KUALA LUMPUR: Pos Malaysia Bhd is accelerating its digital transformation journey, modernising its operations to stay competitive in the dynamic postal and logistics industry.
Since launching its digital transformation initiative in August 2021, Pos Malaysia has implemented forward-thinking digital solutions to optimise its services. The company is reshaping its infrastructure to offer more sustainable and efficient services, from product digitalisation to expanding API plug-ins.
“Looking ahead, Pos Malaysia focuses on integrating predictive AI to enhance customer retention and drive upselling.
“By leveraging data-driven insights, the company is positioning itself for continued growth and operational efficiency, reaffirming its role as a leader in the domestic postal and logistics landscape,” group CEO Charles Brewer (pic) told SunBiz.
Pos Malaysia is the national courier service provider and sole licensee for universal postal services in the country.
Brewer said that before digital transformation, back in 2021, Pos Malaysia struggled with more than 200 fragmented systems, legacy platforms and limited cloud use, resulting in inefficiencies, high costs and outdated systems.
From a customer journey perspective, most processes were manual and disconnected, offering poor customer engagement and no real-time data for decision-making.
Customer-centric tools such as chatbots were absent or ineffective. This led to the company facing high operational costs, fragmented platforms and limited analytics, restricting insights and hampering customer experience.
Fast forward to 2024, post-digitalisation initiatives, more than 90% of apps have been migrated to cloud, with key systems being consolidated, enabling real-time analytics through data lakes and master data management.
Furthermore, 25 new and modernised apps enhance operations and customer interaction. To enhance the customer journey, chatbots, proactive messaging, and new services like customer-facing shipping tools and users of prescribed medication who can now pay for courier services by debit card, credit card, or online banking when ordering new supplies through the Ministry of Health’s MyUBAT app have transformed the customer experience.
“Real-time ETA predictions (95% accuracy) now improve delivery reliability. Millions have cut tech costs, parcel delivery performance exceeds targets, and enhanced security systems are protected against threats,“ Brewer said.
Moving on, he said to create a sustainable post and parcel sector, Pos Malaysia emphasises the importance of collaboration with stakeholders, as demonstrated by its membership in the International Postal Corporation, Universal Postal Union and the United Nations Global Compact.
“We actively engage with government agencies to align our sustainability initiatives with national policies, while our Pos Hija carbon emission reporting initiative meets consumer demand for transparency regarding the environmental impact of shipments.
“Additionally, we hosted knowledge-sharing forums like ‘Beyond the Boardroom’ to exchange best practices with ESG leaders. Our strategic partnerships with vendors, including leasing electric vehicles, enable us to adopt greener logistics solutions financially and sustainably. Through these collaborative efforts, Pos Malaysia is committed to driving meaningful sustainability initiatives that enhance our competitiveness and contribute positively to society and the environment,” he said.
When asked about the drop in traditional mail volume at Pos Malaysia and how the company is adapting to stay competitive, Brewer said the global decline in letter volumes will be a lasting trend.
He said Pos Malaysia has experienced a high single-digit compounded annual growth rate decline since 2019, and the company does not anticipate this changing in the years ahead.
“Given that market change, we have to adapt quickly. As such, we have been very focused on executing our transformation plan, as noted earlier, and quickly moving to being a highly effective and proficient ‘parcel delivery company that also delivers mail’.
“We have been rapidly merging our mail and parcel networks to deliver what we deliver successfully, but at the lowest unit cost possible. While fully recognising we still have much to do, the results of our transformation have been quite spectacular. We have made great strides from 2021 to the present,“ Brewer said.
