The Swiss Postal Regulation Authority has given its seal of approval to the cabinet’s plans to open up the postal market. Post Reg says getting rid of Swiss Post’s monopoly will probably not result in cheaper services, but it says there will be some benefits. The Swiss government wants competitors to be allowed to deliver some letters from next April, with a complete market deregulation in three years’ time.
Read MoreCopenhagen Airports A/S announces that they have signed an agreement with FedEx Express to provide a purpose-build cargo facility, including office space in a partnership which will run through to at least 2023.
At approximately 1,600 square metres, the cargo facility will be tailored to suit the needs of FedEx Express and will have both airside and landside access. In addition, a 770 square-metre office building will be built for FedEx Express.
The contract between Copenhagen Airports A/S and FedEx Express highlights the Copenhagen Airports focus on customers, developing a tailored solution together with the customer, which will also deliver benefits for the airport in the longer term:
“By investing in projects that create value for our customers, we achieve a satisfied customer and a better product specially designed for the customer. In addition, we have better utilisation of the airport’s capacity in the longer term,” said Brian Petersen, CEO of Copenhagen Airports A/S.
“The new facility will boost our service to customers in and around Copenhagen, and will help facilitate Denmark’s growth in the global market” said David Canavan, Managing Director Northern Rim Operations. “Copenhagen is a strategic market for FedEx Express in Europe, and FedEx helps drive global trade by enabling Denmark’s’ businesses to quickly and reliably express deliver their shipments around the world” said Mr. Canavan.
It is expected that the new cargo facility and office building will be ready for use in the spring of 2009.
The 4.1 pct growth in cargo volumes in 2007 emphasised that Copenhagen Airport’s role as Scandinavia’s largest hub for cargo traffic. In 2007, 395,506 tonnes of cargo was handled at Copenhagen Airport, up from 380,024 tonnes a year earlier.
CORREOS has invested EUR 2.9 million to introduce Hewlett Packard virtualisation solutions facilitating the consolidation of its IT platform. This virtualisation reduces the number of servers needed, significantly improves their use and simplifies management.
The project envisages reducing 50 pct of the servers, as up to seven servers can be virtualised per physical machine.
CORREOS has chosen HP as the supplier to carry out this project. HP will be in charge of purchasing, installing and configuring the new hardware and software components to improve Windows application response times and safety. To this end, it has launched an operating system migration process to Windows 2003 and the SQL Server 2005 database, replacing Windows 2000 and SQL Server 2000.
With this system update, CORREOS improves its application performance and scalability (which allows productivity to be increased by leveraging the additional hardware), application availability and the safety of the different environments.
Likewise, the reduction in servers limits administration and operations costs and helps to free up physical installations which the postal operator can then use more efficiently. The consolidation and virtualisation software is also one of the most effective solutions for saving energy. Virtualisation solutions drastically reduce CO2 emissions, up to 80-90 pct, and energy consumption.
Read MoreGLS has started to use its network of 5,000 parcel shops in Germany as alternative delivery points when private customers are not at home to receive their shipments. The new service responds to the boom in online orders from e-commerce.
In case there are no neighbors available to receive a parcel during the absence of the recipient, the GLS driver leaves a delivery note at the recipient’s home, takes the parcel to the nearest GLS parcel shop, and transfers the delivery information into the GLS IT system immediately after dropping off the parcel.
The customer can check that the parcel has arrived in the shop by using the Track-ID to make an online query on the GLS website, or via SMS or phone. He or she can then pick up the shipment in the GLS parcel shop by showing the delivery note and an ID card. The shipment can be picked up from the parcel shop within nine days of its delivery there.
If none of the 5,000 parcel shops in Germany is located close to the recipient’s address, GLS makes a second delivery attempt to the home address.
GLS said the alternative delivery to parcel shops was tested in a regional pilot scheme and was widely accepted by customers. The first experiences in nationwide operations from April onwards were also positive. Hardly any parcel stays longer than two days in the parcel shop before being collected, according to GLS.
Read MoreIstanbul-based MNG Kargo Co Inc is a new GLS network partner in Turkey, carrying out national parcel distribution for all GLS companies since May. It will start feeding packages from Turkey into GLS’ pan-European network in July. The new partnership will reduce projected transit times for parcels from GLS’ European hub in Neuenstein (Germany) to Turkey by a day. MNG Kargo is the third-largest player in the Turkish CEP market, with 2,000 vehicles, 6,000 employees, 26 hubs, 600 branch offices and 1,150 mobile service stations, all of which enable it to serve even the most remote regions of the country.
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