Author: Archive

UPS cancels superjumbo

Posted by | Mar 12, 2007 | |

UPS’s withdrawal as the last customer for the misbegotten Airbus freighter was all but inevitable for some time, but the breakup between the aircraft manufacturer and the world’s second-largest cargo airline marked an unusually messy end to a freighter purchase agreement.
The muddy ending was rivaled only by the A380 program itself, a project that has fallen far behind schedule.
Passenger airlines have been clamoring for penalty payments and freighter customers dropped their orders as Airbus has undergone a massive management overhaul in the aftermath.
Freighter cancellations by FedEx Express, which became the first in and the first out on the Airbus sales sheet for A380 freighters, Emirates and International Lease Finance Corp. had left UPS as the only cargo customer for the massive new aircraft.
UPS and Airbus seemingly had set the stage in late February for an amicable parting. They announced a redrawn purchase agreement that allowed either side to end the sale under a preset timetable.
But on Feb. 28, Airbus disclosed a restructuring plan in which it will lay off 10,000 employees. And a day later Airbus pulled its workers off the freighter assembly line to work on passenger versions of the plane, an action UPS officials did not learn about directly from the manufacturer.
UPS now is focused on adding the capacity the company believes it will need in the international arena in coming years.

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Wulf von Schimmelmann announces his resignation at Postbank and Deutsche Post

Posted by | Mar 12, 2007 | |

Wulf von Schimmelmann is exercising his contractual right to resign from his positions as Chairman of the Deutsche Postbank AG Management Board and as Management Board member at Deutsche Post AG as of June 30, 2007. The Executive Committees of Postbank and Deutsche Post deeply regret this move. They would like to express their thanks for the outstanding entrepreneurial contribution made by Schimmelmann in Postbank’s development as Germany’s leading retail bank and a successful DAX company.
The Executive Committees today resolved to propose Wolfgang Klein as the successor for both offices to the Supervisory Boards. To date, he has been the Postbank Board Member in the private customer segment responsible for products and mobile sales.
Under von Schimmelmann’s aegis, since 1999, Postbank has grown to become the largest retail bank in Germany with almost 15 million customers, has established a successful transaction banking arm, acquired DSL Bank and the BHW Group, integrated 850 Deutsche Post branches and has been listed in the DAX since 2006. Since its IPO in 2004, the price of Postbank shares has more than doubled.

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UK government and health sectors see significant growth in direct mail volumes

Posted by | Mar 12, 2007 | |

Government organisations sent a total 17.47 million mailings in the last quarter of 2006, up from 16.48 million in the same period in 2005, reported Royal Mail.

This strong result illustrates the importance of direct mail to the public sector for communicating important and often complex information and reflects the increase in winter campaigns providing advice on staying warm and healthy during the cold period.

Royal Mail also revealed a rise in the volume of direct mail sent to the 55 – 64 year old age group. In addition to being responsive to direct mail, this generation is also a particularly important target audience for government organisations when relaying information about pensions, benefits and health advice.

Other sectors that performed well include building societies with a year on year volume increase of 18.8 per cent to 15.92 million items. The charity sector also showed strong growth with a volume increase of 9.1 per cent to 132.27 million direct mail pieces.

Overall direct mail volumes during October to December 2006 experienced a slight fall with 958.69 million items sent compared with one billion mail pieces during the same period in 2005. This is a result of companies across all sectors improving their targeting to create even more relevant and personal offers for their customers and prospects.

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Disposal of surplus Royal Mail property agreed

Posted by | Mar 12, 2007 | |

Royal Mail announced a deal with Land Securities Trillium (LST), a Land Securities Group business, for the disposal of a portfolio of 285 surplus or partially-occupied premises. The deal, which followed a robust competitive process, is a key element in Royal Mail’s drive to increase efficiency and compete effectively in the UK postal market.

Some 108 of the properties are surplus to Royal Mail’s operations and LST will utilise its skills to refurbish these and seek new occupiers. Of the remaining 177 properties only part of the space is being used for operations and these will be leased back to Royal Mail for 15 years at a competitive rent. The properties comprise a total of 265K sq.m. in locations across the UK. This deal will have no impact on Royal Mail or Post Office® operations.

