POSTAL NEWS
No 35-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
1. PostNL and CB to collaborate via CB Healthcare partnership.April 30, 2020.3. Postal union disputes claimed decline in letter volumes.April 27, 2020.
4. Singpost:
delivering medicine to around 300 recipients every day. April 27, 2020.
5.
Royal Mail commits over £25 million to protecting
its people during the coronavirus crisis.April 24, 2020.
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1. PostNL and CB to collaborate via CB Healthcare partnership
April 30, 2020
The Hague, the Netherlands, 30 April 2020 – Logistics service provider
and PostNL today announced that PostNL intends to acquire a minority stake in
CB’s healthcare arm. In response to the growing market for healthcare
logistics, PostNL and CB are – through their new CB Healthcare partnership –
seeking to collaborate even more closely, supporting healthcare sector clients
with a wide range of logistics solutions, such as deliveries of wound care and
incontinence products to people’s homes and care institutions. The transaction
is expected to complete in July 2020.
More straightforward and patient-oriented
Senior citizens are living independently in
their own homes ever longer, and care is increasingly being provided remotely.
These changes call for a more straightforward and patient-friendly set-up of
logistics in the decades ahead. This partnership between CB and PostNL responds
to a growing societal need for direct deliveries of (preventive) care to the
elderly and patients in the home. In addition, both companies are seeing
growing demand for logistics support from hospitals and care institutions.
Personalised and at any time
Hans Willem Cortenraad, Managing Director at
CB, commented: “CB has been focusing on the healthcare market for a fair few
years now. We’re able to shorten logistics supply chains in healthcare while
adding personalised service, helping care providers to spend less time on
logistics and better facilitate consumer health requirements.
Our collaboration with PostNL will help us to
better respond to changes in the healthcare market and to scale up to meet the
increasing demand for products and services that can be personalised and
delivered at any time. By joining forces, we’ll both be smarter, faster and
more efficient in healthcare logistics.”
Improved logistics solutions
LiesbethKaashoek,
PostNL’s Parcels and Logistics Director, added: “PostNL and CB have been
partnering successfully for years, drawing on our granular, specialist network.
Care is increasingly provided in people’s home environment and we see a growing
demand for logistics services from our clients. By taking on the logistics end,
we help care professionals to focus on providing care. PostNL and CB share an
ambition to make the logistics process smarter and more tailored to the needs
of patients and care providers. By working closely together, we expect to be
able to accelerate the achievement of our plans.”
2. FedEx and BigCommerce offer deals to help bring retailers online
FedEx partnered with ecommerce platform
BigCommerce to help retail stores move online amid the coronavirus
outbreak. New BigCommerce customers will receive four months of
free service along with discounted FedEx shipping rates.
FedEx Vice President of Customer Engagement
Marketing Randy Scarborough said the two companies are collaborating to make it
easier for more businesses to “stay connected to commerce and deliver for their
customers.”
The FedEx Advantage Program gives current
small and medium businesses on BigCommerce access to FedEx ecommerce solutions,
including competitive shipping discounts.
FedEx said it also joined a new coalition of
over 40 companies in Stand for Small powered by American Express, and it said
it continues to explore additional opportunities to assist small businesses.
It pointed to several online resources where
it provides information and insights for small businesses:
· The FedEx Small Business COVID-19 Resources page has
information to help business owners navigate running a small company during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
· The
newly launched Tech Chat with Small Business page serves as a hub
where business owners can see what technology their peers are using to start
and scale their businesses. They can learn about different website platforms
and online tools and hear directly from businesses facing similar challenges.
· The FedEx Making it Work Podcast features guests and
entrepreneurs sharing their insights and conventional wisdom on the highs and
lows of running a business.
· The FedEx
E-Commerce Center offers tips including ecommerce shipping, fulfilling
orders and meeting expectations beyond delivery.
· The FedEx
Small Business Center provides shipping solutions, tools and insights
from entrepreneurs and experts.
· FedEx Office is keeping businesses moving forward and
offering ready-to-print COVID flyers and posters about CDC-recommended safety
measures and social distancing. Through May 31, 2020, customers can save up to
$30 off their print orders.
3. Postal union disputes claimed decline in letter volumes
April 27, 2020
Posties have cast doubt on their
chief executive Christine Holgate’s claim that the coronavirus pandemic has
halved letter volumes, saying the decline is closer to 15 per cent.
