One of the most important segments in management of Universal Service Providers (USPs) is reaching the decisions concerning changes in the postal network infrastructure. USPs decide on such matters based on an analysis of financial indicators and defined qualitative parameters in accordance with the international regulations and obligations imposed by a competent regulatory agency. In this paper, the previously known method to analyse the existing postal network and define the minimal number of Postal Network Units (PNU) is implemented and upgraded by a new approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and fuzzy logic. The final aim of the proposed new approach is to determine which of the considered PNU should be closed or reorganized having in mind the minimization of negative effects, both financial and social. The proposed model gives the indices for all considered postal branches, which allows the decision-maker to rank the importance of each unit. The proposed model is a business intelligence tool, which replaces a multidisciplinary team composed from managers of the company and policymakers from both the postal sector as well as a sustainable rural development sector in reaching an important decision on changing the postal network. This decision may be considered as extremely complex since it should sublimate the opposed criteria that relate to the business success of the company, state regulations and sustainability of the local community. The indices obtained in the proposed method exactly include the mentioned three categories. The authors demonstrate the applicability of the suggested methodology based on the real data acquired in a district of the Serbia, i.e. in a regional organizational entity of the USP and provide the analysis of the results reached for the rural delivery post offices.

One of the crucial pillars of each state’s development strategy relates to service provision in rural areas. An adequate scope of these services is a prerequisite for uniform regional progress. Postal operators play a key role in supporting these development policies, by providing postal, financial and transportation services to each citizen in a state, regardless of place of residence. The postal network represents one of the biggest logistics networks worldwide. However, since it is not financially justified to provide services to all citizens, even to those that live in the most remote areas, the question of how to optimize the postal network is always topical. This problem is very complex because the postal units’ existence in rural areas cannot be considered just from an economic standpoint; many other criteria should be considered. The model proposed in this paper can be considered a decision-making tool designed to support policymakers in planning the postal network. First, we identify the criteria that should be considered in decision-making by an extensive literature review. We then apply the FUCOM method to determine the importance of individual criteria. Finally, we propose an Interval Type-2 Fuzzy AROMAN approach to determine which postal unit should be reorganized.

Aktuelne promene u okruženju u velikoj meri utiču na sve faktore od značaja u poštanskom sektoru -kreatore poštanske politike, davaoce usluga i korisnike. Liberalizacija tržišta i razvoj konkurencije zahtevaju proaktivno delovanje, efikasnije poslovanje i definisanje procedura u procesu smanjenja troškova. Promene u poslovanju operatora direktno utiču na politiku zapošljavanja, zaposlene u sektoru i njihovu percepciju zadovoljstva poslom. Neki tradicionalni modeli funkcionisanja se moraju prilagoditi novim okolnostima, ali specifična veza koja se ostvaruje između korisnika i poštara, ostvarena kao posledica svakodnevnog prisustva u lokalnoj zajednici, može postati konkurentska prednost u razvoju novih poslovnih modela i diverzifikaciji poslovanja poštanskih operatora.

Summary. According to The General Plan of Post Network and in accordance with the criteria for opening branches of postal services for customers numerous postal offices which perform delivery services are located on the territory of every large city area. In case of using the system for combined decentralization one of the offices is assigned the role of the central deliverance post office. If the central office cannot be connected to some other unit directly, their connection is realized through one or more other units which are located in between them. Aside from the idea of the most economical management, the organization of postal offices is limited by some other actors, from the number of available vehicles, their capacity, to the question of the place and time of realizing a transaction.This paper provides information about how the money-saving algorithm for solving the problem of time interval routing can be used in a suitable way in these situations as well. РЕШЕНИЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗРАБОТКИ СЕТИ ПОЧТОВЫХ ОТДЕЛЕНИЙ ДЛЯ ДОСТАВКИ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ ГОРОДААннотация. Согласно Общему плану почтовой сети и в соответствии с критериями для открытия отделений связи, для оказания почтовых услуг клиентам на территории любого города, как правило, располагается несколько почтовых отделений, осуществляющих, в том числе, и операции доставки. В случае применения системы комбинированной децентрализации, одному из них присваивается роль центрального почтового отделения доставки (городского узла доставки). При отсутствии возможности прямого соединения центрального и любого другого пункта, их связь осуществляется через одно или несколько других отделений, находящихся на пути между ними. Наряду с идеей о высокоэффективном и экономичном для хозяйственной деятельности решении, Почту (как организацию) ограничивают и другие факторы, в т.ч. количество имеющихся в распоряжении транспортных средств, их вместимость, а также намеченные сроки выполнения определенных операций.В статье освещается применение в соответствующем порядке и в подобных ситуациях алгоритма экономики для решения вопроса применения транспорта, курсирующего по заранее разработанным маршрутам с указанием промежутков времени при доставке.

Switching the business philosophy from “having” to “sharing/using” is especially important when it comes to information technologies, where there is a direct connection between interested parties which, at the same time, can be potential providers and users of services. This principle has found its place in various areas (transportation, services, education, entrepreneurship, real estate, commerce, finance, information technologies). Through its application, companies gain the possibility to demonstrate their potential for contributing to the community, reducing environmental impact, and staying profitable. As the interest in goods in urban areas has been on the rise in the whole world, the necessity for measures which would lower the negative effects of freight traffic is inevitable. In that context, in this paper, we will consider the possibilities of applying different models of the sharing economy concept in postal services, as well as the factors which affect the application and implementation of this concept.