A constellation of supply chain stars
Thought Leaders to the World of
Postal – Parcel – Delivery Logistics
Helping You Find Your Way...
...in a rapidly transforming ecommerce delivery universe.
Like the Big Dipper pointing to the North Star, Ursa Major Associates is a constellation of supply chain superstars helping our clients “find their way.” We form a cohort of independent yet affiliated thought leaders, visionaries, advisers and subject matter experts that serve key markets worldwide. Each Ursa Major associate is highly experienced and broadly networked throughout the rapidly transforming global postal-parcel-delivery-logistics ecosystem. Our collective mission is to help our clients envision bold opportunities for growth and navigate optimal courses to reach their goals.
Origins
In recognition of a convergence of national postal services and private sector express companies in the global business of mail and parcel delivery, industry veterans, John Callan and Mike Comstock established Major Associates, LLC in 2001 as an independent strategy consultancy to advise clients on partnering opportunities with the U.S. Postal Service. They had come together earlier - Callan as a consultant for USPS and Comstock as a senior officer at DHL – to successfully conceive and orchestrate a breakthrough co-branded partnership between USPS and competitor DHL, launching USPS Global Express Guaranteed (GXG), as a new expanded international express-postal-parcel delivery service.
Callan had been consulting for the Postal Service on parcel product strategies as a “subject matter expert” under Coopers & Lybrand, beginning with the development of USPS’s online shipping application, Click-N-Ship, followed by the introduction of Parcel Select, its economical last-mile ground delivery service designed for consolidators.
Encouraged by their success with the USPS/DHL GXG venture, Callan and Comstock teamed up to form Ursa Major Associates and explore additional partnering opportunities for USPS, successfully advising Pitney Bowes on the roll-up of its nationwide Presort Services business, followed by advising FedEx on the launch of its SmartPost last-mile delivery product via USPS Parcel Select.
2021 – Our Twentieth Anniversary!
global reach
Ursa Major Associates is active in all key global markets. Through decades of senior executive experiences at the world’s leading posts, private sector parcel carriers and service providers, Ursa Major consultants have access to a vast network of market expertise, technical operational excellence and well-informed academic resources.
As the organizer of PostalVision 2020’s highly influential conferences since 2011, Ursa Major has identified and informed thousands of individuals across the ecosystem from the largest well-established corporate players to the newest promising startups.
Associates
Ursa Major Associates is all about the vast domain experience, subject matter expertise and strategic acumen of our "Stars" – the individual experts that comprise our multi-national collective. We represent keenly honed disciplines in trend analysis, strategic visioning, venture financing, and product innovation. We serve as consultants, board members, start-up advisors and through our extensive global reach we are especially adept at leveraging partnerships for our clients to deliver X factor growth.
JOHN CALLAN – Connecticut
Co-founder and CEO Ursa Major Associates and Founder PostalVision 2020, Former VP DHL Global Mail, SVP Purolator, President TNT Skypak, VP Marketing DHL Express, Founder and CEO Calico Air Courier
MIKE COMSTOCK – San Francisco
Co-founder Ursa Major Associates, Former VP TestMart, GM Borderlinx, SVP DHL Express
BERNHARD BUKOVC – France
Chairman, Postal Innovation Platform, Former International Post Corp, Austria Post
ELMAR TOIME – London
E.Toime Consulting, Non-Exec Dir. Solution Dynamics Limited, Non-Exec Dir. Qatar Post, Former Supervisory Board Deutsche Post DHL, Exec Dep Chmn Royal Mail, CEO New Zealand Post
KEVIN McADAMS – Washington, DC
Former VP Delivery and Retail Operations USPS
DAVE WILLIAMS – Washington, DC
Former USPS Board of Governors Vice Chairman, USPS Inspector General
I'M AN ORIGINAL CATCHPHRASE
CLIENTS served