The Communication Workers Union,
which represents postal workers, will today hold a teleconference with
Australia Post management to seek verification on the fall in letter volumes
and gain more detail about how Ms Holgate plans to move 2000 posties from bikes
to vans to clear a backlog of parcels.
The CWU says it was blindsided by
the Morrison government last week granting Australia
Post a temporary suspension from
its community service obligations, which stipulates it must run a
five-day-a-week letter delivery service.
The suspension has allowed
Australia Post to deliver letters every second business day, instead of daily,
in metropolitan areas and to push out delivery times on interstate routes. The
postal service has also withdrawn its more expensive priority mail product and
says it can no
longer guarantee next day delivery for Express Post.
Ms Holgate argued the relief was
necessary, citing an 80 per cent spike in parcel deliveries in the past month
as social distancing fuels an online shopping bonanza. She said the postal
service had struggled from the grounding of most of Qantas’s passenger fleet,
which it relies on to deliver online shopping orders across the country, while
at the same time letter volumes had halved.
But Victorian CWU branch
secretary Leroy Lazaro said while letter volumes had declined during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the fall had not been as great as 50 per cent.
“From what we are hearing from
our members the letter volume has not dropped to the extent of what is being
said,” Mr Lazaro said, adding posties would know if their work had halved.
“I do understand that the UMS
(unaddressed mail), magazines and catalogues etc has dropped drastically
because of (companies) not having enough to advertise for and the fact that
many shops are closed.
“But in real letter volumes, in
which we talk about standard letters, I don’t think that has dropped to the
extent that Australia Post is making it out to be.
“More realistically it is around
the 14-15 per cent that those letter volumes have dropped.”
Letter writing has had a
resurgence in some parts of the community, with letter composition part of the
curriculum for home-schooling, while nursing homes have called on the young to
send letters to the elderly to help maintain social connections.
But mail sent between consumers
only accounts for 3 per cent of all letters sent, with business and government
comprising the bulk with items such as bills, bank statements and Medicare
information.
Mr Lazaro said the union was
surprised at Australia Post’s decision to axe the priority product, which makes
up 12 per cent of total letter volumes but costs 45 per cent more than a
standard letter and does not require the same level of sorting.
“Even though they may say priority
volumes are limited, it’s very profitable to Australia Post because it is
already done by the mailing houses and sent to Australia Post to run it once on
the machine to get it sequenced. The amount of processing needed by Australia
Post is limited.”
Mr Lazaro said the CWU had been
in regular discussions with Australia Post, particularly about ensuring posties
kept delivering mail. He said the union was not consulted about Ms Holgate’s
plan to redeploy 2000 posties from standard duties.
4. Singpost: delivering medicine to around 300 recipients every day
April 27, 2020
SingPost has been delivering medicine islandwide since the start of
the COVID-19 crisis and last week began cold-chain deliveries with overnight
storage in a cold room established in its regional e-commerce logistics hub.
When Covid-19 first
surfaced in Singapore, SingPost’s courier arm Speedpost offered to assist healthcare
institutions in delivering medicine to patients. This is the first time
SingPost has undertaken medical deliveries.
SingPost now delivers
medicine for the National University Hospital, as well as Geylang, Hougang and
Toa Payoh Polyclinics.
The medicine that was
delivered when the service started in February were not temperature-sensitive
and did not require chilling. SingPost then progressively set up its cold-chain
capabilities, which in essence meant a temperature-controlled supply chain.
SingPost set up a
cold room within its Regional e-commerce Logistics Hub, invested in
medical-grade cold-chain boxes as well as temperature loggers, and trained a
pool of our couriers on the processes required to undertake such deliveries.
This was achieved in less than a month.
Mr Ong Chin Kai,
Deputy Vice President of Post and Parcel Delivery, Singapore Post
said: “We offered to help healthcare institutions deliver medicine to
patients using our Speedpostislandwide courier network as we wanted to do our
part in the nationwide battle against Covid-19. Through these deliveries, it is our hope
that patients who might be understandably wary of visiting healthcare
institutions during this period – can have peace of mind, and frontline medical
workers can focus their efforts on emergencies as well as battling the
pandemic.
This delivery service has proven
especially useful for patients who require regular medication during the
current circuit breaker period, with the government urging people to stay at
home.”
