Technological leadership in mail

We reach our customers in Germany via a nationwide transport and delivery network. At the heart of this network are 82 mail centres processing an average of around seventy million items per working day and 33 parcel centres with a handling volume of around 2.5 million units per working day. The extent of automation in our mail business continues to rise; we pushed up the rate from 89% of items in 2006 to more than 90% in the year under review.

We use all available technical and operational options to ensure high-quality and efficient mail processing. In 2007, we tested new machines in our mail centres. These are now capable of sorting flat mail (large letters), achieve almost three times the throughput of current machines and offer enhanced functionality.

Regular market research and the focused processing of complaints tell us that our customers expect us to achieve the highest possible quality standards. The criterion they apply to evaluate the quality of our services is whether mailed items reach their destinations quickly, reliably and undamaged. To satisfy these requirements, we manage quality according to a system audited by the Technischer Überwachungsverein (TÜV – German technical inspection association) and certified for compliance with ISO every year. We also have our performance evaluated by Quotas, a quality research institute.

In the year under review, we once again achieved the excellent mail transit times posted in 2006. In Germany, over 95% of the letters posted during our daily opening hours or before the final collection are delivered to their recipients the next day.

We also improved our already outstanding parcel transit times: Delivery, or attempted delivery, of 95.5% of all parcels processed at outbound parcel centres to their recipients took place within the stipulated transit time – by either the next working day or the day after, depending on the distance.

Our transit times for international letters – as determined in a study by the Universal Postal Union – are significantly better than the standard set by the European Union (EU). As in previous years, our quota for three-day delivery of cross-border items mailed within the EU was 96% against the EU requirement of 85%.

We regard working practices that protect the environment as a further yardstick of quality. In Germany, we employ environmental management systems in both our mail and parcel businesses. Within the framework of our GOGREEN initiative, we offer private and business customers climate-neutral shipping options.