Tag: Mail Services

Post office closures in Scotland

Posted by | Jan 1, 2008 | |

Campaigners yesterday warned communities across Scotland will face a “devastating” blow in the New Year with the closure of hundreds of post offices.

Details of around 40 post offices likely to close in the Highlands and Islands will be announced on January 8, with the list of the 44 to be axed in Glasgow, Central Scotland and Argyll and Bute published the following day.

Announcements on further closures elsewhere in the country will be made throughout the year as part of the UK Government’s plans to shut 2500 post offices to help tackle rising losses.

Postal bosses insist “the status quo is not an option” and that the large-scale closures will guarantee the service’s long-term future.

But the decision was criticised yesterday by politicians and postal workers, who warned of the “devastating” effect it will have on local communities, especially those in rural areas.

Mike Weir, the SNP’s spokesman on business and postal affairs at Westminster, criticised the UK Government for giving communities only six weeks to fight the plans.

A spokesman for Postwatch said they believed the consultation period for the closure plans should be doubled from six to 12 weeks.

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Hand-held mobile scanning for Courier Express at SingPost

Posted by | Jan 1, 2008 | |

With the advent of wireless communications and internet, SingPost had to face expectations for faster and better service from its customers for express parcels.

Manual tracking of express parcels, with reduced accuracy and efficiency, more human resource involvement, and paper wastage, seemed so outdated.

SingPost which provides efficient and high quality domestic and international postal services in Singapore, recognized the problem. It became determined to meet and exceed the rising customer expectations. To do this, it had to do away with its existing system (in operation until 2004) whereby the old barcode readers were outmoded and the Internet service provider providing the public wireless network was decommissioned.

SingPost consulted with its information technology partner NCS Private Limited, over a period of six months, to define the project specifications and mapped out the entire process of the project.

Bring it up to the speed

After a series of stringent equipment definitions, preliminary research and testing, the task force identified that the Intermec 760 handheld mobiles were ideal for the barcode scanning function for its Speedpost operations, based on product reliability, customer service and technical support.

These devices were manufactured by Intermec, Inc., a firm which develops, manufactures and integrates technologies that identify, track and manage supply chain assets

The Intermec handheld mobiles were subjected to drop tests, splash tests, battery power consumption when using GPRS (general packet radio service) connections and field barcode scanning reliability.

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Swiss economic minister Leuthard wants postal services liberalised

Posted by | Dec 30, 2007 | |

Swiss economic minister Doris Leuthard said she wants to see the Swiss postal service liberalised.

In an interview with Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, the federal councillor of the department of economic affairs said it is ‘conceivable’ that Swiss Post could become a form of listed company, pointing out that Swisscom AG is today already a listed company.

She added that she would also not rule out the possibility of adopting the Austrian model of a partial privatisation of Swiss Post. A draft on post market reform is to be presented by the department of the environment, transport, energy and communications.

As to whether the federal government should reduce its stake in Swisscom to under 50 pct, Leuthard said the issue will be discussed by the federal council — or the Swiss cabinet — in the coming four years.

‘I think that the Federation should hold a blocking minority stake for strategic reasons,’ she added.

The federal council will also be discussing the issue of sovereign wealth funds in Swiss companies and whether measures are needed to regulate such events, she said. In terms of foreign investments, the council will seek to clarify which companies would be defined as having strategic importance.

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Mexico's Postal Service Aims For MXN 10 Billion in Revenue By 2012

Posted by | Dec 28, 2007 | |

Mexico’s postal service said Thursday it aims to be self-funding with annual revenue of more than 10 billion pesos (USD 923.9 million) by 2012 under a five-year modernization plan.

In a press release, the postal service, or Sepomex, said to reach that goal, it will increase the number of mail carriers to 30,000 and open about 500 new offices by the end of 2012.

Sepomex currently has about 20,000 employees, 1,370 offices and annual revenue of about USD 250 million.

As part of its modernization program, the postal service will implement a tracking system for packages and has reached an agreement with the postal employees union to improve productivity.

Most firms in Mexico use private package delivery companies because of reliability problems with the postal service.

Sepomex has only two major corporate customers – phone company Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) and Citigroup Inc.’s (C) local unit, Banamex.

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Vietnam Post office goes it alone from New Year’s Day

Posted by | Dec 28, 2007 | |

The Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunication Group (VNPT) has been split into posts and telecommunication divisions.

The long-prepared divide was formally approved on Wednesday and the Viet Nam Postal Corporation will be launched next Tuesday, January 1, 2008.

It will retain all of its fixed assets and manage State post offices throughout Vietnam.

The corporation will provide public welfare services to remote Vietnam and manage the national postal network, including domestic and international postal services, and press publications.

The VNPT will manage the national communications network as well as information and communication services.

The split is intended to enable a better management of postal and telecommunications services and help both to develop.

Viet Nam Postal Corporation general director Do Ngoc Binh said the corporation would try to expand its business and balance revenue and expenditure by 2010, and then gradually turn a profit.

Vietnam’s prime-minister-approved five-year Postal Development Master Plan provides for an increase of postal-service sites to 13,500 by the end of 2010.

The plan requires the Postal Corporate to ensure that all communes, including remote and highland, have daily newspaper deliveries.

But it will get State help for its public-welfare work.

Postal services provided VNPT with only 5 pct of its to total revenue.

The new corporation intends to expand providing pension payments, insurance services and the collection of electricity, telephone and water fees.

The Government is seeking both domestic and international investment for the development of its transmitting services.

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