5. Royal Mail commits over £25 million to protecting its people during the coronavirus crisis
April 24, 2020
Shane O’Riordain, Managing Director of Marketing, Regulation
and Corporate Affairs, Royal Mail said:
“We
have committed over £25 million to buying equipment such as hand sanitiser,
disposable gloves and other additional protective measures to keep our people
safe as they keep the UK connected during the ongoing lockdown.
“This
includes distributing half a million bottles of hand sanitiser through our
operation in recent weeks. As well as increasing supplies of hand sanitiser,
soap, cleaning equipment and disposable gloves, we have used this significant
cash sum to source face masks for those who want them.”
Changes to protect our people and our customers during the
coronavirus crisis
The
Universal Postal Service provides a lifeline to businesses and communities
everywhere during the coronavirus crisis. The delivery of parcels and letters
is a key way of keeping the country together and helping many people who may
not have the option to leave their homes. The UK Government has recognised
Royal Mail as having a key role to play in the national response to this
emergency.
Royal
Mail’s number one priority is keeping its people and customers safe. This
investment is the latest in a range of preventive measures the company has
taken to protect both its colleagues and its customers.
Royal
Mail was one of the first delivery companies to introduce contact free
delivery. Where an item won’t fit through a customer’s letterbox, the
postman or woman now places the item at the customer’s door, knocks, and steps
aside to a safe distance while the customer retrieves their item. We are also
temporarily not handing over hand-held devices to customers to capture
signatures. The vast majority of mail can be posted safely through the
letterbox without any interaction with the customer at all.
Royal
Mail has changed its standard ways of working to ensure that, wherever
possible, colleagues stay two metres apart. It has also implemented a new rule
so that only one person is in a Royal Mail delivery vehicle at any one time.
These new social distancing measures are aimed at offering further protection
for our colleagues and our customers. We continue to promote regular hand
washing with soap and water.
We
have also adopted enhanced disinfectant cleaning of communal areas in all Royal
Mail sites on a daily basis. Royal Mail continues to follow the preventive
guidance of global and domestic public health authorities.
Royal
Mail continues to engage with the Communication Workers Union and Unite/CMA on
a daily basis on this matter. We are pleased that at a local level and through
national officers we have been working together to find practical solutions to
the many issues that have emerged. We have a joint interest in protecting our
people.
Royal
Mail has also launched its ‘Thumbs Up’ campaign to remind customers to keep at
least two metres distance – more than the height of a postbox - from postmen
and postwomen when they are out delivering. This is in line with Government
guidance on social distancing.
POSTAL NEWS
No 36-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
|
1. Shop Floor
action, workers stepping up. April 30, 2020.
2. Confederation
approves Swiss Post financial statements.
April
29, 2020.
3. Posts' essential role delivering medical supplies
worldwide April 29, 2020.
4. UPS introduce smart warehouse technology. April 27, 2020.
5. Omniva cooperates with Bolt on home delivery of
parcels from Post Office. April 24, 2020.
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1. Shop Floor action, workers stepping up
April 30, 2020
Everywhere postal
workers are delivering under poor conditions. It’s been over 100 years since we
delivered during a pandemic. Yet, workers continue to defend themselves and
support health care workers. There is a lot more happening in locals than are
included here.
Members of the
Golden, B.C., local used their individual right to refuse work because the post
office was not properly cleaned. Everyone refused to go into a filthy
unsafe workplace. The matter is resolved for now. In order for CUPW members to
return to work, Canada Post arranged to have the facility thoroughly cleaned.
This pattern
repeats elsewhere. Operations often require extra convincing to do the right
thing. The “disgusting” Collingwood, Ontario, post office was unacceptably
filthy. “Clean it or we are leaving” was the message. That weekend, cleaners came
in. It was reported by one observer that it had suddenly become “the cleanest
post office” they had ever seen.
The Winnipeg local
continues to demonstrate visible support and gratitude for health care workers
and our public health care system. The Royal City, Windsor, Hamilton, Calgary,
Nova, Scarborough and Toronto Locals have done the same. In Newmarket, Ontario,
80 vehicles driven by local RSMCs and letter carriers drove by the hospital
while health workers came outside to greet them. In Montreal, visits continue
to the various hospitals in an ongoing show of support to ensure every hospital
worker feels support.