The net proceeds for the portfolio of assets and leasehold liabilities were in excess of GBP 70 million. This represents an excellent deal for Royal Mail that takes advantage of the strength of the UK real estate market to realise value whilst streamlining its operations by removing surplus space from the portfolio with a significant annual saving in costs.

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Royal Mail delivers apprenticeships in Scotland

Posted by | Mar 12, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is set to deliver 30 Apprenticeships in Scotland following receipt of funding from Scottish Enterprise.

The Apprenticeship, developed with Skills for Logistics, provides candidates with a Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ) Level 2 in Mail Services and is specifically aimed at employees dealing with the collection, delivery and processing of mail.

Royal Mail aims to use the Apprenticeship to:
Attract, develop and retain high-calibre postmen and women, and managers of the future.
Improve Key Performance Indicators such as increasing the organisations retention rate and decreasing absenteeism.
Develop business culture by increasing business-minded competence at the front line and improving workforce diversity in terms of age, gender and ethnicity.
Enhance relationships with the aim of encouraging more people to consider a career in Royal Mail and by becoming an employer of choice.

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USPS aims to save with independent carriers

Posted by | Mar 10, 2007 | |

Urban America will no longer be the exclusive enclave of letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service.
Looking to cut costs nationwide, the Postal Service will now award contracts to nonpostal employees for deliveries in large new housing tracts, usually located on the fringes of cities.
These independent contractors don’t get benefits. They drive their own cars. The only sign that they are associated with the Postal Service may be a badge at their waist or hanging from a lanyard around their neck.
First up for Fresno: Copper River Ranch, where Cynthia Majors last week began delivering to 50 addresses on the city’s northern fringes.
More contractors will soon follow, postal officials say.
It is the same in Clovis, where there are plans to start contract service in the next few months in new parts of the city.
The Postal Service has long used contract workers on rural routes, including those in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and scores of private businesses offer official postal services.
Postal officials say that in a competitive business environment, the move will save the agency money because the private contractors aren’t paid benefits and use their own vehicles, among other savings.
Officials said postal patrons will see no change in service levels. But the union that represents the letter carriers says handing over urban delivery routes that have historically been handled by Postal Service employees will mean a drop in quality.

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Postal deal saves public sector GBP 65.5m

Posted by | Mar 9, 2007 | |

The public sector has saved GBP 65.5 million in the past year through a postal deal with Royal Mail.
More than 2,200 public sector organisations have made savings through the arrangement, accounting for a total of GBP 431 million in business for Royal Mail in the current financial year. The National Audit Office ratified the figures earlier this week.

Government buying agency OGCbuying.solutions (OGCbs) initiated the deal, made last April, with support from the OGC. It was the first collaborative contract created with OGC involvement to deliver savings under the government’s procurement efficiency programme. It has since been followed by similar agreements for products such as departmental vehicles and IT hardware.

OGC began the project by conducting an assessment and feasibility study of the postal market. It then initiated the procurement process for a framework agreement in partnership with OGCbs, which manages the contract.

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Indian Postal Dept launches instant MO service

Posted by | Mar 9, 2007 | |

The Indian Postal Department has launched instant money order (IMO) service in the City after a successful trial on Thursday.
The new system offers twin benefits in that the fund transfer is faster and the upper limit of the amount has been raised manifold. The service has been initially started in two main post offices of the City – the GPO and town post office – and will soon be launched in 22 other post offices of the division, said department officials.
Under the new system, a person needs to fill up a form with details and addresses. Sums between Rs 1,000 and Rs 50,000 can be sent, and the charges range from Rs 150 to Rs 330. After collecting the cash, the post office issues a unique 16-digit IMO number known only to the sender. There are also 16 standardised messages that can be sent with the money.
At the other end, the recipient can furnish identification and collect the money either at his house or from a designated post office after filling up a form. This service is currently available in select cities of the country.

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