September 2010

CONTENTS

POSTAL SERVICE TO CALL FOR 2010 SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE AWARD NOMINATIONS IN OCTOBER ›

POSTMASTER GENERAL ADDRESSES NEED FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE - WORK HOURS REDUCED, PRODUCTIVITY INCREASED AS FISCAL YEAR NEARS END ›

POSTMASTER GENERAL HAILS CARPER LEGISLATION - “ROADMAP TO RECOVERY” FOR POSTAL SERVICE ›

POSTAL SERVICE CFO PREDICTS CASH SHORTFALL IN 2011 - AGENCY ENDS QUARTER 3 WITH $3.5 BILLION LOSS ›

POSTAL SERVICE PUSHES FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP, ASKS SUPPLIERS FOR HELP ›

LATINA STYLE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS POSTAL SERVICE SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS ›

SUPPLIER OUTREACH CALENDAR ›

ARE YOU REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE? ›

POSTAL SERVICE TO CALL FOR 2010 SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE AWARD NOMINATIONS IN OCTOBER

The official call for nominations for the 2010 USPS Supplier Performance Awards will begin in October. Nominations must originate from Postal Service individuals or postal teams that have worked closely with a supplier on a Postal Service contract.

The Supplier Performance Awards recognize suppliers who have contributed to Supply Chain Management efforts that have “truly made a difference” in helping the Postal Service achieve bottom-line savings or increase revenue or performance results, and have consistently exhibited a collaborative business relationship with the Postal Service.

Award categories include Supplier Performance, Supplier Excellence, Supplier Innovation, Supplier Diversity, Supplier Sustainability Excellence, and Postal Supplier Council Excellence. For more information about the Postal Service Supplier Performance Awards and a listing of recent winners <click here>

If you feel your company should be considered for an award, please contact your Postal Service Contracting Officer or Postal Service Customer.

Open season for nominations will run from October 15th through November 15th. Winners will be recognized in spring 2011. Back to Top ›

POSTMASTER GENERAL ADDRESSES NEED FOR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE
WORK HOURS REDUCED, PRODUCTIVITY INCREASED AS FISCAL YEAR NEARS END

In his annual state of the business address to the mailing industry on September 15, 2010 in Portland, OR, Postmaster General John E. Potter today stressed that long-term sustainability for the Postal Service will be achieved through fundamental change.

“The Postal Service must have the ability to manage its business, and to adapt quickly to the needs of our customers and the marketplace,” said Potter. “And our business model must change to reflect the reality of a volatile economy and a communications marketplace that has been undergoing a transformation as profound as anything that has ever come before.”

Despite cutting spending by $3 billion in 2010, the Postal Service continues to seek meaningful change for greater control over business decisions, including delivery frequency, pricing and products, public policy and workforce flexibility.

Potter’s comments came during the National Postal Customer Council (PCC) Day broadcast, an annual event that brings together mailers, industry partners and customers to recognize their contributions to the Postal Service and outline future plans and goals. PCCs are a network of community-based business mailers and representatives of the Postal Service, who meet regularly to share ideas and resources to create a closer working relationship.

In the midst of financial and regulatory challenges, the Postal Service achieved major milestones during fiscal year 2010, including:

• 17 percent reduction in work hours
• 20 percent increase in Total Factor Productivity
• The smallest career complement in 10 years — a reduction of 100,000 positions through attrition or retirement.

The Postmaster General also looked forward, telling PCC members that new flat-rate products and a Priority Mail “Regional Rate Box” are being developed and will be available as of January 2011.

Other successful innovations in mail will return, including the Summer Sale, an expansion of the Saturation Mail Sale and a new incentive program included in the exigent price filing, “Reply Rides Free,” that would allow mailers to use bill and statement mailings for advertising messages.

Potter also challenged PCCs and the mailing industry to embrace change, asking for their best ideas on new products and services the Postal Service could pursue and encouraging them to become a part of the Postal Service’s “era of innovation.”

But, Potter stressed, even as the Postal Service focuses on new ways of doing business and changing its business model to address a constantly changing consumer and business environment, the Postal Service remains true to its mission of universal service.

“Service is still our priority, which we’ll continue to improve as we work toward achieving long-term sustainability through fundamental change,” he pledged. Back to Top ›

POSTMASTER GENERAL HAILS CARPER LEGISLATION
“ROADMAP TO RECOVERY” FOR POSTAL SERVICE

Legislation introduced on September 23rd, 2010 by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) is a roadmap to recovery for the Postal Service. It incorporates many of the key elements we have identified as necessary and essential to allow the Postal Service to meet the changing needs of its customers.

The Postal Operations Sustainment and Transformation (POST) Act of 2010 is creative in that it alleviates our retiree health benefit burden while bringing resolution to the pension overpayment dilemma we’ve faced.

It permits us to step into the 21st Century by enabling elemental reforms to our network, our infrastructure, and our labor relations and it reduces the number of days we provide door to door delivery service to more closely align our costs and the needs of our customers.

