The Australian Post: Automating The Physical Mail Postage System And Revitalizing Paper-based Communication

Problems with the Traditional Mail Delivery System

Question:

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The business case is for The Australian Post. The Australian Postal Corporation is government-owned and provides local and international postal services. The head office is at Melbourne and the same location serves as a post office (Aupost, 2017). The company has been broadening its product and service range due to many external environmental factors. Currently it focuses on three areas of operation, which are letters and associated services, retail merchandise combined with agency services, parcels, and logistics. The Australian Post also has a number of subsidiaries and joint ventures, which has helped it to diversify into a number of services.

The idea is to introduce an innovative way in which The Australian Post can continue using paper as an effective means of communication (Daunton, 2015). This will be done by automating the physical mail postage system and coming up with faster delivery means through notifications and drones. Technology has taken over many functions hence almost rendering mail postal services null and void. The Australian Post can however remain relevant in the market if it adopts an innovative way of selling its products and services, which are based on paper. Through this, the company will be able to retain the customers who already exist and even add new ones. They will not have to lose customers just because many people have proceeded to more technologically advanced ways of communication. Innovation can assist the company to curve a niche in the market as it already has the advantage of being a strong brand. The Australian Post will also be a market leader in the innovation hence having the advantage of benefitting from a large market share when the launch happens.

The automation of the mail delivery system will solve a number of problems, which are discussed below.

The traditional mailing system saw great delays in delivery. Important mail would be received late sometimes hence rendering the process inefficient. Sometimes the recipient would take time in opening the mailbox hence receiving letters, which may be of high importance later than they were to be received (Crew & Kleindofer,2013). The automation of the whole process will lead to mail received fast. Drones will be incorporated for very urgent messages hence this will make the whole process very efficient.

The traditional system saw a lot of mail getting lost due to incorrect address or similar names. The process was also slow and inefficient hence leading to some mail getting lost. The automated process will ensure that all mail is tracked hence no losses of mail (Chong et al, 2014). This will lead to a streamlined mailing system.

Proposed Solution: Automating the Physical Mail Postage System

The Australian Post has lots of uncollected mail. This traditionally led to lots of space wastage and high costs of trying to resend the mail. This also meant that many people did not receive their letters. The automated process will send automatic mobile phone notifications to mail senders and recipients hence strive to ensure that all mail is collected.

The automation of the mail process will ensure that post office boxes are still in use hence the company will not have to go through massive losses. The company will carry out a powerful marketing campaign, coupled with the new automation process. This will show consumers that paper is still an effective means of communication. An effective campaign will lead to retention of post office boxes and new customers also coming in.

The automation process will enhance the use of mail to deliver parcels. The Australian can take advantage of this to grow its business, as post is a cheaper means of sending parcels. Through this, the other mail services will be enhanced as parcels mostly carry messages (Batterson, 2014). Through use of drones, the process will be made efficient and effective.

The processing capacity of The Australian Post will greatly improve. The company will be able to handle a higher amount of mail that previously, due to full automation of the dispatch process. The number of customers will increase due to a solid posting infrastructure being established by the company. The delivery service will be completely accurate, as zip codes will be used in identification of locations. This will lead to a reduction in collection times. Direct postal workers will be able to identify addresses faster hence leading to efficient processes (Love & Ropper, 2015). The quality of service provided by The Australian Post will substantially improve. Staff performance can be monitored and timely decisions made, on how to further improve services based on status delivery of mail as the system will generate various statistical reports.

The new automated system will respond to consumer needs for mobility by directly forwarding any mail to new addresses. This will ensure convenience for the customers. Customers will also be able to choose at what time they prefer to receive mail. There will be therefore flexibility in sending and receiving of mail. Automation will lead to a new address system and a microchip containing a customer signature will be installed on the mailbox. The e-signature will be enough proof that mail has been delivered. Addresses will be automated in the system and this will enable customers to have a locator service, which is accessed through the website of The Australian Post (Sapra & Subramanian, 2014). The locator will also be downloadable on mobile device. Services will be provided all over Australia hence consumers will be able to experience convenience wherever they are.

Strategic Steps to Implement the Automation Project

The automation process of The Australian Post’s mail system will assist the government to develop new services for Australian citizens. Presence of an accurate system and the locator will improve orientation all over Australia.  This assists different companies to benefit from these services and offer better services in their sectors. An accurate and efficient database will also be created for customers as it will include name, age, profession and next of kin contacts (West et al, 2014). The Australian post will also enhance its parcel delivery services and through this, the business can grow at a steady rate.

In implementing the automation of the mail delivery system for The Australian Post, the following strategic steps will be taken.

The Australian Post will create a new vision and review its current corporate structure so that the use of the new technology will fit in with the organization’s business model. The company can re-invent the mail identity logo of the company and this will signify the beginning of an important strategic change. The IT department of The Australian Post will create a project team to develop the new automated solution (Afande, 2013). They will carry out extensive research to ensure that that the best technology is used and adapted to the business environment of the company.

The Australian Post will have to settle on the right technology that will lead to an efficient mail delivery system. The most recent technology will have to be chosen and it should be cost effective and easy to upgrade. The systems that will be chosen must take into consideration the political and governmental factors in Australia. The choice of technology provider will also be important (Brewer & Rees, 2015). The company should chose organizations with success stories and whose support is available all over the country. This will assist the company to maximize its returns.

