Tag: Switzerland

UNITED STATES: Domain Name in the Works for Post Office

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

A new “dot-post” Internet address in the works aims to set apart the electronic services increasingly offered by postal agencies around the world.

Backers say restricting the “.post” domain name to postal agencies or groups that provide postal services would instill trust in Web sites using such names. By contrast, popular suffixes such as “.com” and “.org” are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Internet’s key oversight agency, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is trying to work out contract terms for the suffix with the U.N. Universal Postal Union. Approval could come as early as mid-February and implementation several months later.

“Dot-post is an extension of the innovation currently happening in the postal agencies,” said Paul Donohoe, the postal union””s eBusiness manager. “They are investigating services that are looking for alternative ways to add value to communications.”

Services unveiled or proposed around the world include electronic postmarks, online billing and payments and hybrid mail — when a digital document gets printed by the postal service and delivered as paper, or when physical mail gets scanned into an electronic document for delivery.

If the suffix is approved, the U.N. postal agency would assign domain names under it to individual national agencies, which could then distribute sub-domains to contractors and other service providers.

The U.N. agency also could assign names directly to mail-related industries, such as direct marketing and stamp collecting.

The postal union proposed “.post” in March 2004. ICANN gave it a tentative OK that October, but Donohoe said final approval has been delayed partly because of the structure of the U.N. agency — one requiring unique contract terms.

ICANN has said it may start a new round of applications later this year.

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Swiss Post integrates in-night express units into PostLogistics

Posted by | Feb 1, 2008 | |

Swiss Post has merged its two in-night express subsidiaries PostLogistics Innight AG and NES AG into its PostLogistics AG division in order to expand its offer within the growth markets of overnight express and maintenance logistics as well as in courier services.

Swiss Post has operated in the overnight express market through PostLogistics Innight AG since 1999. Last year’s buy of NES AG enabled it to strengthen its leading position in overnight express and maintenance logistics. The legal structure has now been simplified by merging both subsidiaries into PostLogistics AG.

Reto Baumgartner, a member of the Post Logistics’ management board, will be responsible for the in-night business as well as for courier services and systems solutions. He will also lead the further expansion of the product portfolio.

Post Logistics is the market leader for courier services, overnight express and maintenance logistics in Switzerland. In particular, the overnight express market is growing at an above-average rate due to the significant competitive advantages for customers. Shipments that are collected in the late afternoon are delivered during the same night until 6 a.m. at the latest throughout Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

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Latest ‘Future of Mail’ paper: “Mail Trends Update” by Fouad Nader (Adrenale Corp.) and Michael Lintell (Pitney Bowes)

Posted by | Feb 1, 2008 | |

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of press articles and statements from posts predicting that mail volumes would decline. New technologies and process innovations have been introduced, preoccupying researchers and managers in the postal and mailing industries with the impact of accelerating electronic substitution and changing customer behaviors. What are the actual trends that emerge from examining in detail the best information available from key countries? What historical perspectives, trends and emerging patterns may be useful in understanding how mail volumes may evolve in the future? The purpose of this paper is to provide further insight into the key trends identified and discussed in the previous Mail Trends Analyses by comprehensively examining the evolution of mail and analyzing postal volumes along key variables that influence mail demand. This paper builds on the considerable research that followed the original mail trends analysis and was documented in the Background Papers published at www.postinsight.pb.com for the project: “Electronic Substitution for Mail: Models and Results, Myth and Reality.” The paper also takes advantage of recent work in the study of the “Future of Mail”, also on postinsight.pb.com.

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Building cleaning and maintenance: Swiss Post prepares for market liberalization

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

Swiss Post has to prepare for planned full market liberalization. It therefore wants to transfer its cleaning and maintenance services, which are not part of its core business, into a separate company. The unit responsible – Service House – should thus be able to offer its services at standard market rates in future. The current collective employment contract (CEC) conditions mean that costs are considerably higher than market rates. Swiss Post intends to hold talks with the unions about possible solutions over the next few months.

Swiss Post wants to eliminate the competitive disadvantages prior to the deregulation planned by the Federal Council. This includes the cleaning and maintenance services, which are not part of its core business. One problem is the lack of flexibility in recruiting – compared with the competition – under the current Swiss Post CEC. The current CEC conditions mean that costs for cleaning at Service House are considerably higher than market rates.

Swiss Post wants to offer its employees opportunities and make the Service House unit competitive over the medium term. It therefore favours a solution within Swiss Post Group, as foreseen in the CEC and already implemented a number of times with the unions. This means outsourcing the business into a subsidiary. The collective employment agreement provided for in such cases will be adopted and industry-specific adjustments will be set out in a follow-up agreement. It should be noted that almost all European postal organizations have outsourced their cleaning and maintenance work to external companies. Swiss Post wants to hold talks with the unions in the next few months with the aim of agreeing further steps by mid-year.

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The International Organization for Standardization to work hand in hand with the UPU

Posted by | Jan 30, 2008 | |

Alan Bryden, Secretary General of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Edouard Dayan, Director General of the Universal Postal Union, concluded a cooperation agreement today aimed at strengthening the exchange of information for finalizing standards of mutual interest to the two organizations.

Closer cooperation in standardization work has become necessary in an increasingly specialized technological environment. Furthermore, liberalization and postal sector developments have led to the development of new standards to meet the needs of the sector and its customers for enhanced quality of service.

As postal operators diversify their activities, incorporate e-commerce into their parcel and logistics services and develop their financial services, they need to operate in a standardized environment.

As Edouard Dayan pointed out, “The UPU manages a three-dimensional network: physical, electronic and financial. We have already developed many standards for the processing of physical mail. We now need to focus on standards for electronic and financial services. The cooperation agreement with the ISO is intended to do just that.”

As a standards organization, the UPU has already developed nearly a hundred technical standards for the postal sector. The agreement will enable the UPU to better position itself on the world stage and help it to prepare and better disseminate postal standards, particularly for financial and electronic services, that are recognized internationally, not only by postal experts but also by standards experts in other activity sectors.

One feature of the agreement is the creation of a contact committee of six officials responsible for implementing the provisions of the agreement. Thus, the ISO and the UPU will each be able to incorporate in its own standards references to the other organization’s standards.

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