Postal Service urged to create 'intelligent mail'

The Postal Service should invest in the technology and infrastructure needed to transform mere letters into "intelligent mail," according to recommendations released Monday in a new report on the postal system.

The Mailing Industry Task Force, established last year by then-Postmaster General William Henderson, recommended that the Postal Service and mailing industry develop so-called intelligent mail in its new report, "Seizing Opportunity: The Report of the 2001 Mailing Industry Task Force." By imbedding mail with bar codes and other identifiable devices, the Postal Service and mailers would be able track every piece of mail in circulation, according to the report, released Monday at the National Postal Forum in Denver. "As a business, I would really like to know if the check is in the mail," said Michael Critelli, task force co-chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes Inc. The technology would help mailers know when to ramp up customer service functions such as call centers, he added. For example, catalog companies would know when their catalog mailings are due to arrive in a given locality and could plan to boost call center staffing for that area accordingly. Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan, who co-chaired the task force, said such technology would help the agency get a better handle on workloads and develop more efficient staffing protocols. The Postal Service would have to make significant upgrades to its infrastructure to put in place such a system. And postal observers say the agency has had trouble translating new technologies into increased productivity. The Mailers Council, an Arlington, Va.-based trade association, said in its third quarter report card on Postal Service productivity that the agency's attempts to use technology to reduce mail-handling time have been unsuccessful. The task force also recommended that the agency "commit to predictable price increases that are at or below the rate of inflation." It also calls on industry and the agency to work together in evaluating capital spending and human resources strategies. The report comes at a time when postal reform is percolating in Washington. Draft legislation is being circulated to interested parties. Additionally, the agency is working on a long-term transformation plan. Nolan said the agency will look for areas in which to adopt the task force's recommendations at it moves forward with its own transformation plan. "Reform is something that we as an industry will support and are supporting," said Critelli, adding that the industry and the Postal Service need to find ways of improving productivity immediately. Additionally, the industry has to do a better job of educating elected officials on the importance of the entire mailing system-a $900 billion industry-and the Postal Service's unique role, Critelli said.