The Australian Post should allow internal creativity and incentives given to employees who come up with brilliant ideas related to automation of the postal system. A great organizational culture that encourages innovation should be put in place (Verberke, 2013). Constant training should therefore be carried out by the company so nurture employees into coming up with creative ideas.

A product or service becomes successful when it meets the demands of customers. The Australian Post has to ensure that the new service will move beyond the introduction phase and gets to the growth phase where the company will start realizing profits from the new service. The company has to implement a stakeholder communication strategy, which can be implemented as in the table below (Mok, Shen & Yang, 2015).

Assessment Criteria for the Automation Project

The following assessment criteria will be taken into consideration when doing the project

The Australian Post will consider if the automation project will meet the strategic objectives, which have been set (Song & Wang, 2016). The strategic objectives are:

• Delivering Stellar Customer Service
• Empowering and Engaging Employees
• Innovation of Faster Delivery Services
• Investment in Future Platforms
• Be a leader in sustainabilit

With implementation of the project, The Australian Post cash flow is shown below (Aupost 2017).

• C_t= net cash inflow during the period t – AUD 547,000
• C_o = total initial investment costs – 1,850,000
• r = discount rate, and
• t = number of time periods – 4 (Aupost, 2017)

NPV = AUD 361,389.70 hence the project is viable

The proposed automated mail system for The Australian Post will be implemented using the following methods.

The Australian Post will divide the country into different locations, which will then have unique identifiers. These will be input into a computer system and transformed into a digital map (Sheedey & Moloney,2015). Through this, locations will be easily identified by their unique zip codes.

A research will be done to ensure that codes have been assigned to all locations in Australia and that none is left uncovered. The research will assist in identification of any errors and enable their correction.

Boards will be fixed on different locations as identifiers and they will have radio-frequency identification chips that will store unique information about a recipient. Previous mailboxes will also be assigned with the unique chip. The chip will be housed in a water-proof compartment so that it is weather resistant (Sheedey & Moloney,2015). The mail delivery person will have a unique device, which will be used to scan the chip before delivery is made so that there are no wrong deliveries.

 The mail delivery system will be integrated with The Australian Post’s Customer Relationship Management System, transport system and sorting departments. Previous clients will not need to register again. New clients interested in mailboxes will fill in a specific form available electronically or physically at the post office. A yearly fee will be applicable but it will be at an affordable price to customers. Customers will access costs of postal services through website and can allocate specific times for delivery or collection of mail. In the sorting centers, electronic sorting machines will be used .The machine will have the capability of reading the zip code and distributing the mail accordingly. Change of address will be an online process.

The company will start implementing drone technology to assist in delivery of extremely urgent mail or parcels. They will be fitted with special details that will enable them to trace a customer’s location hence make the appropriate delivery on time. This will revolutionize the operations of The Australian Post and will help in increasing its customer base.

Conclusion

Prior to implementation there will be staff training implemented across all the branches of The Australian Post. The emphasis will be on excellent customer service and getting processes right. Through this, employees will embrace the project and will confidently handle any customer queries (Sheedey & Moloney,2015). It will also provide a platform for more innovative ideas from employees that can be implemented in the future.

Conclusion

Paper can endure as an effective means of communication so long as The Australian Post implements its strategy in an ingenious manner. The fact that there are new technologies does not mean paper has to be done away with. The technologies can be used to enhance the use of paper as an effective way of communicating. The Australian Post can therefore sustain the project and increase their customer base through automating their mail syste

References

Afande, O. F. (2013). Effects of strategic management practices on performance of financial institutions in Kenya: A case of Kenya Post Office Savings Bank. International Journal of Business Management and Administration, 2 (6), 122-141.

Aupost (2017).  Aupost Financial Reports. Retrieved from https://auspost.com.au/

Aupost (2017).  History of The Australian Post. Retrieved from https://auspost.com.au/

Batterson, R. (2014). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/151,805.

Brewer, S., & Rees, D. (2015). Exploiting the potential of creative, digital business clusters: a strategic leadership challenge.

Chong, A., La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., & Shleifer, A. (2014). Letter grading government efficiency. Journal of the European Economic Association, 12(2), 277-298.

Crew, M. A., & Kleindorfer, P. R. (Eds.). (2013). Emerging Competition in Postal and Delivery Services (Vol. 31). Springer Science & Business Media.

Daunton, M. J. (2015). Royal Mail: The post office since 1840. NY,Bloomsbury Publishing.

Love, J. H., & Roper, S. (2015). SME innovation, exporting and growth: A review of existing evidence. International Small Business Journal, 33(1), 28-48.

Mok, K. Y., Shen, G. Q., & Yang, J. (2015). Stakeholder management studies in mega construction projects: A review and future directions. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2), 446-457.

Sapra, H., Subramanian, A., & Subramanian, K. V. (2014). Corporate governance and innovation: Theory and evidence. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49(4), 957-1003.

Sheedy, C., & Moloney, M. (2015). Digital Inclusion: A Role for Postal Operators in a Smart World. In Postal and Delivery Innovation in the Digital Economy (pp. 183-194). Springer International Publishing.

Song, L., & Wang, J. (2016). An investigation of home delivery models and logistics services in China. In Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting (No. 16-3181).

Verbeke, A. (2013). International business strategy. NY,Cambridge University Press.

West, J., Salter, A., Vanhaverbeke, W., & Chesbrough, H. (2014). Open innovation: The next decade.

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