Parcel - April 2008 - (Page 21)

electronically in a matter of minutes, well in advance of the effective date of the rate change. Improved Document Management: More Than Just Sending out Mail As communications and document streams continue to grow, more ﬁnancial and human resources are tied up in the process of generating, distributing and validating documents and mail. This takes into consideration the entire mail and parcel communications spectrum, from document preparation, processing and metering to accounting and inbound/outbound tracking. Improved communications management becomes essential, and today’s technology provides organizations with the ability to prepare and handle mail more efﬁciently, signiﬁcantly increase document and mail visibility and have quicker access to critical postage account information. Today, it is just as important to recognize how your documents are being electronically prepared and mailed as it is to understand the volume and postage costs associated with them. Increased proﬁts can literally be squeezed out of an organization’s entire mail and document stream. Consider the level of savings — both in time and resources — if you could eliminate duplicate and unnecessary mailings, consolidate invoices, group your mailings to achieve postal savings, reduce returned mail through address veriﬁcation and much more. It’s all about improving your overall document and mail management process, from ﬁle creation to ﬁnal destination. It’s the mail center’s equivalent to Lean Manufacturing. To help achieve these results, end users are adopting a variety of comprehensive solutions, including more integrated document management. Integrated document management begins with a careful analysis of your mail stream and document handling requirements — from all departments — followed by seamlessly combining practical software and hardware solutions and responsive service support. The result is a process that efﬁciently creates, stores and mails documents, with customers reporting dramatic savings in postage, resources and labor costs. A unique component of integrated document management is new software that very efﬁciently integrates document creation, production, distribution, mailing and shipping within a single automated operation. The software is designed to enhance the preparation and printing of critical business documents by receiving raw or formatted data from a wide variety of sources within an organization and transforming it into professional, easy-to-read business documents. It reduces mailing costs, enhances the security and integrity of important business information and improves processing efﬁciency. time. Most companies in our industry are investing heavily in technologies to help customers simplify and streamline the process of everyday mail management. These new technologies, for example, help monitor the mailing machine remotely and pinpoint potential problems before they occur; trigger delivery of a new supply of ink when the onboard reservoirs begin to run low; download new application features and postal service rate table updates; and electronically track the delivery of parcels. Another important aspect of mail and shipping management involves pre-payment for postage, still required by the Postal Service and a practice that often ties up cash ﬂow and frustrates the company accountant. To simplify pre-payment, our industry has developed new methods of streamlining the entire process of obtaining and paying for postage, methods that allow customers to obtain postage immediately, manage cash ﬂow better and defer payment. Of course, you can’t manage what isn’t monitored and measured, so mailing and shipping managers need to have visibility on how postage is spent. Almost every customer can beneﬁt from products that automate the collection and compilation of mailing machine activity data that can be used for chargeback accounting and job monitoring. These important new tools are available today and are valued both by busy mail center and shipping managers who previously compiled data manually and company bookkeepers who rely on timely and accurate reports. With ongoing initiatives from the USPS aimed at dramatically improving mail and parcel processing, the industry has its own critical role to play in developing faster, easier and more efﬁcient solutions. Our industry has shown its ability to drive product innovation and engineered technology to new heights, with equipment features that have helped customers operate efﬁciently in the smallest mail centers and the largest production centers. But it is important that we keep our eye on the ball, that we recognize and anticipate customer needs over and above product development and that we play critical roles in making the job easier and more efﬁcient for those who purchase our products. This means developing a different way of looking at mail and document management and identifying unique ways to improve efﬁciencies. It is critical that we in the industry help customers recognize where improvements can be made throughout the entire document preparation and mail stream, and to put the right tools in their hands to affect these changes. More and more, the mail center is being identiﬁed as a critical component of business and customer communication processes. Industry leaders and end users who understand the importance of investing in technology and more efﬁcient processes have a tremendous opportunity to positively impact the customers’ bottom line. John Grogan is the Vice President of Marketing for Hasler, Inc. For more information on how to enhance your mailing and shipping processes, visit www.haslerinc.com. ■ Spring 2008 21 On Screen, Online and On Time While mail and shipping managers are always alert for ways to shave postage expenses and take advantage of Postal Service discounts, it’s easy to overlook other hidden targets for operational and ﬁnancial efﬁciencies, like the dreaded down www.PARCELindustry.com http://www.haslerinc.com http://www.PARCELindustry.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Parcel - April 2008

PARCEL - April 2008 Contents Editor's Note Moving Forward Recycling for Safety’s Sake Want Some Good News? Negotiations Have No Finish Line... Lowering your Parcel Shipping Costs Meeting Industry Challenges New Pricing, New Opportunities Time to Track It’s Scan-tastic! 10 Recycling Facts The New USPS Law Changes New Law, New Opportunities for Package Shippers A Diamond in the Rough Seven Shipping Trends for 2010 ...and Beyond The Move Update Changes A Simple Shipping Solution A Case Study in Efficiency New Products and Services Industry News Advertiser Index

Parcel - April 2008

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