Redesign of a Letterbox for Indian Postal Services: Physical Box Intended for Use by the General Public in Order to Collect Outgoing Mail...!

The Indian Postal Service, with 155,333 post offices, is the most widely distributed post office system in the world. The large numbers are a result of a long tradition of many disparate postal systems which were unified in the Indian Union post-Independence. There is a lack of well designed products in the public domain due to the difficulty in tendering process in the Government Sector. Unfortunately, new technology based products need investments in tooling and development, which do not figure in the method of operation for purchase in the Government Sector. The attempt of the project is to provide well designed products in the public domain. Having maintenance-free letter boxes was the long time requirement by the Indian post. As a part of initial step in design process related literature and patents are reviewed. A few of those researches and patents by great designers and inventors are explored here, which are related directly or indirectly to the proposed area of work that is design of a ?Letter box for Indian postal service?. These papers are to support and enlighten the whole process of design in the specific area.