Twenty-one Posts started using the Universal Postal Union's new Global Monitoring System (GMS) this week to evaluate the quality of their letter-post service using state-of-the-art RFID technology.
The GMS is a truly global system using affordable RFID technology that is accessible to every Post, from industrialized countries and developing ones.
From now until December 2009, in a first phase of the project, 530 independent panellists from 38 countries will send 24,000 test letters containing RFID tags through 45 postal facilities worldwide. The data collected as the test letters pass through special gates will be transmitted to the UPU and used to help postal operators identify service failures and improve operational efficiency.
Posts participating in this first phase of the Global Monitoring System come from the following countries: Aruba, Chile, Greece, India, Korea (Rep), Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
The UPU has been developing the Global Monitoring System over the past three years and has managed to secure affordable RFID technology for use by all member countries. Using an open standard, the RFID tags each cost an average of 0.30 US dollars. Other tags can be as expensive as 20 US dollars each.
More information: Press releases