Postmaster General Jack Potter stated “We commend Sen. Carper for his leadership and thank him for his continued support of the Postal Service and his recognition of the vital role we play in the lives of the American people.” Back to Top ›

POSTAL SERVICE CFO PREDICTS CASH SHORTFALL IN 2011
AGENCY ENDS QUARTER 3 WITH $3.5 BILLION LOSS

The Postal Service ended the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 (April 1 – June 30) with a net loss of $3.5 billion, compared with a net loss of $2.4 billion for the same quarter last year. Third quarter mail volume declined to 40.9 billion pieces — down approximately 700 million pieces or 1.7 percent from the same quarter last year.

Third quarter operating revenue was $16 billion, some $294 million less than the same period last year, and operating expenses were $19.5 billion, an increase of $789 million, or 4.2 percent, over the third quarter last year.

Additionally, the Postal Service’s financial situation is compounded by its obligation to pay $5.4 billion to $5.8 billion annually to prefund retiree health benefits.

As a result, liquidity remains a major concern as the end of the fiscal year approaches, according to Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett. While cash flow appears to be sufficient for 2010 operations, it is uncertain whether cash flow, together with maximum available borrowing of $3 billion, will be enough to fund the congressionally mandated $5.5 billion payment on Sept. 30 to the Retiree Health Benefit Fund and retain sufficient liquidity into 2011.

The Postal Service has incurred net losses in 14 of the last 16 fiscal quarters. The fiscal 2010 year-to-date net loss is $5.4 billion, compared to a loss in the same period last year of $4.7 billion. Back to Top ›

POSTAL SERVICE PUSHES FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP, ASKS SUPPLIERS FOR HELP

The Postal Service Sustainability Organization has a vision for the Postal Service to become a corporate sustainability leader with the help of its employees, suppliers and customers all doing their parts to protect and sustain the earth’s environment for today’s and tomorrow’s generations. In fact, the Sustainability organization recently unveiled their FY2010 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP). The plan focuses on 10 key areas that demonstrate corporate sustainability leadership, both internally and externally.

Internally, the Postal Service will work on building a conservation culture within seven key areas:

• Green house gas emissions
• Facilities energy
• Owned-vehicle fuel
• Waste
• Materials
• Water
• Employees

Externally, the Postal Service is leading the adoption of sustainability business practices with:

• Suppliers
• Customers
• Peers

Within these 10 key areas are 15 sustainability goals. The Postal Service plan will track performance against these goals.

Three goals will be led by Supply Management working with suppliers. As a current or potential supplier, you can help achieve these sustainability goals by:

• Increasing by 50 percent the number of identified environmentally preferable products available for purchase on-catalog with eBuy2 by FY 2015.
• Providing sustainability data by FY 2015 (only suppliers with over $500,000 in contract commitments).
• Including standard Postal Service sustainability clauses in new contract actions by FY 2015.

Check out the USPS SSPP Overview: http://about.usps.com/green/sspp/2010/sspp_overview.pdf

Download and read our detailed SSPP: http://about.usps.com/green/sspp/2010/sspp_2010.pdf

Share your ideas:
Sustainability@usps.gov 

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LATINA STYLE MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS POSTAL SERVICE SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS

As the first federal agency to publicly report its greenhouse gas emissions, the Postal Service has established solid goals in achieving its sustainability objectives. From green vehicles to green packaging, to green roofs and green facilities, the Postal Service is being recognized as building a “culture of conservation” with its employees, suppliers, and customers while making sure each letter and package mailed is a green experience for anyone using the U.S. Mail.

In the Sept. 9 online edition of Latina Style magazine, Sam Pulcrano, vice president, Sustainability, said, ”’Reduce, reuse, recycle’ is more than a slogan, it’s a way of doing business throughout the Postal Service.”

The article discussed the Postal Service’s four primary sustainability goals:

• Reduce energy use and intensity in facilities 30 percent by 2015;
• Reduce vehicle petroleum fuel use 20 percent by 2015;
• Increase use of vehicle alternative fuel 10 percent by 2015; and
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent by 2020.

Also mentioned was the Postal Service’s promotion of green supply chains by developing and integrating green purchasing policies, practices and objectives into the supplying process. Susan Brownell, vice president, Supply Management, stated, “...environmentally effective business practices are integrated into requirements and sourcing activities with measureable results; Postal Service supplying activities and business practices further USPS environmental goals while staying aligned with its business and competitive objectives.”

To read the article in its entirety, please visit: http://www.latinastyle.com/currentissue/v16-3/corporate.php. (Scroll down in the article to read about the Postal Service). Back to Top ›

SUPPLIER OUTREACH CALENDAR

The Postal Service was recently recognized by DiversityBusiness.com as being one of 2010's America's Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities.

The following are events at which the Postal Service Supplier Diversity Outreach program has or will participate:

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ARE YOU REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE?

More than 3000 suppliers have registered since our launch of the Supplier Registration site in July 2009.

All suppliers interested in doing business with the U.S. Postal Service should register their company in the Postal Service Supplier Registration system. For more information, please go to http://about.usps.com/suppliers/becoming/registration.htm.

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Contact Us!

We value your questions and feedback to this newsletter. Please feel free to reply to this message with your feedback or mail to:

US Postal Service
Supply Management Communications
475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW Room 1140
Washington DC 20260-1140
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