1,000,000 Pieces of Mail in One Year for New System

Daran Finney, UPE; Charlie Harless, Mail Room; Pat Kopp, UPE; and John Johnson, University Printing Services with the 1,000,000th piece of mail processed by the new addressing system. The piece happened to be part of a University Public Events mailing.

On Monday, September 15, the 1,000,000th piece of mail was processed by University Printing Services, using a high-speed ink-jet addressing system. The system, purchased just over a year ago and overseen by John Johnson, has revolutionized the ability to handle bulk mailings by both Printing Services and the Mail Room.

Charlie Harless, manager of the Mail Room and Warehouse Operations, and John Johnson, manager of University Printing Services, began to look for ways to automate the processing of bulk mail about two years ago. Knowing that the United States Postal Service (USPS) would be making major changes in postal regulations for bulk mail in July 1996, a move to an automated system became imperative. Up until July of 1996, bulk mail was processed by hand.

Joe DiMaggio, publicist for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and a major user of bulk mailings, describes the process: "By the old method, I would first have to obtain the correct mailing list, physically output it on mailing labels, and hire three to four students for a total of thirty to forty hours to put on the labels. Then we would still need to order by zip code and place in banded packets before delivering to the Mail Room. It would still take from three days to a week for the mail to be delivered."

According to DiMaggio, the new system has saved a tremendous amount of both time and money, and it has ensured the timely delivery of mail--in one or two days in Chico.

The new system has saved over $53,000 in mailing costs in the year it has been in operation, said Johnson. He has invested countless hours in learning about the system and the machine and educating clients with bulk mailings in how to maintain a proper mailing list.

The high speed ink-jet addressing system which includes a machine which can address up to 10,000 envelopes per hour and the computer software to operate it, enables bulk mailers to take advantage of the new automation rates offered by the USPS. The best bulk rate, given that mail fits into certain categories, is properly checked against the national address database, and is properly addressed and bar coded, is ten cents a piece.

The total investment for the new system was $40,000. University Printing made a down payment and borrowed the remainder from the AS. The first mailing processed on this equipment was on July 18, 1996.

The $53,000 in savings amounts to a nickel for each piece of bulk mail. This reduction in postage benefited each department that processed a bulk mail through this new system. Johnson and Harless deserve commendation for both their perseverance in seeing the necessity for the system and for the resultant savings in both time and resources for the entire university community. If you would like to take advantage of this service, please contact John Johnson at University Printing Services.

KM with John Johnson