INCREASING THE VALUE OF MAIL THROUGH INNOVATION:
POTTER SAYS COUNTRY NEEDS AND WANTS A STRONG POSTAL SERVICE
As it takes focused steps in its 10-year action plan, “Delivering the Future,” the Postal Service will “bump up value” through innovation, service, quality and information to “levels you never imagined,” Postmaster General Jack Potter pledged today at the National Postal Forum.
“Mail will continue to have a great deal of value for businesses and the American people in 2020,” said Potter at the NPF, the mailing industry’s annual educational event and tradeshow. “An organization delivering 150 billion pieces of mail in 2020 is more than any other post in the world today and will be a very large business.”
Confident that the country needs and wants a strong and viable Postal Service, Potter outlined major steps to provide more flexibility in the marketplace. These include expanding retail access into non-postal locations and getting legislation that would permit USPS to explore new products and services — all allowing it to better respond to changing customer needs and compete more effectively. “As these changes roll out they’re going to make mail even more attractive,” said Potter.
The PMG said the Postal Service will not lose sight of its mission — to serve customers “today and every day into the future.” USPS will continue to deliver high levels of service while cutting costs, he said, aggressively managing expenses through network adjustments, efficiency tools and new equipment like the flats sequencer. At the same time, innovations like Intelligent Mail barcodes will help secure the future. “I am convinced the Postal Service and mailing industry have a strong, bright future ahead,” said Potter.
In other remarks, Potter said the Postal Service will not let changes distract from what’s important day to day. “If you mail with us, you’ll get delivered,” he assured customers. “And at the end of the day, there will be a strong Postal Service for years to come.”
Joined by Robert Bernstock, president of Mailing and Shipping Services, Potter today also presented the Partnership for Progress Award to Walmart, the nation’s leading retailer, which uses the Postal Service for direct mail as well as its growing mail-order pharmacy service.