Over the next one or two weeks, the company will be introducing a new internal mail system that will affect each of our 36 offices. The new system is designed to ensure that letters and packages mailed from one office to another arrive within three days. As was reported in the Quarterly Newsline, there have been several instances where deliveries have taken two weeks or more. This was especially true for packages sent from the Vancouver and Seattle offices to the 23 offices in the Southwest region. In order to correct these problems, the Mail Department has completely automated its procedures in an effort to improve handling time by at least 50 percent. In addition, the Computer Operations Department is working on a computerized tracking system to ensure that pickup and delivery schedules are as efficient as possible. Each office will now receive a morning delivery and a pickup late in the afternoon. In order to guarantee delivery within three days, it is essential that all addresses include the new Mail Stop numbers. Books containing these numbers for all 36 offices will be delivered to each department by late October or early November. Please be sure that all section managers receive copies and inform their subordinates of the changes. Anyone who sishes more information is requested to attend a meeting in Room 683 at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 26. At that time, a representative from the Planning Department will give a more complete explanation of the new system. All managers are encouraged to attend this information session so they will be prepared to answer any questions posed by the employees in their departments. An afternoon meeting has also been scheduled on the same day, at 3:45 p.m. in Room 734. At that time, managers from the Computer Operation and Mail Departments will be giving a presentation on other issues related to the mail and delivery systems. One of the most important involves deciding whether or not the company can handle mail that must arrive within 24 hours. As you are probably aware, the operation of our current overnight delivery system often unreliable. The issue is to decide whether these deliveries should be handled by our company, or contracted out to one of the local courier companies. The results of a detailed cost analysis comparing these two alternatives will be included in the presentation. Another issue involves the delivery of equipment that is too large or heavy to be handled by the regular mail trucks. For the past year and a half, the Myerson Freight Company has handled these types of deliveries. Recently, however, several customers have complained that their equipment has arrived late or damaged. Alternate ways of delivering these shipments are being considered and will be open for discussion at the meeting. If you have any additional suggestions or recommendations regarding our mail and delivery systems, please be sure to attend this second meeting.