The event – organised by Triangle Management Services – held at the Hilton Hotel in Miami boasted a high profile and experienced list of speakers from around the region, and from Europe, who addressed the issue of management and future direction after the worst recession in living memory.
Leading industry thinkers told delegates that postal operators needed to reinvent themselves and gain a better understanding of their customers’ perceptions. As internet commerce grows but physical letter mail volume declines, posts need to think of themselves as parcel delivery organisations that happen also to deliver mail, commented John Modd of Triangle, to general agreement.
Paul Vogel of Deloitte contributed to this debate by arguing that posts needed to change their self-image to see themselves as multi-media communications providers. The future will contain some things we are aware of already, such as Hybrid Mail and Twitter, but also some solutions that have not yet been conceived, Paul added.
But it wasn’t just the posts that were critically examined during the conference. “The express industry hasn’t innovated to any great degree over the last twenty years” speculated Carl-Gerold Mende, Board Member of Austria Post. To survive and grow they need to re-examine their business models in the light of new customer requirements
During the hotseat session, time was spent on discussing the regulatory environment, encouraged by the presentation of Nanci E Langley of the US Postal Regulatory Commission. The conference concurred on the fact that the developed world’s definition of the Universal Service Obligation was too onerous. The USO needed to reflect local realities and not a theoretical global vision. Similarly the private mail operators, led by Enrique Vegas of ENVIA and Pablo Moreno of ampm, emphasised that they were not able to operate on a level playing field, and to rectify this for the benefit of the consumer, affirmative action from both governments and the UPU was required.
Amongst many other thought provoking speakers over the two days were Pranab Shah of USPS, Daniel Baettig of Swiss Post and Peter Somers of Belgium Post. Top executives from national posts such as Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador and Paraguay as well as private operators in Peru (Olva Courier) and Argentina (OCA), and FedEx, also made keynotes, whilst Intermec used the event for a major new product launch.
Once again the event was very well attended with over a dozen national posts represented amongst the plethora of Chief Executives, Managing Directors and other Board Directors from the region. The dates for the 2011 event will be announced shortly.
Notes for Editors:
The World Mail & Express Americas event (www.triangle.eu.com/americas) is owned and run by Triangle Management Services Ltd. Triangle, founded in 1984, is the pre-eminent independent specialist management services company within the global mail, express and logistics sectors. Triangle offers the following services to clients: Recruitment, Market Research, Consultancy, Conferences and Mergers and Acquisitions. More information can be found at www.triangle.eu.com
