Tag: Republic of Ireland

Red letter day as An Post rings the changes

Posted by | Nov 14, 2007 | |

Changes in the An Post delivery system mean homeowners could be losing their familiar postman who arrives at the same time every day.

The post office is overhauling the way in which it delivers the post and has redesigned routes for greater efficiency.

It announced the changes yesterday as An Post got a financial boost with an EU ruling on the EUR 52m social welfare payments contract.

A spokeswoman for An Post said the delivery overhaul may result in people getting a different postman and their deliveries arriving at a different time in the day.

“There has been massive change in terms of population movement and development in these areas,” said the spokeswoman.

Technology

“All mail delivery routes are redesigned using logistical planning technology, which takes into account new residential and business developments, new roadways as well as customers’ mail volumes and the composition of that mail. The new routes also allow for easier division of work at times when staffing is limited.”

General secretary of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), Steve Fitzpatrick, said postmen were working through the problems that were being encountered with the changes.

An Post got its financial boost when the EU said the Government was allowed to award it the contract to pay out social welfare benefits. The contract is worth EUR 52m to the postal service this year.

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Survey reveals four-day wait for An Post to deliver

Posted by | Nov 12, 2007 | |

Ireland has one of the slowest postal services in Europe, with standard letters taking up to four days toarrive, Irish Examinerresearch reveals.

Over two months the Irish Examiner posted more than 100 letters from 10 city and rural locations. Only 73 pct came on time, indicating An Post is likely to break its promise of achieving a next-day delivery rate of 80 pct by the end of the year.

Since 2003, An Post’s next-day delivery rates have averaged about 72 pct of all mail, in breach of the 94 pct target set by the official postal watchdog ComReg.

Consumers’ Association of Ireland chief executive Dermott Jewell called for an overhaul of An Post.

“We are looking at a postal system in chaos and with Christmas on the way it’s An Post’s busiest time of year. This problem has got to be addressed by ComReg, who should either guarantee a service or a system of refunds,” he said.

In the Irish Examiner survey, a batch of 10 letters posted in Dublin all arrived the next day but another batch posted a month later took up to four days.

Letters posted from Co Offaly to Cork arrived the next day in one part of the city but took two days toarrive to other parts. Letters addressed in Irish took up to four days to reach Co Tipperary, yet one sent to England arrived sooner.

Yesterday An Post said performance figures for April to June showed next- day delivery rates had risen to 78 pct from 73 pct during the same months in 2006.

Head of communications Anna McHugh said: “We are fully committed to reaching our interim target of 80 pct next-day delivery this year and to achieving the target of 94 pct within three years.”

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Express Delivery under Pressure to Add More Value as Parcel Service Closes the Gap

Posted by | Oct 31, 2007 | |

Europe’s parcel and express delivery business is expected to continue to grow at a higher rate than in previous years due to an increase in business-to-consumer (B2C) traffic and strong international demand, according to new research by market analyst Datamonitor.

However, the research, “European Express Market Map 2008,” which covers 12 major European markets, says that although currently exhibiting a higher growth rate than parcel services, express services are going to have to demonstrate extra value as customer demand is shifting to using cheaper yet reliable parcel services in key growth areas of international and business-to-consumer (B2C) delivery services.

“Over the next five years, the B2C and C2C (consumer-to-consumer) sectors will experience faster growth than B2B (business-to-business), due to increased e-commerce activity, especially in less mature home delivery markets such as Italy and Spain,” said Erik van Baaren, Datamonitor express analyst and author of the study.

International services are also growing at a higher rate primarily due to the enlargement of the European Union and the trend to centralize operations to fewer countries and outsource manufacturing to low-cost countries, according to van Baaren.

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Minister for Transport inaugurates DHL's state-of-the-art hub

Posted by | Oct 31, 2007 | |

DHL Express officially opened its new purpose-built hub today near Dublin Airport. Minister for Transport, Mr. Noel Dempsey T.D., officiated at the opening of the premises in Dublin Airport Logistics Park. The new hub is central to DHL’s strategic development plan for its business in Ireland. The facility will be the focal point for all DHL’s international air express, road express and domestic delivery services.

The purpose-built hub, which is located on a 13 acre site, utilises the latest state-of-the-art technology including a highly sophisticated automated sortation system which contains over 700 meters of conveyors and is capable of handling up to 7,000 parcels per hour. The system automatically routes national and international shipments to one of 118 pick-up and delivery doors, 24 cross-dock doors and 30 line-haul doors for distribution via the DHL national and international networks. Shipments for delivery to more than 220 countries serviced by DHL are consolidated on airline containers to connect with DHL’s A300 airbus cargo aircraft nightly service from Dublin airport.

Bernard McCarthy, Director & General Manager of DHL Express in Ireland, said at today’s official opening, “The completion of the new hub is a significant milestone for DHL Express in Ireland and reinforces our commitment to invest in our infrastructure and to further improve the services we offer to Irish businesses. The new facility is the centrepiece of our operational network in Ireland and will ensure that we are well positioned to meet the growing needs of our customers throughout the country.”

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IPC leads environmental sustainability initiative

Posted by | Oct 19, 2007 | |

The International Post Corporation (IPC) announced today at its bi-annual Board meeting in New York City, its plans to develop a three-tier program to address environmental sustainability among its member posts. The program will focus on developing common sector-wide definitions and measurement systems; conducting stakeholder research and communicating sector-wide advances in environmental sustainability throughout the postal industry.

“Climate change is no longer an issue of debate,” said Jean-Paul Bailly, chairman and CEO of Groupe La Poste in France and chairman of the IPC Board. “Two prominent areas for concern to postal operators and our industry stakeholders are the operation of extensive road and air transport networks and issues related to direct mail, a strategically critical business for posts.”

Mr. Bailly added, “Because of the sector-wide urgency of the issue, the IPC Board will devote its annual conference this May to develop a common environmental sustainability initiative and map the way forward for the postal industry.” The conference, Leadership through Sustainable Development: Postal Industry Challenges and Opportunities will take place on 29 and 30 May, 2008 in La Chapelle en Serval, France. CEOs representing 24 member postal organizations and several selected CEOs from both inside and outside the industry are expected to attend.

Last month, IPC conducted a members’ forum on the subject of environmental sustainability, where it was decided that IPC should take a leadership role in providing the platforms for members to come together to define the way forward for the sector.

IPC has been a leader in providing postal delivery measurement systems for nearly 20 years, we are the natural partner for the postal industry and it makes sense that we are the organization to develop a common system for environmental measurement and research among the posts,” said Herbert-Michael Zapf, CEO and president, IPC.

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