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LUMBER PRODUCTS PRESORTS ITS WAY TO
$20,000 IN ANNUAL SAVINGS
Searching for a mailing solutions partner
Each day, Lumber Products, a wholesale distributor of quality wood products to the Northwest and Intermountain States sends out up to 1,400 customer invoices and approximately 100 accounts payable checks daily. The company was in search of a mailing partner that could provide impeccable service and cost-cutting solutions to replace the third-party vendor currently used.
An integrated approach to in-sourcing
Lumber Products worked with Neopost to install PrintMachine Office Plus, an easy-to-use software solution, to deliver significant postage savings and increased productivity. The company was already utilizing folder/inserter and metering machines from Neopost, making integrating the software solution a simple feat.
Increased productivity with at least $80/mailing saved
The manufacturer has seen reported savings in the range of $75-80 per mailing, but believes that the actual savings are even higher due to consolidation of customer mailings.
» Click here to read the full case study. |
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TRACKING POSTAGE AND SHIPPING EXPENSES IS A KEY FACTOR IN DELIVERING EFFECTIVE MAIL CENTER COST CONTROL
 "Groundbreaking" is an appropriate word to describe the recent rate change from the United States Post Office (USPS).
In fact, the rate change, which took place on May 14, 2007, delivered an unprecedented surge of cost and complexity to American businesses. Under the USPS's new Shape-Based Pricing (SBP) rules, mail items that may look similar to the naked eye (because they weigh and look the same) now have to be priced differently depending on their length, height, thickness and weight. Organizations that are not prepared, and keep sending letter, flats and parcel the way they did before May might experience postage cost increases as high as 40% to 50% on their mail pieces.
Further complicating matters is the fact that commercial and express carriers continue to increase rates every year, making it difficult for customers to determine which carrier offers the best cost/service ratio for a specific mailing or shipment.
Unless your brain (or the brain of the person in charge of your mailing and shipping activities) can compute a few thousand “shape-based” and rating combinations instantaneously, there is a good chance that your company is either overpaying or underpaying the postage due for the mail and packages you send out every day. Naturally, because of the higher postage rates and increased complexity – due largely to the SBP changes - customers will not only need better mail automation but also increased visibility and detailed reporting of postal expenses.
The good news? There are myriad ways to track postage expenditures more accurately and, as a result, reduce those costs significantly. Some of the ways involve simply making just a few small adjustments in your mailroom operation; others are a bit more complex and require a financial investment in new technology (i.e., mailroom software solutions).
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WARNING: POSTAL TRANSFORMATION MAY BE AFFECTING YOUR BOTTOM LINE
Our personal lives are filled with warnings and alerts that help guide us to make changes in our behavior to keep us safe, financially sound and productive. Consider the yellow traffic light – without this warning of an impending red light, our drive to and from work would be a little more dangerous. At our annual physical, our blood pressure is taken, providing an indicator of future health problems and guiding us to make changes in our habits and routines. Even our credit card company calls to let us know about possible fraud with our personal finances or identity. Each of these alerts guides us to make changes in our behavior or take action to protect our future interests.
So, how does this relate to your mailroom? First, we must look at what is currently occurring within the United States Postal Service (USPS). They are in the middle of making revolutionary changes in the way they do business to ensure that they continue to be a viable player in the communications business of the future. Much of this change has been forced by radical shifts in the way in which people communicate and with the speed that this communication takes place. In 2002, the USPS published a plan to reinvent itself, called Strategic Transformation. The basis of this plan calls for the identification of ways to increase revenue, reduce costs, improve service and develop a performance-based culture.
» See the rest of the article here. |
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