In the absence
of CPC providing masks to those that want them, a Winnipeg worker sewed masks
for co-workers. Workers who left non-perishable items for the food bank
received a mask. Food and toiletries went to Sunshine House.
The Niagara Local
organized and conducted an action in support of a retirement home and its
residents who have had a bad time with COVID 19. The members raised money through
donations and provided the retirement home residents and staff with coffee,
donuts, and flowers. The action received good coverage by the local news. The
organizers plan to donate to other homes in Niagara Falls each week.
All over the
country, health and safety committees are stepping up. We know in many cases
that shielding and social distancing took place when locals started making it
happen. The social stewards are playing such a vital, and thankless
unacknowledged role. They deserve our gratitude for helping people through
difficult times. Like all postal workers, rural workers and those working in
smaller bargaining units are making a real difference in the lives of people in
a crisis.
Political work for
the post office of the future continues. In Atlantic Canada, one member of the
Fredericton local appeared on a virtual panel seen by hundreds on Delivering
Community Power. There is still interest in this ecological and sustainable
postal vision from the public. There will be an opening to drive this
initiative after COVID-19 and we need to be active in this transition to create
a sustainable economy that serves communities and not billionaires.
We do not know of
every single action you have taken and likely miss many, but we do know that
this is a time of uncertainty requiring solidarity. Please send your story to
us.
Source :https://www.cupw.ca/en
2. Confederation approves Swiss Post financial statements
April 29, 2020
The General Meeting of Swiss Post has approved
the 2019 consolidated and annual financial statements. The dividend
distribution from Swiss Post to the Confederation amounts to 50 million francs
this year, which takes account of the transformation phase Swiss Post is
currently in.
As the sole shareholder of Swiss Post, the Confederation
approved all proposals made by the Board of Directors at yesterday’s General
Meeting. This included a dividend distribution of 50 million francs (dividend
for 2018: 200 million francs). The General Meeting approved the 2019
consolidated and annual financial statements, with operating income of 7,164
million francs and Group profit of 255 million francs. The General Meeting also
re-elected Ernst & Young Ltd as statutory auditors for the 2020 financial
year. The Confederation acknowledged that the upper limits for Board of
Directors fees and Executive Management salaries were respected in 2019 and
approved upper limits for these for the 2021 financial year.
As proposed, the General Meeting granted the Members of the
Board of Directors full discharge for the 2019 financial year. The restricted
discharges for the 2018 and 2017 financial years will remain in place. This is
due to the still pending administrative criminal proceedings relating to the
irregular reclassifications at PostBus, which are currently being conducted by
the Federal Office of Police (fedpol). From the perspective of Swiss Post, the
PostBus incidents were concluded in financial terms.
Swiss Post reserves the right to consider civil claims for
liability once the administrative criminal proceedings have concluded.
The Members of the Board of Directors were reappointed for two
years at last year’s General Meeting, meaning that no re-election process was
held this year. The by-election for board member and human resources
representative Michel Gobet, who passed away on 13 February 2020, will be held
at an Extraordinary General Meeting.
3. Posts' essential role delivering medical supplies worldwide
April 29, 2020
China Post has boosted its international air
freight capacity
Posts
around the world are playing an essential role in the delivery of medical
supplies in the fight against COVID-19. Worldwide, against a sharp reduction in
international transport options, EMS members are making huge efforts to remain
operational so they can deliver essential medical supplies in order to fulfil
their universal service mandate.
Many
EMS operators are looking at alternative transport channels for inbound and
outbound international mail so that they can continue to ship medical supplies which
are in heavy demand to affected areas around the world.
In
China, China Post is one of the main international operators authorized to ship
personal protection equipment (PPE) for personal use. To address the urgent
need to ship a backlog of medical supplies, China Post has taken multiple
measures to coordinate and guarantee the smooth transportation of international
deliveries. Mail processing centres have focused on epidemic prevention and
safe production of the international mail.
Responding
to the sharp reduction of international passenger flights, China Post has
boosted its international air capacity and set up additional transit stations.
It has increased communication with the Customs and other authorities to open
customs clearance passage to ensure rapid processing and timely delivery of
medical supplies.
