Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 - (Page 19)

There are bound to be alerts and warnings inside a business that should be recognized and explored further in order to improve overall mail process efﬁciency. The following list of areas should be examined to help identify opportunity for reducing costs, ensuring mail security, improving customer communication and raising productivity. Once identiﬁed, a plan should be developed to transform mail output so it aligns with the strategic direction of the Postal Service. In this way, businesses may actually process mail that makes a positive impact on the bottom line. Five Steps of the Mail Flow Process 1 Document Preparation — Decisions made at this step of the mail ﬂow process will either positively or negatively impact each subsequent process. Once a document has been produced, the address, number of pages, security features and tracking capabilities cannot be changed. Understanding the desired end result of each mail communication will help determine strategy at this phase. Simple address validation tools and document intelligence implemented at this step can cause a 50%-60% reduction in total mail cost. Look for ways to improve address quality, reduce the number of pages and eliminate manual processes during the following steps of the process to help realize savings for your business. 2 Document Processing — After document production, the piece must be put into the appropriate envelope. While many businesses don’t quantify cost of poor docu- ment processing toward the bottom line, signiﬁcant expense and customer satisfaction issues often occur at this stage when proper strategy is not in place. Consider the labor associated with folding and inserting documents. On top of this, using the wrong size envelope can cost up to 49% more in postage than required. Another major concern for businesses today is the security and integrity of envelope contents. Co-mingled documents have massive consequences related to privacy laws and customer loyalty. Having mail veriﬁcation and validation at this stage is an important aspect of maintaining control over document output and should be addressed in every mail ﬂow process. 3 Envelope Metering — Sometimes referred to as “the stamp machine,” more frequently, the postage meter, is playing a vital role in efﬁcient mail ﬂow process. Prior to Postal Transformation, calculating the rate for a mailpiece was as simple as dropping it onto a scale to be weighed. Today, the meter operator must also calculate the aspect ratio along with the thickness of the piece before determining the correct rate. as other mail carriers, is critical data that helps optimize mail communication costs. It also provides security for company dollars stored on the postage meter. Capturing data by account, mail class and type will help control cost. 5 Inbound Receiving — One reason that the Postal Transformation is taking place is the increase in the speed of communication. With this shift, being able to handle inbound communications as efﬁciently as outbound communications has become more important. Tracking, distributing and processing inbound mail and packages seamlessly and accurately affects how well businesses can complete transactions. It is not simply how well you communicate with customers, but how well you receive and react to their responses. This relates to receiving and processing payment remittance, processing product returns or handling inbound documents. An efﬁcient and secure inbound receiving strategy will complete the mail communication ﬂow. Call to Action A great ﬁrst step is to analyze current document generation and distribution ﬂow. Start with the two highest volume outgoing mail communications. Set clear objectives as to expectations achieved with the communication. Next, follow the mail ﬂow as outlined above, identifying areas of opportunity for improvement that achieve these objectives while reducing processing costs. Lastly, map out an implementation program to allow the adoption of these new business practices. Postal education is crucial to making sure new processes will have the desired result. Ultimately, recognizing the mail center as a critical part of business and customer communication processes, and making an investment to align with Postal Transformation, means one more opportunity to positively impact the bottom line. For additional information on how to optimize your mail center processes, as well as on Neopost’s products and services, please visit www. neopostinc.com. By understanding the direction the USPS is headed in and aligning your mail output with Strategic Transformation, you can not only control your costs but improve the overall value mail has on your business. This has led to two speciﬁc costs that impact businesses. The ﬁrst is over-posting. By applying more postage than required to make sure mail is delivered, postage expenses are being increased artiﬁcially. The second is under-posting. Miscalculating postage due to increased complexity can cause more returned mail or clients receiving mail stamped “Postage Due.” Either way, the bottom line is impacted, and corporate image and customer satisfaction concerns can arise. Implementation of dimensional weighing at this step ensures proper postage application cost controls. 4 Postal Accounting — Warnings and alerts provide important feedback to help guide our decision-making and become powerful leading indicators of future results. Postage accounting can play this role within the mail ﬂow process. Understanding to whom, where and what is being sent through the post ofﬁce, as well WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM | FEBRUARY 2008 19 http://www.neopostinc.com http://www.neopostinc.com http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com

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Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer How to Green Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Warning! Avoid Negative Financial Impact More Productivity, Less Expense BCC Software Formscan A Smooth Transition Kate’s Slate Products & Services Advertiser Index Sho Time

Mailing Systems Technology - February 2008

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