Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 - (Page 46)

Operations Save You Money den savings potential so dependable that you can set your watch on their reliability. The new approach could start with your print department, which has been sending out mailings via large, ﬂat window envelopes with “John Q Public’s” name and address visible in the window. If your organization’s monthly statement to John Q is over 1/4-inch thick, it will not ﬁt through the new gauged spaces on postal feeder equipment. The result is that it does not move fast enough, costs a day or two extra in the mail and may result in loss of monetary interest because payments were delayed. The problem is that because the contents in the letter are over 1/4-inch thick, the mailpiece does not run through a “hands-free process” and is relegated to the unthinkable — human hands that have to ﬁnish moving it through the system! The ﬁrst part of the solution: reengineer the old way of printing addresses on the middle of the form and inserting the pages into a large, ﬂat envelope. There are software packages that can help facilitate this process by allowing you to fold the items in half, and then place them in a 6”x 9” envelope, which is lighter and less expensive than a larger envelope (e.g. 10”x 13”). The second part of the solution: print the information on both sides of the paper (duplex printing). You have now cut the thickness in half and can ﬁt the statement into the 6”x 9” envelope for the same price as regular postage. An Organizational Hero You have, using a relatively simple mailpiece strategy, cut your oversized postage costs in half. Whatever your title and area of responsibility, these are the kinds of operational changes that make you a hero. If you bring a simple envelope into an administrative meeting and state that you can save 6¢ to 12¢ on that envelope, you will see a few faces look at you and wonder Simple Strategies to Effective mailpiece solutions for demanding times By Joe Freeman T he longer I remain in the service industry, the more amazed I am at the continued changes in mail center operations combined with the never-ending battle to reduce operational costs. Many have told me over the years that you can only go so far in reducing costs before you negatively aﬀect service quality. Yet in light of rate changes last year by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), mail center managers have a prime opportunity to implement relatively simple mailpiece strategies that can help their organizations reduce costs without compromising quality. The USPS did not just change the rates, but changed the classiﬁcation structure as well. Whereas, previously, rates were based on weight, they are now based on size, thickness and weight. Overall, these changes were designed to motivate mailers to use standardsize envelopes that are easy to process and save the Postal Service time in handling and re-handling envelopes. The plan called for organizations and mail centers to consider their mailpieces and decide how many pieces can be sent the easiest way. Hidden Savings Potential These changes give mail center managers an opportunity to “shake up” something within their control that can positively impact the bottom line. Let’s examine two items — envelopes and postage stamps — that provide hid- 46 MAY-JUNE 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008

Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer It’s an Inside Job Greening Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Intelligent Mail and Address Quality 7 Steps to Combat “Do Not Mail” A Successful Resolution Q&A with Dan G. Blair, Chairman, Postal Regulatory Commission The Intelligent Mail Barcode Developing High-Performance Teams Simple Strategies to Save You Money A Powerful Social Network With Change, Comes Opportunity Increasing the Deliverability of Mail Kate’s Slate Products & Services People of Distinction Advertiser Index Sho Time

Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008

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