EMS
is a global network and the cooperation of members can be seen during these
difficult times. This is perfectly shown by CorreoArgentino who have worked to
distribute 14 tons of medical supplies arriving from China to help health
workers and essential partners in the battle against the coronavirus in
Argentina.
On
a domestic level, Posts are supporting communities through the delivery of
prescriptions, personal protective equipment, Coronavirus testing kits and
public awareness leaflets. In Bangladesh, the postal service has launched
nationwide free delivery of medical equipment to help combat the threat of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst in the UK the Royal Mail is a key partner in the delivery
and return of coronavirus tests to frontline staff. Georgian Post has started
the home delivery of medications particularly to those who belong to the
highest risk groups. Sri Lanka Post is providing humanitarian support,
including the delivery of 400,000 life-saving medicines to the patients
throughout the country and PHLPOST staff are assisting local government units
in the delivery of supplies of frontline workers in the Philippines.
What
is clear is that the role of Posts at this time is essential. International
imports and exports must continue to ensure the communities around the world
receive vital medical supplies.
4. UPS introduce smart warehouse technology
April 27, 2020
UPS Supply Chain Solutions is implementing new warehouse
network technology designed to make its distribution centers smarter
and more efficient. The new Warehouse Execution System (WES) was developed
by Softeon and will enable faster order
intake and define specific customer requirements
resulting in more than 50% productivity gains for some customers.
“WES enables UPS to better leverage our global warehouse network
and integrated technology to help our customers reduce capital, improve service
and speed to end customers,” said Philippe Gilbert, president of Supply Chain
Solutions. “We also can create more custom and turnkey outsourced fulfillment
services to meet our customers’ unique supply chain needs.”
The WES’s real-time monitoring of capacity, fulfillment
requirements, backlogs, and labor status allow UPS to identify and
resolve potential disruptions before they arise. The WES
implementation is part of UPS’s ongoing efforts to modernize warehouse
operations via autonomous technology.
UPS is deploying Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) from Locus
Robotics, which receive instruction from the WES to pick up and transport goods
for order consolidation.
5. Omniva cooperates with Bolt on home delivery of parcels from Post Office
April 24, 2020
Omniva and Bolt
launched a pilot project to test parcel delivery using the ride-hailing
platform as couriers. The pilot project will run for two weeks, during which
Bolt will deliver parcels from Nurmenuku and Majaka parcel dispatch points in
Tallinn.
According to Omniva
management board member and head of parcel business Andre Veskimeister, the
company is actively looking for possibilities to deliver parcels to clients
under the state of emergency conditions. “We are testing a solution with Bolt
where a client can use Bolt to order home delivery of their parcel that has
arrived at the parcel dispatch point,” Veskimeister said. “We also hope that
the pilot project lets us experience how traditional parcel delivery could
function in collaboration with a modern ride-hailing platform.”
“In the current
difficult situation, we see that the postal service is overloaded,” Bolt CEO in
Estonia Aleksei Kolesnikov added. “We can help here using our wide network of
drivers and experience in providing transport services. We hope that the new
solution shortens queues and we also encourage everyone to give feedback so we
could improve the service even more.”
If the client’s
parcel can be delivered using Bolt, Omniva will send an additional SMS. The
link in the SMS leads to a special Bolt website where the client can order home
delivery of the parcel; it is possible to include several parcels from the post
office in one order. After order confirmation, Bolt sends the client a link via
which they can track the parcel and its estimated delivery time using a map
application.
Due to the state of
emergency decision of the Government Committee, 19 post offices located in
shopping centres were closed in Estonia, more than half of these in Tallinn.
All the parcels in these post offices were divided between the four open post
offices (Nurmenuku, Nõmme, Pallasti, Lasnamäe) and two parcel dispatch points
(Majaka, Pirita).
If possible, parcels
are directed to the nearest open post office; however, since the open post
offices are under excessive burden and all parcels in one area might not fit
into one post office, the parcels of some areas may end up in post offices
further away.
Cooperation with Bolt
lets the client have a parcel delivered to their doorstep from the further than
usual post office. In the pilot phase, the home delivery option is offered by
the post offices with the heaviest workloads – Nurmenuku post office and Majaka
parcel dispatch point.
Bolt service is
offered to the client in the parcel SMS if the issuing of the parcel does not
require additional activities such as payment of import or other taxes or
filling or returning a document, etc.
Source :https://www.omniva.ee/