Pos Malaysia Delivers One Billion Mails Annually

Despite the stiff competition from modern and instant communication systems, the workload of the postmen has not reduced, delivering an average of one billion letters and parcels annually.

The list of services provided by Pos Malaysia Bhd, which has been in existence for more than 175 years, kept on increasing given its position as the exclusive provider of mail services in Malaysia.

Today, Pos Malaysia, which is listed on Bursa Malaysia, has evolved into a multiple service provider, with volume of conventional mail handled by Pos Malaysia totalling 1.271 billion in 2008, according to available figures.

At a recent briefing for visiting members of Benita, an association of Bernama women employees, a spokesperson of Pos Malaysia said the company was committed to improving its products and services to meet the growing demand of its customers.

Forty per cent of its business are handled in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur, which is the head office of Pos Malaysia has a staff of 2,400, handling an average of 800,000 mails a day.

Most of the mails that Pos Malaysia handles are business-related, such as bank statements, credit card statements, bills, etc.

There are 8,000 postmen in the country, of which 1,600 are in Kuala Lumpur. Of the 1,600 postmen here, 50 are women known as Posnita, who are assigned to do coding duties at the headquarters.

The spokesperson said Pos Malaysia had set before itself realistic service standards, that is, next day delivery after posting for local mail delivery, two days between major towns and 3-4 days between other places in the country.

At present, Pos Malaysia operates a network of over 1,000 outlets comprising General Post Offices, post offices, mini post offices and mobile post offices.

It employs a workforce of more than 16,000 employees throughout the country.

The public can do more than 160 different transactions at the post-office counters, which provide a wide range of services, including collecting payment of utility bills, payment of pensions, renewing road tax and driving licence, as well as paying mobile phone bills.

The postal service, then Postal Service Department, has come a long way from the time when it only delivered letters, newspapers and business documents to Malaysian households nationwide.

Its vast experience formed a strong backbone to support its massive restructuring when it became a corporatised entity in 1992.

In 2003, Pos Malaysia restructured its entire operation into four specific strategic business units -- PosMel, PosLaju, PosNiaga and PosLogistik -- to be more focused on its various customers and marketplace.

Statistics also show that the conventional mail services contributed RM566 million in terms of revenue to the company during the financial year Dec 31, 2008, making it the biggest contributor to the company's revenue.

For 2008, Pos Malaysia posted a net loss of RM33.3 million against a revenue of RM921.7 million, although it made an operating profit.

Its group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Syed Faisal Albar has expressed confidence that Pos Malaysia will return to the black this financial year.

For Faisal, who is formerly CEO of New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP), the challenge for Pos Malaysia is to improve the customer service.