USPS Office of Inspector General

This is the fourth and final blog in our week-long series on What America Wants from the Postal Service.

Nowhere has the digital revolution been more disruptive than in communications. The rapid evolution in Internet-based technologies has changed the way businesses and individuals communicate and transact. They now rely on both digital and physical communications. This dramatic shift has certainly challenged the Postal Service, but also created opportunities for it to expand into digital services to meet customers’ needs.

Today’s topic in our week-long series on What America Wants from the Postal Service considers ways in which the Postal Service could generate revenue to sustain its operations. The Postal Service’s future financial health depends on its ability to generate revenue, as well as cut costs (yesterday’s blog topic). In the larger debate about reinventing the Postal Service’s business model, the topic of allowing the Postal Service to offer non-postal products and services frequently emerges.

On Tuesday, we asked what Americans want from their Postal Service. In particular, should the Postal Service continue to serve all areas of the country even if it is not profitable to do so?

We continue our series based on our recently released white paper, What America Wants from the Postal Service, by focusing on cost cutting. We ask you to weigh in with your opinion on the best options for the Postal Service to trim costs while maintaining service.

What do you want from your Postal Service? It’s a simple question, yet it is probably one that few citizens have pondered – even as our nation’s policymakers consider how best to reform the U.S. Postal Service. The voice of the American public has largely been absent from the debate about what role the Postal Service should play in meeting modern communications needs.

Lean Six Sigma is a method used in many large organizations to look for improvements in business efficiency and effectiveness. It relies on a team-based approach to focus on the customer, on removing waste, and on improving processes. The Postal Service and the Office of Inspector General are among the many companies and organizations that use Lean Six Sigma as a continuous improvement tool to try to get at the root of the problem rather than just solve the problems as they arise.