Author: Archive

Norwegian postal service ranks poorly

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

A recent survey of European postal services showed that only 82.4 percent of first-class, so-called “A” letters mailed in Norway were delivered on time last year. The Norwegian postal service is supposed to deliver domestic first-class mail overnight.

Most other European postal services could report that more than 90 percent of first-class mail arrived on time.

Only Latvia and Germany had slower postal service than Norway. Twenty other countries had faster service.

Norwegian postal delivery has also gotten slower in recent years. Between 2001 and 2005, as much as 87 percent of A-post was delivered overnight.

A spokesman for Posten Norge admitted service wasn’t good enough in Norway. He claimed, though, that Norway’s large land area, isolated settlements and geography made mail delivery more difficult in Norway than elsewhere.

Postal rates just went up again, meanwhile. It now costs NOK 7 (about USD 1.10) to mail a domestic letter in Norway, nearly three times what it costs in, for example, the US.

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MPs warn competitive pressures threaten ability to cross-subsidise

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

Competitive pressures on Royal Mail are threatening its ability to cross-subsidise unprofitable activities, MPs will today warn, in a report highlighting concerns about the government’s plans for the loss-making Post Office network.

The trade and industry committee is likely to examine the impact of existing price controls on the state-owned postal operator, its chairman told the Financial Times. “There may well be a case for looking again at the regulatory regime,” Peter Luff said. His committee’s report cites a number of state contracts Royal Mail has lost to rivals since the postal market was opened fully to competition last year. Royal Mail’s loss of profits is “inevitably threatening the cross-subsidisation of its unprofitable elements, including the post office network”, the report states.

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UPS and U.S. Department of Commerce team up

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

United Parcel Service Inc. and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Commercial Service announced an initiative aimed at increasing exports from U.S.-based small and medium-sized businesses.

With the agreement, Atlanta-based UPS joins a pool of businesses the Commercial Service can call on to provide services to its clients, said Malcolm Berkley, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations manager for UPS.

The Commercial Service has more than 250 branches in 78 countries. Its employees provide market research, counseling and matchmaking assistance to businesses interested in exporting goods. It provided services to 69,000 U.S. businesses in 2006, Berkley said.

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U.S. Postal Service gives 10 companies Supplier Performance Awards

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

Postmaster General John E. Potter today recognized ten companies for their products and customer service in supplying the United States Postal Service with the equipment, materials, and services it needs to deliver products and services to the American public. The 2006 Supplier Performance Awards ceremony was held at Postal Service headquarters.

According to Susan Brownell, Vice President, Supply Management, in FY06 the Postal Service spent more than USD 15.4 billion for transportation, facilities, supplies, services, and equipment with a supplier base of more than 25,000.

The 2006 Supplier Performance Award winners are: Ecolab, Inc., Hewlett Packard Corporation, Honeywell International, Inc., ABB, Inc., IBM Corporation, U.S. Stamp & Sign, Cleanwise, Inc., Grainger, Auth-Florence Manufacturing Company, OfficeMax Government Solutions.

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Hong Kong base gives speed edge for EMC

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

EMC Corp, whose computer storage devices are used as part of telecommunications systems from mainland firms Huawei Technologies and ZTE, yesterday opened its Asia-Pacific logistics centre in Hong Kong.

The new operation, backed by DHL Exel Supply Chain, will help to speed up shipments for EMC’s mainland original equipment manufacturing partners and its other customers in the region.

The EMC Asia-Pacific and Japan Supply Chain and Logistics Centre in Tsuen Wan is under the management of DHL Exel Supply Chain, a unit of global express and logistics firm DHL.

Mr Yip said improving delivery cycles for EMC products was geared to meet the time needs of the company’s mainland OEM partners – including Huawei, ZTE and Inspur, formerly the Langchao Group.

Dell Computers develops co-branded EMC storage systems in Xiamen exclusively for the mainland.

EMC, which started commercial operations on the mainland in 1996, will expand its regional supply chain and logistics facility in the second half of this year.

According to research firm International Data Corp, the mainland continues to be the major contributor to the Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, in terms of storage hardware demand. External disk storage revenue on the mainland in the third quarter of last year reached USD168.6 million, which accounted for 33.2 per cent of the total market – worth USD507.7 million – in the region, excluding Japan.

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TNT appoints Onno Boots as South East Asia’s Regional Managing Director

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

TNT Express has appointed Onno Boots as South East Asia’s Regional Managing Director. In this function he will report directly to James McCormac, Chief Operating Officer of TNT Express. His appointment marks TNT’s continued commitment to South East Asia and plans for further expansion in the region.
Prior to his appointment, Onno served as Director of Global Account Management (Worldwide) in Amsterdam. He has served TNT for 18 years in the company’s divisional headquarters in the Netherlands. Onno will be based at the TNT Asia regional office in Singapore, with 2,771 employees across the region under his charge.

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Seoul to speed up business approval in Incheon airport FEZ

Posted by | Mar 6, 2007 | |

South Korea said Tuesday that it will revamp business authorization guidelines to help domestic and foreign companies invest more easily in the Incheon International Airport free economic zone (FEZ).

The airport FEZ is one of the free economic zones Asia’s third-largest economy is pushing to develop as part of efforts to become a business hub in Northeast Asia.

“The change, to go into effect in April, will make it easier to build logistics terminals at the airport zone,” the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said.

Once the overhaul takes effect, the approval process will be shortened to about six months from the current period of up to one year, it said.

The free economic region, located 40 kilometers west of Seoul, covers 34,141 acres and will be developed by 2010. It includes a bonded area where various taxes and customs duties are exempted. Seoul wants to build a large logistics center that can become a logistics hub in Northeast Asia.

The ministry said the revamp will make it easier for foreign companies such as DHL, the logistics unit of Germany’s Deutsche Post AG, to build a large air cargo terminal at Incheon and for local companies to set up operations in the area.

DHL said on Feb. 12 that it will invest USD75 million by 2020 to build a terminal that can handle 7 million tons of air cargo a year.

The airport zone is part of a larger FEZ covering the Songdo and Cheongna areas of the port city. According to a government plan, the regions will have a population of 2.6 million people and accommodate 7,600 companies.

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