The mailing industry is vital to our nation’s infrastructure. This roughly $900 billion industry — which employs nine million people and accounts for 8% of the gross domestic product — is constantly being reshaped by an ever-changing marketplace.

To enhance the value of the mail as a primary communications tool, the Postal Service and leaders in the mailing industry jointly brought together an executive-level group that would provide recommendations for a course of action to enhance the mailing industry’s ability to compete and thrive in the future.

MAILING INDUSTRY TASK FORCE
Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan and Pitney Bowes Chairman and CEO Michael Critelli co-chaired the Mailing Industry Task Force — a committee brought together to assess the current role and value of hard copy mail in business and consumer communications, evaluate the competitive environment affecting the industry’s future and identify opportunities for future growth.

The Mailing Industry Task Force developed eight key recommendations. Among its suggestions is the creation of “intelligent mail” wherein a unique, digital stamp for each piece of mail would make it possible to track and trace mail. The results would be improved processing and delivery performance as well as added security.

Other recommendations include development of enhanced consumer services, more efficient payment systems and alternative credit terms, mail preparation standardization, network optimization, a competitive pricing strategy, improved address quality and creation of an industry council.

The recommendations support strategic imperatives to respond to customer needs, make mail more competitive and unify the industry. The task force’s research demonstrated that a nearly one trillion dollar industry of postal services and mailing service providers has been built around mail and its delivery.

This fact, noted co-chair Critelli, “underscores the role of the mail as an economic engine, and the need to ensure its good health.”

The full report of the task force is available at www.usps.com.