Running head: United States Postal Services
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ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES
It is important for the U.S postal services to have a high volume of mails to process so as to increase it yields. The corporation would only be meeting its goals if its volumes of production are high. Definitely huge profits are achieved through high volumes of production. Production has been vital for keeping the postal rates low and also maintaining rapid delivery of service both of which are very important to realize the maximum profits.
The USPS has been able to realize increased productivity for a number of reasons but the two most important are the increased use of the automobiles and the introducing the use of zip codes. The processing of mails underwent a major shift in mechanization which led increased production. Later an expanded zip code was introduced and was followed by a four digits expansion in zip codes. The above changes required automatic processing equipments and the use of bar codes and automatic optical readers. All the above increased the rate of productivity.
The impacts of competitive pressure on USSP was slow down in the in the volume of mail although this was too caused by the slowing of the economy. Other companies that were the giant competitors could provide speedy delivery and package tracking which gave the public convenient alternatives and on the other hand giving the corporation a serious blow when it lost its customers to the competitors. At the same time there was an increased us e of fax machine and other electronics in communication which made things worse for the corporation.
The USPS adopted various measures to counter the effects of the increased competitiveness. The strategies that would cut down the cost increase the volume of production and ensure quality services to the customer. The corporation began working closely to the customer to identify better ways to meet their needs and expand customer conveniences in stamping the consignment. The corporation worked to support rates reflection customer working features to give customers more flexibility. The corporation started forming the customer advisory councils which were groups of citizens who volunteered to work with the local postal management. Then the corporation awarded contracts to two private firms to measure first class mail service to and customer satisfaction. The USPS the took another step it sought to reduce competition by reducing bureaucracy and overhead in order to improve the services provided and in turn improve customer satisfaction. This was also to reduce the need to increase the postal rates which would have discouraged its customers. To accomplish these goals the corporation underwent reorganization. Many ranks in management were done away with and overhead positions were cut by a huge number. The USPS also took the step to improve the mail process at major postal facilities, expanded the retail hours and developed more user- friendly domestic manual. It began to develop new services to meet to meet specific mailer needs and to overhaul and simply its complex rates structure.
The results of the change were many. For example the structure by the virtue of reorganization enabled the USPS managers to be more focused and increased communication and also empowered the employees to meet the customer needs. This in turn brought back the lost customer to the corporation and once again increasing its volume of production once again. The reorganization eliminated some programs, cut the cost of production by the fact that there were few employees on the payroll and reduced the USPS projected deficit. This means that generally the corporation was able to get back to its feet and once again increase its productivity.
The use of emails in communication has a negative effect on postal services as it offers an alternative means of communication. It is speedier, lees costly and also convenient to a person. This means that most people have abandoned the sending of postal and physical mails and have turned to the better alternative which is emails. The general out come is that the rate of mail processing is low and thus the production of the postal service is low.
References.
United States Postal Service. (2008) Commemorative Stamp Yearbook. New York. Harper Collins.
