of posting. The new drop-offs will also relieve some of the burden on retail outlets and further reduce waiting times at these locations.

The 100 new business mail drop-offs planned will augment the approximately 120 existing bulk mail acceptance offices throughout Germany which have for years now been accepting large quantities of letters and parcels from business customers. In June, Deutsche Post announced that it would be testing 600 new Postpoints to be opened by the end of the year with a focus on serving private customers. Starting in 2008, Deutsche Post will then be available for its customers at more than 13,700 locations in Germany. Added to this are the approximately 900 Packstations open for drop-off and pick-up of small packages and parcels around the clock. The number of these stations will grow to 2,400 by the end of 2009.

The pilot testing of the new drop-offs is part of the worldwide “First Choice” service campaign launched last year. As part of this campaign, the Group is seeking to become the first choice for all customers in search of a logistics service provider.

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Government to set up ATMs in post offices in India

Posted by | Oct 21, 2007 | |

In order to take economic development and technology to large masses of the country, government is contemplating to install especially designed Gramtells (rural ATMs) at post offices.

The suggestion to set up Gramtells at post offices formed part of the recommendations of the Steering Committee on Micro Finance and Poverty Alleviation, which is being considered by the Planing Commission for incorporation in the Eleventh Plan (2007-12).
Gramtellers are rural ATM machines developed by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. They operate by using smart cards and fingerprints in place of conventional personal identification numbers and magnetic cards.

“The post office network in the country should be used to deliver banking services, especially in the rural areas,” the Committee suggested.

They should further be encouraged to work as business facilitators and banking correspondents in accordance with Reserve Bank guidelines, it said.

The Common Service Centres (CSC), developed by the Information Technology Department to take electronic services to villages, may also be linked to post Offices to synergise the technology to handle financial products, the Steering Committee proposed.

It recommended that multi-purpose, unique ID-based smart card system should also be utilised for effective delivery of micro-credit.

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Lawsuit against UPS certified as class-action

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The suit was brought by former Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees who claim that UPS misled them into believing that the UPS Store model would be more profitable.

Atlanta-based UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc. in 2001 for about USD 192 million, and the majority of Mail Boxes stores changed their names to The UPS Store, while the UPS subsidiary that oversees the stores has retained the Mail Boxes Etc. name. It is based in San Diego.

All new U.S. franchisees after 2003 were branded The UPS Store.

The former Mail Boxes Etc. franchisees formed a group called the Platinum Shield Association in 2003 to pursue litigation in opposition to the UPS takeover.

Their suit, which was filed in April 2003, now has been certified as class-action by a California appeals court, according to a news release from the Platinum Shield Association.

The appeals court ruled that the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles was wrong in denying a motion to certify a class action in the case.

The plaintiffs are represented by Howard Spanier, a Malibu franchisee who is president of the association.

The suit seeks rescission of the conversion to the UPS store model and unspecified monetary damages, the release said.

Officials with UPS could not immediately be reached for comment.

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DHL Germany and RECARO sign partnership agreement

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The partnership marks a new approach to combined modular production and logistics.
DHL Exel Supply Chain and RECARO have signed an agreement concerning the modular manufacturing and logistics of car seats. The logistics expert DHL, part of the Deutsche Post World Net group and Recaro, the manufacturer of premium seat systems for the automotive industry, will enhance their future joint development, procurement, assembly, warehousing and transport of premium car seats. The respective agreement was signed mid-October during the 24th German Logistics Congress in Berlin.

The partnership between both companies marks a new approach to combined modular production and logistics. Under the new business model, RECARO will contribute its core competences in the areas of development, marketing and distribution of car seats, whilst DHL will not just be responsible for all logistical performances but also for the assembly of the seat systems as well as the international coverage using module center sites in the vicinity of the car manufacturers and OEMs. Future customers will benefit from significantly reduced delivery times despite the fact that the product range is large and varied, and will also benefit from low cost structures.

It is planned that, at a later date, further components and systems for the automotive industry are to be provided by the DHL module centers in order to increase the total benefit for car manufacturers. That way, DHL supports a trend, which should enhance the companies’ competitiveness in this highly competitive industry. Manufacturers and suppliers will increasingly be able to focus on their core competencies and to outsource production and logistics processes to experienced service providers. For some time, DHL has specialized in providing assembly services for the automotive industry, including the pre-assembly of door side panels for the Audi A4 and A6.

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