Tag: Track and Trace

Tiny gadget delivers a letter’s route (U.S)

Posted by | May 5, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal Service commissioned Burlingame-based TrackingTheWorld to create the world’s first letter-tracking GPS device that will ensure letters never again are lost in the postal Bermuda Triangle. Dubbed the Letter Logger, the device stores GPS coordinates throughout its journey and stores information on its micro-SD flash memory card so the post office can keep tabs on the letter’s location.

The Letter Logger weighs just two ounces and is 3.9-by-1.5 inches. It is placed inside a regular No. 10 envelope and can operate for two weeks. The recipient of the chip can then upload the GPS data onto their computer and see the envelope’s route on Google Earth.

The gadget was released in February, when it was named gadget of the month by Popular Science magazine. The product is only a quarter-inch thick and costs USD 6.75 apiece.

The USPS does employ a variety of tracking devices to its letters and packages and uses GPS to track vehicles, but it does not have a GPS system to track individual letters, spokesman James Wigdel said.

In addition to avoiding lost mail, the device will help the postal service, and delivery companies such as UPS and DHL, minimize the amount of time a letter is being sent, Daggett said.

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Mailers lax on Intelligent Mail barcode compliance

Posted by | May 2, 2008 | |

Despite efforts by the US Postal Service as well as some direct mail service companies such as Pitney Bowes, news about the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMB) may not be reaching the majority of mailers.

The IMB, developed by the USPS to encode routing and tracking information on mail, will eventually replace Postnet barcodes, which only contain the routing code. Postnet barcodes will be accepted on automation letters and flats until May of 2010, a full year after the standards relating to IMB go into effect; however, the barcode is going to require invest­ment and data cleansing that not every mailer is prepared for.

In addition, Pitney Bowes also launched a resource area on its postal information site, www.pbpostalinfo.com. Pitney Bowes — which refers to the barcode as among the “most significant postal changes in decades” on its site — has also hosted a series of webinars on the topic.

In preparation for the pending implemen­tation of the barcode, Lockard has been encouraging her customers to clean up their data. If data are not clean by the time the Intelligent Mail barcode is fully imple­mented, then there will be a real financial impact on businesses if their mail no longer qualifies for automation rates, she said.

In the short term, the Intelligent Mail barcode will be an expense, but in the long run, it will save mailers money and eliminate a lot of the waste that is going on with undeliverable mail. However, despite the barcode’s benefits, Lockard anticipated that “most people are going to wait until they absolutely have to do it.”

Only about one in 10 MCS customers understand the possibilities that the Intel­ligent Mail barcode can offer them, said Glenn Toole, VP of sales and marketing for MCS Inc., a manufacturer and seller of inkjet printer and other prepress hardware and software products. “It hasn’t been on the radar screen,” he said.

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RFID project likely to improve post services

Posted by | Apr 24, 2008 | |

The Radio Frequencies Identification (RFID) project, initiated by Q-Post along with other postal corps of the region is expected to improve the quality of services in the whole region, according to Yusuf Nasser al-Muzafer, director of administrative affairs at Q-Post.

Al Muzafer was addressing a meeting of the project group held at the GPO on Monday. The RFID, said to be the first of its kind in the region is an innovative postal project being implemented by Q-Post in association with Emirates Post and Saudi Arabian Postal Corp.

The project started on March 3, would be completed on June 7 and it aims to test the quality of service control through Radio Frequencies Identification. It will help Arab postal corps in using the global monitoring system to track mail via satellite, Qatar is the first Arab nation to participate as an observer in the UPU Quality Service Steering Committee and Q-Post official Catina Aghayan has been made a member of the committee.

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Royal Mail delivers changes (UK)

Posted by | Apr 24, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has reskilled half its IT department and retooled its 10-year outsourcing deal with supplier CSC to get a stronger focus on software development.

Central to the postal service’s GBP 1.2bn change agenda is the rollout of a Siemens-supplied automatic mail sorting system scheduled to go live at its mail centres and delivery offices in September.

The platform is the backbone of Royal Mail’s service overhaul, which will be followed by a number of customer-focused initiatives such as minute-by-minute parcel and letter-tracking, and projects aimed at internal optimisation, such as telemetry and scheduling of staff, trucks and aircraft.

To support the demand prompted by the service overhaul and the legacy systems yet to be replaced, chief information officer Robin Dargue launched a business capability review which shed almost half the 300-strong permanent IT workforce but created about 100 new core IT roles.

Royal Mail is five years into its 10-year outsourcing contract with CSC, which was reviewed late last year in relation to “monies Royal Mail wanted to pay for extra services and some services that were no longer required”.

Earlier this year, Computing revealed Royal Mail was tendering for up to GBP 40m-worth of consultancy contracts to support its outsourcing deal with CSC. The move was triggered by “simpler consultancy framework agreements”, expected to reduce project timelines.

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Pitney Bowes clients say Intelligent Mail Barcode gets top priority

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

By May 2009, the Intelligent Mail initiative is expected to become a critical element for USPS automation discounts. The Intelligent Mail Barcode will be required on all letters and flats in order to earn maximum postal discounts. As of May 2010, its predecessor, the POSTNET Barcode, is expected to no longer qualify for automation prices. Considerable discounts for the Intelligent Mail Barcode will likely encourage prompt migration to the new standard.

At a recent Pitney Bowes customer conference held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, high volume mailers indicated that Intelligent Mail Barcode implementation is at the top of the list for 2008 strategic planning.

Today, commercial mail envelopes contain a number of sections from which automated mail machines electronically read information. The new Intelligent Mail Barcode will combine all these encryptions into one barcode representing 31 digits. Each barcode can uniquely identify each mail piece while it is traveling through the mailstream.

The simplified and unified barcode will help speed delivery, leverage customer intelligence, continue to help deliver lower postal rates and will create efficiencies in presorting mail.

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