Tag: North America

USPS Launches Intelligent Mail in September

Posted by | Sep 12, 2006 | |

After years of planning, the Postal Service is ready to launch a new service, Intelligent Mail, on September 1. This move marks one of the biggest changes in postal technology since the introduction of the original postal barcodes in 1989.

Intelligent Mail is built around a new barcode, the 4-state barcode, now referred to as OneCode by USPS. Current postnet and PLANET barcodes are 2-state barcodes, the two states referring to tall and short bars. OneCode barcodes have four different bars – a tall bar and three different short bars. The important thing about all these bars is that they allow for a lot more digits, The OneCode gives you 20 more digits to use than the 2-state barcode, and few digits make a big difference.
Mail is an important medium, one that inspires trust and helps build brand and product awareness. Relative to other media, it is inexpensive and flexible. Direct mail remains a growing medium because of its inherent advantages as well as external events, such as “do not call” legislation, pushing direct marketers toward print communications.

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Postal overhaul languishing despite compromise offer

Posted by | Sep 11, 2006 | |

Progress on legislation to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service, a project that is now 12 years in the making, continues to shuffle along slowly as House and Senate negotiators mull a recently proposed compromise measure.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, sent the proposal to House negotiators just before the August recess. It essentially mirrors the Senate-approved bill and is the result of talks between the Senate committee and House Government Reform committee staffs.

Members from both chambers have worked to smooth out differences between their bills while also attempting to write an agreement that would meet White House approval. The Collins proposal upholds the Senate’s stricter rate cap provision, requiring that postal rate increases not exceed the rate of inflation.

An exit clause that would allow the agency to break that rate cap only in times of major emergencies is included in the conference agreement proposal. Both the strict rate cap and exit clause provisions are favored by mass mailers, who want a bill that ensures the lowest possible prices, but are opposed by unions seeking more flexibility in rate setting.

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US FedEx way past 'go' with latest Monopoly

Posted by | Sep 8, 2006 | |

Talk about a game face.

The 71-year-old Monopoly board has its new one on. And with a page from its 2003 Harry Potter delivery triumph, FedEx Corp. will have 164,000 copies of “Monopoly: Here & Now” in 7,200 stores Wednesday for the long-anticipated unveiling Thursday.

“This is the first time in history we’ve had an on-shelf date for a game,” said Pat Riso, spokeswoman at Hasbro.

The board, designed this summer with the input of 3.6 million online voters, is shrouded in so much secrecy, the games are being shipped in black plastic with strict orders that it not be removed until the games are on store shelves.

In the world of the supply chain, the project is a perfect example of just-in-time logistics.

FedEx is shipping the order entirely through its ground network, the same crew that got 250,000 Internet orders of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” to homes for Saturday delivery on June 21, 2003.

It will take about 5,500 employees and contractors. On delivery day, more than 5,000 FedEx Ground drivers will have the Monopoly games in the back of their trucks.

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UPS Technology making it simple to “see” around the world

Posted by | Sep 6, 2006 | |

Modern business can’t function without knowing where everything is, and that task just got a little easier.

UPS today announced several enhancements to the virtual side of its network to give customers an integrated view of the progress of their shipments, no matter what mode of travel. The changes are a result of the company integrating acquisitions to expand the geographic reach and shipping options for its customers.

One of the more visible improvements, to be unveiled later this month, will be a single Web page on ups.com where customers can track air freight, ocean freight and ground freight in addition to small package shipments. Customers can use this new page to track freight and small package shipments using either a tracking number or a customer-created reference number, such as a purchase order number.

On the freight side, customers using Flex Global View® software, a powerful supply chain management tool, will have access to the tool directly from the new tracking page at ups.com. Flex Global View users will be able to send, from this page, proactive delivery and exception notifications for freight shipments as well as get detailed visibility into the customs clearance process.

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UPS opens Ontario Logistics Center

Posted by | Sep 6, 2006 | |

UPS today announced the opening of an 800,000-square-foot logistics campus in Burlington, Ontario, for UPS Supply Chain Solutions.
The second largest UPS logistics facility in North America, the Burlington complex was built at a cost of USD80 million (CAN) and takes its place in a growing strategic logistics network that includes campuses in Louisville, Ky.; Mira Loma, Calif.; Roermond, Netherlands, and Singapore.
The new multi-client campus expands UPS’s supply chain capabilities in Canada and links with UPS Canada’s transportation network of package and freight services. It will provide order fulfillment operations; critical parts deployment, and freight receiving and shipment preparation for multiple clients using sophisticated warehouse management, shipping and international technology platforms. UPS logistics campuses have been designed to leverage expertise and services to help customers better manage their supply chains, which typically results in cost reductions of 10 to 20 percent.

Located in Burlington with close proximity to key airports and highways, the facility serves as a gateway for Canadian businesses to reach any U.S. or global market.

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