MAILCENTER: Extreme Changes Raise Questions

How could anything make mailer owners and mail service providers completely re-think the way we prepare and enter flat mail? After all, Carrier Route sort has been the goal as long as most of us have been in the business. It has been the “ultimate solution,” the Holy Grail and simply the basis of doing mail preparation for as long as the gray beards can remember.

But that's all about to change with the introduction of the Flats Sequencing System (FSS) by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). This technology, in testing for three years, is the latest assault on processing costs under the strategy of cost elimination by way of automation. The simple goal is to provide Delivery Point Sequenced (DPS) flat mail so that carriers don't need to perform that task.

Today, a carrier may spend two to three hours casing flat mail (magazines, catalogs and First-Class flat mail) into DPS before he/she even sets foot on the route. FSS implementation will eliminate that task and get carriers on the streets sooner—saving time and cost.

Once the installation of FSS is complete, mail preparation (and probably the associated rates) could be dramatically different than today. Preparing mail for induction into automated flats processing to achieve DPS would be much different than preparing for a carrier to receive and break down a bundle of flats into DPS.

The USPS is running a live, 150´ long FSS machine in pre-production mode at its Dulles, VA processing facility. (It's doing limited processing of live mail to learn about the operation of the equipment and work out any bugs.) Deployment of 100 more units, manufacturer by Northrop Grumman, is scheduled to begin later this year.

The impact of FSS could be significant. If the USPS wants to consider the container that a mail service provider creates during preparation as an “input,” it could be something other than the traditional bundle that we know today. On the other hand, it could be a bundle but not assembled using today's rules. Perhaps there'll be requirements for bundle packaging so it can be automatically unassembled for FSS processing. The impact may also be felt in the addressing area. Instead of using people and our natural ability to reason through slight problems, FSS relies on computers to read addresses and sort flats into DPS. If the address is not exactly correct or placed where the FSS can read it, the result could be a rejection rather than a piece that is sorted correctly.

All of these questions, and more, need to be answered. Everyone needs to be involved and informed about the issues and the proposed solutions. Quite simply, this will be revolutionary change in mail preparation and processing.

To learn about the latest developments and issues, consider attending the National Postal Forum (www.npf.org) in Anaheim, CA, May 18-21. A symposium on Tuesday, May 20, is dedicated to the Flats Sequencing System. Other symposia topics include Intelligent Mail, packaging and direct-mail sustainability.

Special sessions will focus on postal technology and inspection systems. Attendees who complete a specific number of workshops in a track can earn an official USPS professional certificate. Thirteen programs are being offered this year, including: quality addressing (new), targeted mail marketing, optimizing preparation and entry processes (new), periodicals, college/university mailing and nonprofit mailing. Monday's opening session features Postmaster General Jack Potter.

Mark your calendars for next year: The 2009 NPF is scheduled for May 17-20 in Washington, DC.

In addition to the National Postal Forum, printers and other mailers also will gather April 29 - May 2 in the Atlantic City, NJ Convention Center for the 28th annual Mailcom. The 2008 fair features more than 300 exhibit booths and 140 educational seminars on topics such as the new postal and barcode regulations and how to go green in the mail center.

Mailcom has five seminars in the Postal & Intelligent Mail track to aid business mailers in the use of the to-be-required Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB). These seminars show how the IMB replaces the current PostNet barcode, how to use the IMB to benefit your operations, how to get started and other compliance requirements. The IMB revolutionizes how mail integrates into the postal system and is processed.

The working IMB deadline is May 2009. All mail must have the new barcode to be eligible for automation discounts. “Accordingly, automation prices will no longer be available for the use of the PostNet barcode,” states a postal notice.

For three and a half days, attendees also will learn—via workshops and roundtable discussions—how to cut distribution costs and how to design mail printing and processing systems and other technology solutions.

A keynote address is scheduled from Dan Blair, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, who'll look at what's in store for the industry as it enters the era of postal reform.

ONLINE: Register at the Mailcom and a NPF Websites—www.mailcom-conference.com and www.npf.org