Mailing Systems Technology - November/December 2008 - (Page 28) M A N A GE M E N T SETTING a STANDARD MPTQM certification ensures a mailer is among the best in the business By Harry Stephens n almost every industry, there are certification requirements. Professionals in fields that range from medicine, to the law, to even spas must be certified by an industry association or the government. What this means is that professionals in almost every sector are required to demonstrate to an independent expert panel they have the knowledge and expertise to do what they claim they can do — and what their clientele expects of them. In some cases, certification helps to prevent fraud and even possible injury to consumers. In the mailing industry, certification ensures enterprises, or their trusted vendor, are deploying the quickest, most accurate, cost-efficient mail delivery. MPTQM Sets a Standard The MPTQM (Mail Preparation Total Quality Management) program was launched in 1995, developed by business mailers from ideas borrowed from three major sources: the International ISO 9000 standards, the Malcolm Baldridge Performance Excellence criteria and the much-respected Total Quality Management procedures. The program is very different from the technical specifications set by the USPS because it was devised to help business mailers go beyond basic requirements to ensure that a “workshare” mail preparation operation meets — and even beats — common quality standards in delivering automated mail efficiently and safely. When a business mailer can demonstrate that it has successfully implemented these standards in day-to-day operations, it is a company that qualifies for the certification. I However, the MPTQM certification process isn’t simple and easy, and it isn’t meant to be. Rather, achieving certification is an endorsement from an independent agency that says the certified mailer is truly among the best in the business. Why Go for This Certification? Though it may not always seem so, the ultimate goal of automation is to make our professional lives easier and more productive. However, as new technologies are introduced, we face an unavoidable period of adjustment while we struggle through the difficult stage of trial-and-error, finding out what these technologies can and can’t do, how to get the most from them and how to improve our processes with them. Through experience, business mailers determine the “best practices” inside their own businesses and/or across the industry, finding the most productive and efficient way to use the new technologies. Determining best practices requires measuring and recording the results of what we do in an accurate and appropriate way. For example, for moving materials from one end of the plant to the other, speed in getting this done would be a likely measure to decide if it’s being accomplished in the best possible way. However, when it comes to sortation, 100% accuracy would be the target to reach and the measurement gauge. And no matter what a company deems best practices are, they are always subject to change with the introduction of new hardware, new software or maybe just the need
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