Printers Brace for Big Changes

New auto-sorting technology at the U.S. Postal Service means major changes for printers who prepare mail. The USPS is reinventing the way it processes mail—and these changes will have an affect on every organization that uses mail to deliver its products.

For years, those printers who provide mailing services have been comfortable with a very stable environment of rate structures and standards. That is all about to change.

The USPS is in the process of deploying several new pieces of automatic sorting equipment to increase productivity and reduce labor costs. It started a few years ago with the AFSM-100, which sorts single pieces of flat mail (magazines and catalogs) to the destination.

Currently, the USPS is deploying the Automatic Package Processing System, or APPS. The APPS is designed to automatically sort bundles of magazines and catalogs. It utilizes Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to read the address of the top piece in a bundle, and then sorts that bundle to the destination.

Finally, the USPS has an-nounced its intent to deploy a Flats Sequencing System (FSS) that will sort magazines and catalogs into Delivery Point Sequence (DPS).

So what does this acronym-laden “postal speak” mean? It means that printers who prepare mail are going to be involved with a lot of change over the next couple of years.

The APPS requires that the address of the top piece in a bundle be clear and visible for the OCR to successfully read and sort it. The address cannot be obscured by strapping or wrinkled shrinkwrap. In fact, a new rule goes into effect April 20 that states this requirement exactly—and there are penalties if the address is obscured.

The proposed Flats Sequencing System may have an even more dramatic affect on mail preparation. Carrier Route sortation will have less value to the USPS and, therefore, discounts associated with that level of sort will disappear.

Rather, the USPS will value the preparation of the mail to feed it into the FSS. Large numbers of magazines and catalogs will need to be fed efficiently to maintain high levels of productivity. The discount offered by the USPS could be for preparing the mail in alternative containers, rather than the bundles printers make today.

All of this has an impact on operations upstream from the Postal Service. It will definitely affect bindery operations, equipment configurations, scheduling and even influence investment decisions. The changes will also affect customers by what they mail and how they mail.

This is more change than anything experienced for the last 20 years. Printers need to stay informed and be prepared to adjust operations to the new mail-prep requirements. A good way to do that is to attend the National Postal Forum in Orlando, April 2-5. There is even a special day (Tuesday, April 4) with seven sessions “designed by printers for printers” and sponsored by PIA/GATF. Among other things, there will be discussions on the APPS and compliance with the new rules, as well as on the FSS.