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Postal agencies target parcel market to offsetmail decline
Postal agencies around the world are diversifying into areas such as parcels in response to the decline in globalmail volumes of nearly 50 billion pieces over the past three years, according to a study by Accenture. Achieving High Performance in the Postal
Industry: Accenture Research and Insights 2013 identifies two new trends for the industry: digital mail has not reinvigorated postal agencies as originally expected and private postal operators have becomemore aggressive, creating greater competition for postal agencies in both themail and parcel business. The survey which covered 24 national post
offices plus FedEx and UPS, also found that postal agencies, driven by continuing e-commerce growth, have grown their parcel delivery capabilities and diversified services tomove into logistics tomeet demand. This growth also is creatingmore opportunities for private carriers. Other findings included: Retail diversification:While some postal
operators are questioning how to leverage their retail outlets, high-performing posts are branching out beyond stationery, office supplies and greeting cards into convenience products that include bill payment centres, motor vehicle registration, passports and other government services.
Pricing and product innovation: Using
technology to add value to traditionalmail and taking advantage of pricing flexibility are having a positive impact on the industry, driving revenue growth an average of 1.5 per cent annually. Cross-border e-commerce: Posts are starting to
take advantage of this new trend, expanding beyond domestic delivery to surrounding countries and regions, and developing solutions for this newmarket Consumer focus: Postal agencies are creating
new services that focus on the recipient – and not the sender – ofmail, including narrower windows of delivery or the ability to redirect a parcel delivery to a new location. These services are giving consumersmore control over package deliveries and providing postal agencies with a new revenue source. “Despite a continued tumultuous business
climate, some postal organisations are thriving. They are launching new business lines, combining their products with new technology and radically changing their cost structures to be leaner and more agile. As these posts reinvent their business models, they are emerging as very different organisations that are well positioned for future growth,” said Brody Buhler, managing director for Accenture’s global postal industry practice.
Newdegree course for supply chain
TheNovusTrust is introducing a 4-year Logistics and Supply Chain BSc degree
course.The first studentswill start their degree in September 2013 atHuddersfield
University.The degreewas created to address the shortage of graduate talent in the supply chain and logistics industry. So far, 15 retailers,
manufacturers and logistics organisations have already signed up as
sponsors.The coursewill cover supply chainmanagement, finance, statistics, organisational structure andmethods, sociology, psychology, transport network design,warehouse design, inventorymanagement, supply chain IT andHRmanagement. The core degree coursewill also
include additional essential managerial craft skills such as leadership, peoplemanagement and communication. The trust is inviting companies
to join the list of sponsors. An initial joining fee of £5,000 aswell as a commitment to engagewith the scheme, paid placements in the holiday periods and third year and a commitment to provide at least one graduate job per year, commencing in September 2017,must bemade
Supply Chain Standard April 2013
by all sponsoring companies. Andy Kaye, chair of theNovus
Trust steering committee, said: “In creating a degree by the industry for the industry,Novus foundermemberswill be able to tailor the course content and selection criteria of graduates into their own business recruitment strategies. “Research is showing us that
the best graduate talent knows a company before they join and that themost sought after talent has been‘touched’ in someway by the company they accept an offer from.” Huddersfieldwas chosen
because of itswell known courses in transport and logistics. “The university is prepared towork closelywithNovus to deliver top quality graduateswith an alumni recognised globally as the very best,” said Kaye. “Logistics is no longer just
about trucks and sheds; it has matured into a sophisticated, intellectual and vibrant industry that is underpinned by technology.” After two years,Novus aims to
expand the degree out to other universities and accommodate 450 students per year.
News 09
Newversion for supply chain finance package
PrimeRevenue, the SaaS platform for supply chain finance has launched version 5.5 of its OpenSCi SCiSupplier platform. New features include
creation of an alert which informs suppliers of the potential of using the “Auto- Trade” feature. This allows suppliers to maximise the benefits of selling their receivables early by giving them a customisable view of the value that could be traded at the time auto advance runs each day. There is also a user interface to add currencies. Raghu Rajah, chief
technology officer, said: “Version 5.5 of SCiSupplier provides several valuable new options for our customers and increases the ease of use of the PrimeRevenue OpenSCiTM supply chain finance platform.
Newlogisticsmodel
A new logisticsmodel that could redefine national and regional freight and logistics strategies, has now completed its proof of concept. Agent Based Intelligent,
Integrated and Innovative Logistics (abi3
l ) is a £1.4m
research and development project part funded by the Technology Strategy Board. The project was launched at
the beginning of September 2010 with a dedicated team established at Cranfield School ofManagement's Complex Systems Research Centre. The consortiumis led byMDS Transmodal, author of the GB FreightModel currently used by the Department for Transport, in partnership with LCP Consulting, and Barloworld Supply Chain Software. Government policy calls for
investment in infrastructure to kick-start growth and the abi3
l
capability offers the chance to support evidence-based policy making across investment, regulation, fiscalmeasures and land use fronts. It has been piloted on a port
centric warehousing development onMerseyside
and has achieved several firsts:
The first integrated and
predictivemodel of the UK freight transport system
The first in terms of its scope and scale of application of this
covering road, rail and ports.
type ofmodelling.
The first time such a
comprehensive data set has been assembled relating to UK freight and logistics. TheMerseyside pilot study
showed that the location would attract a considerable expansion in logistics activity if more warehousing capacity was available. The results of the test were seen as credible, but themodelling and analysis is subject to some qualifications that will require further testing and experimentation. Alan Braithwaite, chairman of
LCP Consulting and visiting professor at Cranfied, said: “The abi3
l project has shown that we
can buildmodels with this multi-modal bandwidth that generate results that support radical policy and investment decisionmaking. There is still more work to be done but it is now clear that this technology will provide a toolset to support major companies and the public sector to collaborate intelligently on how to deliver sustainability in freight transport.”
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