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DHL opens new logistics campus in Ludwigsau (Germany)

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

DHL Exel Supply Chain officially launched operations at its new logistics campus for the mail order sector in Ludwigsau built at a cost of around EUR 22 million. The new distribution center near Bad Hersfeld covers an area of 35,000 square meters to store and distribute goods delivered to the final customer in a so-called “two-man handling” service and employing some 70 staff members. The new facility is exclusively targeted at logistics processes for the long-distance retail sector.

Stefan Kurrle, CEO of DHL Exel Supply Chain in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland described the new project as a trend setter: “Mail order is strongly recovering. Especially e-commerce is a fast growing market in Germany and neighboring European countries. In establishing a logistics campus for the home delivery sector we can offer long distance retail traders tailored processes for managing their goods and delivering their products anywhere in Europe. Ludwigsau helps to bring Europe closer together.”

This building allows goods to be moved efficiently from the warehouse to the loading area.

The campus concept developed by DHL Exel Supply Chain bears a typical feature; the logistics location focuses on the needs of one particular sector of industry. This enables several customers operating in the sector to use the same local logistics services including warehousing, transport, and added value services. Streamlining logistics structures increases flexibility, creates synergies for customers and service operators, and helps to organize logistics processes on a more cost-effective basis. Customers also benefit from the innovative way in which buildings have been arranged at Ludwigsau; it allows goods to be moved efficiently from the warehouse to the loading area, whereas both internal and external space can be used with greatest possible operational efficiency.

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DHL Express ships a unique collection of Marilyn Monroe dresses to the UK

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

DHL Express has delivered seven original dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe from the US to the UK for the start of an international exhibition showcasing the work of costume designer William Travilla. These dresses, which include the iconic white dress worn in The Seven Year Itch, were shipped by DHL in an overnight delivery to the UK and are now being exhibited at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton from 2-7th October.

With more locations planned for the exhibition, DHL will be working closely with exhibition organizer Andrew Hansford to ensure the dresses continue safely on their world tour.

This exciting partnership is just one example of the solutions DHL offers for customers in the fashion sector. Thanks to its new B2C delivery service, DHL@Home, DHL has been able to help meet the needs of the growing numbers of online fashion retailers. The UK fashion industry is increasingly reaping the benefits of the internet to sell to customers but poor delivery services often let businesses down. DHL’s innovative delivery service uses a network of local couriers to deliver goods at a time to suit customers – enabling fashion retailers to offer quick and effective home delivery.

At the other end of the supply chain DHL is also involved right at the beginning of the design process, moving sample traffic around the world. The relocation of many factories to Eastern Europe and Asia has meant that fabric and design samples now need to be moved huge distances in very short timescales.

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Deutsche Bank signs postal banking deal in China

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Deutsche Bank recently announced a partnership with Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), the fifth largest bank in China by deposits, for the provision of payment clearing channels to manage US dollar clearing and remittances into China.

PSBC has more than 36,000 retail locations across China of which two-thirds are in rural areas. As one of the world’s top receivers of remittances, PSBC was looking for a banking partner to address the challenge of providing efficient and cost-effective remittances to beneficiaries across China’s extensive geography.

Deutsche is deploying Money Transfer New Architecture (MTNA), its proprietary global payment platform which is designed for large-scale remittance transactions and will manage US dollar and local remittances in a highly automated process.

“MTNA’s built-in features offer customization which includes sophisticated reference matching, party search engine, full transparency and online payment status, allowing PSBC to reap the benefits of expedited processing, increased transaction accuracy and cost effectiveness,” Deutsche said in a statement.

The partnership will enable PSBC to offer faster and simplified remittance cycles that, in turn, benefit retail customers. This also strengthens PSBC’s presence both locally and abroad.

John Ball, head of cash management for financial institutions in the Asia-Pacific at Deutsche, adds: “Working with Postal Savings Bank of China offered us the opportunity to demonstrate our state-of-the-art and innovative cash management solutions. It is also reflective of the bank’s commitment to Postal Savings Bank of China, supporting its growth plans and enhancing its competitiveness in capturing the burgeoning retail market for direct remittances. This is another milestone for the bank in the high-volume industry of postal banking.”

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Mauritius postal agency announces USD 1.75m profit

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The Mauritius postal agency Monday announced a total profits of USD 1.75 million for the financial year 2006/2007, after a loss of USD 9.6 million in 2005/2006.

Mauritius Post chairman Arnaud Godere described the performance as “remarkable”, adding it was due to the “implementation of a master plan for the period 2006/2009, and to reforms introduced the same year.”

“The good news is promising and encouraging. Our strategy based on diversification of postal and a non-postal products and services, management of expenditure as well as readjustment of prices from October 2006 has produced results which enabled us to reverse the trend,” he explained.

Godere is optimistic for the future and plans to increase profits in the next few years.

The Mauritius Post chairman said he was aware of “dangers” threatening his company, notably a decrease in international mail due to the Internet, growing competition from mail companies and the liberalization of postal services planned for 2009.

According to him, Mauritius Post should continue its diversification effort to increase the share of non-postal services in its activities from the current 15 per cent to 40 per cent.

It should also ensure strict management of its operating costs along with good governance and accountability, he said.

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Postal productivity targets need to be more aggressive

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The following is a perspective by PostCom Vice President Kate Muth for the PostCom Bulletin. The views expressed are solely the author’s. PostCom welcomes alternative views from responsible parties.

Most industry eyes were on the Postal Service’s bottom line last week when it released its Integrated Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2008. Industry scoured the plan and listened to commentary about it for any hint regarding the next rate increase. This is the first financial and operating plan designed to accommodate the way the Postal Service will operate under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).

