SingPost has invested over S$100m to meet rise in e-commerce

As Ms Susan Meehan mentioned in “Regulator should step in if SingPost is falling short” (Jan 16), global e-commerce is set to grow exponentially.

In anticipation of the growth in e-commerce packages, SingPost has been investing more than S$100 million in infrastructure and service, despite the declining domestic mail volumes.

SingPost spent S$45 million to replace sorting machines to handle the higher volume of packages, while increasing mail sorting accuracy and efficiency.

We are also replacing our fleet with three-wheelers that have bigger capacity to carry packages, better balance and are safer for our postmen. Last year, we introduced Saturday deliveries for packages to cater specially for the growing online shopping demographic.

Recently, we launched SmartPac Lite, a sturdy pre-paid envelope for packages lighter than a kilogramme, for the convenience of e-commerce customers.

In April 2013, SingPost rolled out Singapore’s first automated parcel stations, giving customers 24-7 access to parcel collection. Today, we have nearly 90 POPStations located conveniently and will install more to cater to the demand.

During the recent festive period, we deployed about 25 per cent more postmen to perform the Saturday deliveries and 30 more temporary staff to expedite mail processing. These exclude additional manpower at post offices and courier operations.

The Registered Article service is a sign-for service; postmen are required to make doorstep delivery and issue delivery advice for any unsuccessful attempt.

Our investigations showed that the postman serving Ms Meehan’s area was unable to access her unit when he went for delivery, as the intercom was not working.

That same day, he delivered a registered item successfully at an adjacent block.

In Mr Zheng Yong Kang’s and Mr Yeo Shuan Chee’s cases, the postmen failed to adhere to standard operating procedures. (“Revert to issuing notice for undelivered registered mail”, Jan 15; “Is SingPost carrying out all its deliveries?”, Jan 14, online)

We have since reprimanded them and will monitor their performance closely. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Errors are inevitable in a service industry, including in a Six Sigma-driven operations such as SingPost, which delivers three million mail items per day.

Still, we will continue to seek ways to minimise human errors. We have been strengthening infrastructure and operations to ensure that SingPost maintains one of the world’s highest postal delivery standards.

As the recipient of the Service Provider of the Year 2014 award by Postal Technology International, and the only firm globally to have won the EMS Cooperative Performance Award by the Universal Postal Union annually since 2001, SingPost remains committed to the highest level of delivery service.