Tag: Worldwide

RFID at China Post

Posted by | Dec 20, 2006 | |

Symbol Technologies has been involved in several major postal RFID programs around the world. At China Post, they have implemented UHF readers in 20 post offices in Shanghai. China Post, which ships 10 billion articles a year, wanted to trial RFID to:
Validate the use of UHF
Improve shipment tracking
Increase processing efficiency

It wanted to achieve a 99% read accuracy through this demonstrator project. Gen2 UHF tags are embedded in a robust plastic case but the EPC numbering system is not used – China Post use their own numbering system. Truck drivers were given handheld readers with fixed readers at the distribution/sorting centers. Concord Unity, the systems integrator, has reported so far a 99.4% performance rate when reading and encoding tags. The tags are attached to mail bags and are used to track letters sent by the express mail service. The system has resulted in several major paybacks so far – demonstrating that 33% more post could be processed in the same time as before; and ensuring delivery bags were sent to the correct location reducing errors and delays.

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UPU philately workshop reviews new concepts

Posted by | Dec 19, 2006 | |

The need for involving the youth in philatelic activities and adopting new technology for producing stamps were among the topics highlighted at a four-day UPU workshop on philately hosted by Emirates Post at the Emirates Post Training &Development Centre.

The workshop, in which 19 countries from the Arab Permanent Postal Commission (APPC) took part, introduced the participants to new trends in philately. Experts from the UPU, La Poste, Tunisia Post and the Slovak Post were among those who made presentations.

At a concluding ceremony, Mr. Mohamed Bahlul, Director of Philately, Tunisia, said the first UPU level workshop on philately in the region threw light on a host of important philatelic issues and this will help regional philatelic organizations to raise their standards.

Mr. Louis Virgile, Cultural and Commercial Director, La Poste, France, who presented a paper on personalized stamps, said the participants showed good knowledge of philatelic topics and stressed that more such workshops need to be conducted in the Middle East and Africa region to boost philately.

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John Beystehner to Retire as UPS’s Chief Operating Officer

Posted by | Dec 18, 2006 | |

UPS today announced the retirement of John J. Beystehner, the company’s chief operating officer, president of UPS Airlines and a member of the UPS Board of Directors.
The company also announced the election of Chief Financial Officer Scott Davis to the additional position of vice chairman, effective immediately. Davis currently is responsible for all activities related to accounting, auditing, finance, financial planning, taxes and treasury. He was elected to the UPS Board of Directors in February.
Beystehner, UPS’s chief operating officer since 2004 and one of three active employees on the company’s Board of Directors, will step down from both positions on Jan. 2, 2007. A successor to Beystehner as COO will be named at a later date.
Davis, 55, joined the company in 1986 when UPS acquired II Morrow, an Oregon technology firm that Davis served as CFO and then CEO. Beginning in 1991, Davis held positions of increasing responsibility as accounting manager and treasury manager. In 2000 he was named vice president of finance and then joined the UPS Management Committee when he assumed his current position in 2001.

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RFID adoption held up by vicious circle

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

Demand for passive radio frequency identification (RFID) labels, particularly UHF labels, is being stymied by a vicious circle of high unit costs that can only be reduced if production volumes increase.

According to a new study from ABI Research, the reason these core components of RFID tags have failed to achieve their expected potential is the relationship between prices, volumes and the business case for RFID.

In a classic vicious circle, production costs for UHF labels are still at levels tending to inhibit the high-volume deployments that would provide economies of scale.

“At current prices, many end-user companies in the retail supply chain struggle to determine a compelling business case for RFID,” said ABI Research analyst Robert Foppiani.

“Those companies that have high value, high risk goods are often able to find a business case to justify the investment in RFID passive labels at current prices.

“But many members of the value chain are operating on thin margins, and most are unwilling to drop prices any further until there is much greater volume.”

Foppiani added that label vendors are trying a variety of tactics to “wring every last cent” out of the cost of their products.

ABI Research’s report noted that a number of EPC Gen 2 RFID vendors are engaged in “loss-leader” activities, offering labels at unsustainable prices in an effort to gain market share.

“Eventually, some will drop out of the running or will find niche markets where their products can find a role. ABI Research believes that cost reduction tactics will not have a short-term effect on market volumes,” the study stated.

“The substantial price cuts seen in the past year were necessary to attract end users complying with mandates.

“Future vendor attempts at lowering production costs will make more sense as higher volumes are reached. Users will proceed cautiously case-by-case and volumes will rise slowly and steadily rather than dramatically.”

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Feature on the BBC’s ‘Watchdog’ programme

Posted by | Dec 12, 2006 | |

Spring Global Mail was featured on the BBC’s ‘Watchdog’ programme broadcast on 12 December 2006. The BBC were highly critical of Spring’s role in delivering what it considers to be ‘scam’ mailings from foreign companies to UK consumers. We feel that Spring was misrepresented in the programme and we are now considering what action to take in response.

The issue of deceptive or scam mailings is something we take very seriously and we have considered our policy on this matter carefully. This is summarised in the following statement:

“Spring Global Mail is a provider of international mail services. Whilst we are responsible for the delivery of the mail, we are not responsible for the content. This is the responsibility of the customers who send it.

We have a clear policy for dealing with deceptive mailings. If the ASA or OFT inform us that one of our customers has breached the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion or the Misleading Advertising legislation, we inform the customer and either request them to change the content in accordance with the advice received or, if the complaint is more serious, we terminate the customers’ contract and cease trading with them. This policy has resulted in the direct cancellation of 13 customer contracts and, we feel, clearly demonstrates our willingness to take action.”

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