Observers were anxious to see how much volume and revenue growth the Postal Service projects in FY 2008 and where it sees its costs are headed. PostCom members are eager to see a comprehensive revenue-generation plan from the Postal Service. Many would also like to see the USPS’ productivity growth increase significantly. It’s true that the Postal Service can’t rely only on cost-cutting to achieve prosperity, but it can boost its productivity target.

The Postal Service has set as its total factor productivity (TFP) target for FY 2008 a growth of 1 percent. This would mark the ninth straight year of productivity growth for the organization. In its FY 2007 integrated financial plan, released last year at this time, the Postal Service set as its total factor productivity goal an increase of only 0.6 pct. Its final number for FY 2007 should surpass that target, which is a good thing. But the target needs to be much higher.

The Postal Service’s performance of eight straight years of productivity growth is commendable. Indeed, given its history, eight straight years of growth is remarkable. The organization had struggled over the years to sustain productivity growth, seeing its TFP numbers jump one year, only to decline the next. From 2000 to 2006, the Postal Service had cumulative growth in TFP of 10.4 percent, an amount that surpassed the cumulative growth for the 30 years spanning 1970 to 1999 (cumulative growth of 9.3 percent).

But the challenge is greater as the Postal Service moves into the era of price-cap control on its prices. With its latitude to raise rates on its market-dominant products capped at inflation and volume increases remaining flat, the Postal Service will need to increase its productivity even more than it has in the past few years. It will have to set private-sector targets.

Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Glen Walker acknowledged that the Postal Service would have to increase its productivity as the organization moves under price-cap regulation. In a conversation with trade reporters after the September board meeting, Walker said TFP would have to move higher than current targets and certainly could not go down in a year. The Postal Service’s continued focus on work hours will be key to achieving productivity growth, he said.

A recent paper by Michael Schuyler from the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET) shows that the Postal Service’s TFP growth has been fairly similar to the private sector’s multi-factor productivity for the past six years. From 2000 to 2006, TFP grew on average 1.5 percent compared to a growth of 1.6 percent in multi-factor productivity for the private sector. But for the period 1975 to 2006, the Postal Service’s average productivity growth has been half of the private sector’s increase. See the full paper at http://iret.org/pub/ADVS-229.PDF.

Productivity is not a new topic in the postal world. It was a hot topic in the mid 1990s, when the Postal Service saw sizable decreases in TFP. But with the solid improvement over the past eight years, it has fallen off the radar screen a bit. Still, some in private industry have been quietly urging the Postal Service to step up its efforts and raise its goals.

The Postal Service faces competition and a price cap. It needs strong productivity to thwart both. I doubt anyone is suggesti

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Air France cargo network live on Unisys-operated CPS

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The Air France cargo network is now available through the Unisys-operated Cargo Portal Services (CPS), the electronic booking & shipment management service for the air cargo industry.

Freight forwarders around the world are now able to take advantage of the extensive Air France Cargo – KLM Cargo route network when booking and managing shipments.

“This development builds on KLM Cargo’s success with CPS over the last four years,” said Michael Wisbrun, president of Air France Cargo – KLM Cargo, adding that as a merged company, it was natural to extend CPS coverage for all clients through the combined AF-KLM Cargo network.

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Greater focus needed on creating a sustainable and viable UK post office network

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Network needs a clear vision with a mix of products and services to attract and retain users
Post Office must capitalise on its brand strength and build more commercial partnerships
Research shows that mail is a unique selling point and potential growth area for post offices

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has called on the Government and Post Office Ltd to ensure that the sustainability of a viable post office network is their top priority once the current closure program is completed.

Postcomm does not regulate post offices but it does monitor and research developments in the network and provides independent advice to the Government. This is in the form of an annual report which is published today – entitled “A sustainable customer focused network” – along with supporting research on “Access to postal services”.

Among its recommendations, the regulator has identified that the network will need:

– a clear vision and a combination of commercial products and services that can attract and retain new customers – for example, Post Office Ltd has run trials with Argos, where customers were able to collect online purchases from their local post office, and is working on other propositions;
– more links with commercial partners who recognize and can benefit from Post Office Ltd’s brand strength – for example, its joint venture with Bank of Ireland to sell financial services which is attracting 50,000 new customers every month;
– stronger links with communities to identify ways in which they can work with Post Office Ltd and the Government to help sustain the provision of local postal services.

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Royal Mail Statement

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Royal Mail said that it was disappointed and extremely concerned that intensive talks with the Communications Workers Union have not resolved the issues between us and that they have called for further strike action next week.

Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier said: “Over the last 8 days, and 30 hours of talks over the weekend alone, we have worked with the TUC and their General Secretary, Brendan Barber, and have been totally committed to finding a solution within the amount we can afford.

Royal Mail will be writing to the CWU later this week clearly setting out our position, and we remain available for talks.

Royal Mail also confirmed that during the latest strike action by the CWU the drift back to work among their members continues with more than half the typical daily mailbag being processed as usual.

We would like to thank all of our people who are supporting us during the dispute and doing all they can to keep the postal service moving and deliver the mail to our customers. We apologize to customers for any delay and inconvenience caused by the CWU’s strike action.

Royal Mail is also pleased that we have concluded a deal in principle with Unite/CMA, which represents 12,000 of our managers, over pay, modernization and pension reform. The agreement with Unite, like the pay deals already agreed with our people in Parcelforce and with our national network of sub postmasters, was reached without recourse to any industrial action.

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