Managers that must process multiple and even dissimilar applications can minimize processing costs and lower their cost per mailpiece if they can achieve a high level of consistency among the materials, procedures and, especially, the design of the various mailing applications.
The key to minimizing costs is twofold. First, it is to work with peers responsible for the graphic design or look of the mailpiece, such as those in the marketing department or business units initiating the mailing, to reduce variability among the various components of the application.
Second, it is to manage the work processes, especially the efforts of equipment operators, to establish and assure adherence to consistent procedures. Indeed, even those managers fortunate enough to deal with mail volumes that are concentrated in a single or just a few applications can still benefit by eliminating variability among materials and procedures.
Material Quality
Perhaps the easiest task is to assure consistent quality of all of the primary materials. These include the control document, all inserts and the outgoing envelope. Be sure to not overlook key secondary factors like the use of staples, the impact of ink coverage and paper finish.
The need for consistent quality among materials is particularly critical as processing speeds accelerate. At higher cycling speeds, inserting systems are naturally more sensitive to excessive variability in materials, and machine stoppages are also more costly in terms of lost throughput.
Managers should work with their key vendors to assure that all materials are produced, packaged, transported and handled to exact specifications. These performance standards, along with the various steps needed to inspect, record and review adherence to the standards, should be established and agreed to by all involved.
The quality assurance effort can include inspections both during and after the various stages of production and transport. If any changes are necessary, the effort can also extend to assuring strict adherence to an improvement process to guarantee the needed changes are implemented. At a minimum, the specifications being monitored should include dimensions such as size and thickness and other key factors such as window location, flap size and amount of glue.
Onsite inspections will also help assure the proper procedures are followed for packaging, palletizing, handling and staging materials and that materials are properly "climatized" prior to processing.
Ideally, all paper supplies should be received and immediately stored in areas with temperature and humidity conditions identical to those encountered during high-speed processing. If that is not possible, then the materials will need time to climatize to assure smooth processing. The length of time required for climatizing will depend on the ambient air condition at each site.
Operator Experience and Training
Assuring a high level of expertise among all equipment operators is the second key step to improved performance. Customer messaging is a dynamic activity. Applications evolve and new ones emerge as new customers are acquired, new products and services are launched and new messaging techniques are tested and adapted.
Employees often change assignments and jobs as well. So the ongoing training of equipment operators should be a continuing priority. Unfortunately, training is often overlooked or given a low priority in the rush to complete the daily work load.
Managers should play a vital role in assuring the consistency of training through frequent inspections. Equipment operators need to be consistent both in their training and how they apply the training to their work. Managers must be aware of their responsibility to inspect these critical operations and to use agreed upon metrics to evaluate and assure quality.
Effective teamwork is another important aspect that is often overlooked. Some high-speed inserting work stations are designed for two workers. But that means two people working together as one team, not just two people working independently.
Occasionally, some duties or tasks may overlap. At other times, one job will require more effort. In these instances, two people working together as a coordinated and cohesive team will achieve more than two people working alone.
Working with "Upstream" Peers
The third step to improved performance, and perhaps the one with the greatest potential, centers on the need to work collaboratively with peers in the internal business units that initiate the mailings. The goal is to minimize variability without lessening the overall impact of the customer message.
It may seem counter productive to minimize variability when our industry is clearly shifting toward a one-to-one messaging and marketing orientation. But the real key to messaging success lies with the ability to use variability cost effectively. And that means emphasizing variability in the content of the message rather than just its format, appearance or components.
As an example, mailing applications that exceed a certain number of pages in length can require more time in processing simply because the higher page counts require subsetting on an inserting system. Working with internal customers to revise the application by reducing those higher-page-count mailpieces will eliminate the need for subsetting and speed processing.
Duplex printing (printing on both sides of a sheet of paper) can also help reduce the number of pages that are needed without lessening the overall impact of the message. Better utilization of white space can help accommodate more content as well.
Reducing variability among all components of the mailpiece means: standardizing the size and weight of the paper used for control documents (and inserts per enclosure feeder); using similar printing techniques and ink coverage; using a consistent fold format for the control document and each insert; and standardizing the size, weight and flap used for the outbound envelope.
It is not necessary to eliminate variety altogether. Managers can create reusable templates that allow for creativity in design but help to focus creativity in a structured framework.
For example, it is preferable to place the scan code in the same location on the control document in every application. This consistency will help assure both faster set ups and fewer scan errors. However, it can be just as effective to create in advance a family of scan locations, perhaps one in each quadrant of the page, and establish precise processing specifications for each of those locations.
This use of templates allows the print/mail finishing manager to suggest alternatives to internal customers and graphic designers when different scan locations may be needed. As a result, mailpiece designs that require use of a different scan location can be easily accommodated and processed with a minimum of set up or disruption. Additionally, the scan locations on the control document should be isolated from all print or graphic elements or bounded by a minimum perimeter of white space. A clear area around each scan code helps to minimize misreads.
If at all possible, the scan code that is utilized should be "rich" and permit collation verification. A scan code that includes data related to total page count and the current page helps reduce the possibility of mixing collations. Ideally, a file-based scan code which enables on-the-fly comparisons between the scan code on the document and the data file containing information on the mailpiece and the mail run should be employed.
This reporting and control technology helps boost performance by compensating for the occasional mis-scan by allowing the inserting system to make intelligent "if/then" assumptions. For example, if the scan on one mailpiece is missed, but the scan on the mailpiece immediately before and after it is valid, then the system will assume the suspect mailpiece is correct and allow it to be processed.
Consistency among applications also extends to how the mix of inserts are arranged within the mailpiece. For example, some internal customers specify the precise order in which inserts are enclosed in an envelope. This is done to give certain inserts a higher priority since consumers often open envelopes in a consistent fashion. If all inserts are of a uniform size, arranging or rearranging their order of appearance is a minor task. But if the inserts vary in size, the smaller inserts should be sandwiched between larger ones or between the control document and the return envelope for best processing results.
Despite the need for consistency, there is still ample opportunity to accommodate unusual graphic designs. But advance planning is usually required to assure efficient and cost-effective processing.
Michael Broad is a section manager and John Pezutti is a senior engineer with Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies. For additional information, please visit www.pbdmt.com.
