First-of-Its-Kind Production Postage Printing Solution

Neopost / Hasler Introduces First-of-Its-Kind Production Postage Printing Solution. Innovative, High-Speed System Prints Postage Directly Onto Documents. Introducing the new PE-150, a “direct onto documents” Production Postage Printing solution. The PE-150 is a unique, high-speed metering system that literally transforms mailing procedures by applying postage and the Intelligent Mail® Barcode (IMB) directly onto letters and documents after the file has been created. The resulting postage can be displayed either through the address window or an extended return address window.
Designed for production mailing environments, the new postage printing system delivers a significant increase in productivity. It moves mail into the mailstream faster and more efficiently by eliminating conventional time-consuming metering, typically a sequential step in the mailing process. Installed as an optional software module within a mail output management solution, the PE-150 delivers improved reliability and cost savings by eliminating the use of traditional equipment and the associated operating and supplies costs, as well as any spoiled postage.
The advanced technology of the PE-150 offers an industry first: adding postage that includes an Information Based Indicia (IBI) with mailing date, and an IMB to a document print file. All of these components result in the highest level of mail security, a consistently professional “metered” look for mailing documents and a reliable alternative to permit mail or traditional metering. The system is able to co-mingle jobs for better presort discounts, and combine postage and the IMB printing for sorting, tracking and USPS® compliance.
The PE-150 Production Postage Printing Solution is the perfect technology for those with printing requirements up to 10,000 documents/hour. The PE-150 eliminates speed limitations between the mailing machine and folder/inserter, allowing maximum throughput of the folder/inserter to be realized. It is an extremely cost-effective alternative for transaction mailers, commercial print and fulfillment houses, third-party mailers, mailers with print and insert functions, and mailers who perform mixed weight processing.

Has the whole world gone Postal?

Some days it feels that way, with the fear that is gripping Main Street and Wall Street. Trying to make the best of this challenging environment is hard. In the mailing world it is a lot more complicated. Some of the recent proposed USPS changes have made me question my sanity and that of the Post Office. To put these issues in perspective lets take a short stroll down memory lane.

In 2007 our world was turned upside down with the roll-out of Shape Based Pricing in May and just a few short months later the DPV (Delivery Point Validation) requirement for CASS produced mailings for Automation discounts came and went. Intelligent Mail Barcode was beginning to appear on our radar screens as 2008 got closer.

Right as the country was entering this economic downturn in the Fall of 2007, here in San Diego, we faced another terrible firestorm causing the evacuation of a half million people with over 1000 homes and many lives lost. But we pressed on, as the bad news continued to roll in with the New Year. Businesses were focused on doing more with less, looking for maximum value from their mail and we were there to help.

Saving money thru automation of labor intensive processes was one way we saved company’s time and money. By improving their address quality and document integrity we helped them maximize the value proposition that mail provides.

Oh, but it didn’t end there! 2008 saw the introduction of “Commercial” rate discounts for Priority and Express Mail. Another Rate Change in May and new requirements for “Move Update” compliance was implemented in November 2008. Just when we thought we could relax for the holidays, a shift in USPS rate change strategy was announced for competitive products like Priority and Express Mail to be adjusted in January along with FedEx and UPS.

Pressing on, we started 2009 completing the largest January rate change ever when the Postal Gods proposed sweeping changes to how Self Mailers and Booklets were to be prepared (these were mostly all subsequently dropped). Before we even finished digesting this postal gut buster another announcement from the great and powerful wizard behind the curtain, the window location on letter mail must change (thankfully, that only lasted a couple days and the initiative was dropped).

So all is OK now? You wish. There are new address placement guidelines for Flat Mail and we have enforcement of the Move Update requirement in May. Oh and don’t forget we have another Postal rate change On May 11th, get used to them. Speaking of multiple rate changes, our newest systems generally include rate changes at no extra charge, use less ink and are compliant to earn the new discounted Commercial rates.

Just announced - the long anticipated discount for “Full Service IMB” is going to be… Are you sitting down, drum roll please…. $.003 for Automation First Class Mail and $.001 for Automation Standard…yawn. OK so the money may not motivate you, but the value proposition of tracking the mail and keeping addresses current should. Another bonus of Full Service IMB will keep the marketing folks happy with all the extra real estate on the mail piece.

Denying or ignoring these new Postal realities will not make them go away. There are ways to reduce your postal spend, improve your mail’s performance while staying compliant. Use SD Postal as a postal knowledge resource, our sales and service staff is up on this stuff, all are MQC (Mail Quality Control Specialists) certified and they are here to help you find solutions to the world gone Postal.