Author: Archive

New U.S Postal Regulatory Commission Chairman issues message

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

The Postal Regulatory Commission is hoping to expedite its reconsideration of certain rates based on the U.S. Postal Service Governors’ rate decision announced March 19.

This was a key message from Dan Blair, the new chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, who spoke at the annual Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers’ early morning breakfast at the National Postal Forum.

“The [USPS] will be filing a document outlining possible proposals for how they would like us to look at [the reconsidered rates], and from there we will establish a process,” Mr. Blair said. “We expect that to happen soon — even this week. This will be intended to make the process move quickly and efficiently so we can get back to what is on our plate, which is establishing a new system.”

The USPS Governors approved the PRC’s proposed 7.6 percent rate average increase and set May 14 as the date for the implementation of these changes.
However, the Governors requested reconsideration of the PRC’s rate recommendations for Standard mail flats, the Non-Machinable Surcharge for First-Class mail letters and the Priority Mail Flat-Rate Box.

Mailers, specifically catalogers, are anxious to hear the schedule, especially since they were hit with 20 percent to 40 percent rate increases. Catalogers are hoping the PRC lowers the rate and that the change takes place before the May 14 implementation date.

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TNT buys remaining stake in CendrisBSC

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

TNT NV said its TNT Post unit bought the remaining 49 pct interest in CendrisBSC Customer Contact BV from its joint venture partner, Dutch utility company Essent.

No financial details were disclosed.

Cendris BSC focuses on call center activities, including customer service, helpdesks and telemarketing for businesses and consumers. CendrisBSC operates nine centres in the Netherlands and one in Germany, employing some 3,400 people.

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Land of the Rising Hubs

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

Changi Airports International still runs Singapore”s international airport, but these days it is pushing aggressively into other Asian markets. The wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore”s Civil Aviation Authority announced in late February it had formed a partnership with Indian conglomerate Tata Group to bid jointly for airport projects in India.

The agreement came just weeks after Changi announced it would spend USD138 million to acquire a 29 percent position in China”s Nanjing Lukou International Airport.

Hong Kong International Airport has already moved into Mainland China taking on the management of Zhuhai Airport under a 20-year agreement.

HKIA formed another joint venture in China in mid-December, this time with Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

Attracted by an ambitious expansion program led by the government, and by the flood of related businesses moving into China, foreign capital and management expertise is also pouring into China”s airport operations.

China shows no signs of running out of expansion opportunities for foreign airports any time soon. The country”s dizzying growth in air traffic has the authorities scrambling in a race to avoid paralysis. By last June, 18 of China”s 142 commercial airports had reached capacity, and another 29 stood to reach their cargo limits by 2010, the Civil Aviation Administration of China warned.

Aiming to push the number of commercial airports in China to 186 by 2010, authorities in Beijing have earmarked more than USD17.5 billion for modernization and construction of airports over the next four years.

FedEx Express is developing a USD150 million hub at Guangzho airport, which is slated to become the integrator”s largest hub outside the United States. FedEx is building an 880,000-square-foot facility sitting on 156 acres with a capacity to handle up to 24,000 packages in an hour. DHL, which expanded its express facilities at several Chinese airports last year, has pledged to set up an operations center at Baiyun.

On the freight side, the biggest push for the airport likely will come from China Southern Airlines, which is based in Guangzhou.

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TNT to take over call centre group

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

TNT Post is taking over the call centre company Cendris BSC by buying out joint owner Essent Retail’s 49% stake. Financial details were not disclosed. Cendris BSC has nine operations in the Netherlands and one in Germany, with a total workforce of 3,400.

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IBM Study: Multinational Companies Must Develop New Strategies to Tap China's Mass Markets

Posted by | Mar 28, 2007 | |

IBM announced the findings of a new study which concludes that in order for multinational companies to succeed in China they will need to develop strategies that focus more on China’s mass markets, and increasingly less on top-tier cities where the competition is fierce and the market potential is maturing. The study defines “mass markets” as a combination of smaller, emerging cities with fast growth, such as Fuzhou and Hefei, that represent nearly 40 percent of China’s urban population (234 million), and the rapidly growing consumer segment with household incomes between U.S. USD3,000-USD6,000 annually.
According to the study these “emerging” cities contribute up to 43 percent of China’s Gross Domestic Product, and more than 80 percent of them have household income levels falling within the U.S. USD3,000-USD6,000 mass market range, compared to only 50 percent of larger top-tier cities. Furthermore the Gross Domestic Product of these emerging cities is growing significantly. For example, the top 10 emerging cities are growing at 28 percent per year compared to only 18 percent for the top 10 prosperous cities.
IBM’s Institute for Business Value, in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, surveyed senior-level executives at more than 180 multinational companies in China in four industries (electronics, automotive, consumer packaged goods and retail) for the study. Additionally, IBM interviewed 50 international and Chinese executives with front-line China operations experience, and segmented more than 650 cities in China into six tiers based on a number of key demographic and economic variables including population, average annual salary and per capita Gross Domestic Product. The study, titled “Winning in China’s Mass Markets: New Business Models, New Operations for Profitable Growth,” underscores the need for multinational companies to transform their business models and operations to tap China’s mass market opportunities and effectively compete with domestic firms which typically excel in this segment.

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USPS to build on USD 1.9 billion share of international shipping market

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service has launched a new Global Business group to help mailers expand their international reach through customized, flexible international shipping solutions — and increase the Postal Service’s USD 1.9 billion annual share of the international shipping market at the same time.

Paul Vogel, USPS Global Business Managing Director and Senior Vice President said the time is right for international expansion. In addition to extensive market analysis, the new team consulted with customers, integrators, consolidators and national posts around the world, and built the Global Business group to be responsive.

Vogel said the Postal Service will build on its domestic successes in work sharing, discounts and outsourcing and apply them to the international market.

The new Global Business team consolidates all postal international efforts into one unit — operations, transportation, finance, planning, information technology, account management and postal relations — making it easier for customers to work with the Postal Service for both inbound and outbound international shipping.

Last year the Postal Service collected, processed and delivered more than 793 million pieces of international mail, generating USD 1.9 billion in revenue.

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Postal Workers Get a Raw Deal

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

With the introduction of R2-D2 mailboxes and the directive to remove all clocks from Post Offices nationwide, the U.S. Postal Service has certainly provided some lighthearted news stories of late.
But there’s a much larger news item that’s been ignored — the Postal Service’s recent contract negotiations with its labor unions. These negotiations have an enormous impact on the financial health of the USD 73 billion government agency — as well as on rank-and-file postal workers.
It’s a shame that these negotiations fly under the media’s radar. By staying out of the headlines, union leaders have avoided scrutiny as they pursue an agenda devoted to preserving membership numbers first, a strategy which can run counter to the interests of both the current membership and the Postal Service itself.
Most USPS labor contracts now include guaranteed annual raises, either in the form of a traditional pay raise or a cost-of-living adjustment. The latest mail handlers’ contract stipulates an average annual raise of 1.1%, while the contract of the American Postal Workers Union, which represents clerks and support staff, includes two similarly small raises over the four-year life of the contract.
In addition, most contracts limit postal management’s labor flexibility, meaning that workers cannot be laid off, even if there’s nothing for them to do. This labor inflexibility also includes strict limits on the number of temporary workers, who tend not to be union members.
USPS management has generally obliged its unions’ demands without much of a fight. But despite the success of the postal unions in securing small but guaranteed raises, it’s actually the union leadership that benefits the most, while postal workers get a raw deal.

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Changes in management of Polish Post

Posted by | Mar 27, 2007 | |

Zbigniew Niezgoda resigned from his position as Polish Post’s General Director. Jerzy Polaczek, the Minister of Transport, accepted Mr Niezgoda’s resingation on 23rd March 2007, after consultating with Polish Post’s Board of Directors. The Minister of Transport thanked Mr Niezgoda for almost one and a half years of successful work.

Andrzej Polakowski, formerly Director at Polish Post, was appointed as the new Deputy General Director.

In addition to that, on 27th March 2007 Konrad Mirowski was instated as the Vice General Director of Polish Post.

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