NEW YORK (May 12, 2008) – With postage price increases taking effect today, Océ Business Services, a leader in document process management and electronic discovery, shared recommendations to help enterprises increase the efficiency of their mail management operations while containing costs.
 
Océ Business Service provides the following guidelines designed to help organizations address five key mail management issues:
 
Minimize costly flats
Fold pages and insert them into smaller envelopes. For example, inserting nine pages into a 10”x13” flat envelope will cost $1.14 in postage. Folding the same nine pages and inserting them into a 6”x9.5” envelope will cost $.59 in postage, a 49 percent savings (a 6”x 9.5” envelope is .5 ounces lighter than a large envelope). In addition to folding, duplex-printing documents (copying on both sides of the page rather than one side) before mailing can reduce postage costs by minimizing both the weight and thickness of the mail piece.
 
Automate and save
Companies can save postage costs by making their mail “automation compatible,” which means preparing it according to USPS regulations that allow the mail to be sorted down to the finest possible detail for processing by automated equipment. Addressing requirements include using all capitals in the address, omitting all punctuation except the hyphen in the ZIP+4 code, and using the proper abbreviations for states. Other requirements include barcode clear zone, placement of the block address, and the required placement of the return address.
 
Pay attention to shape
Review designs of all current and planned mailings to ensure that they are cost-effective using shape-based pricing requirements. For example, a one-ounce 6”x6” envelope’s aspect ratio (length divided by height) is 1.0. Since this does not fall within the required range of 1:3 to 2:5, the envelope is subject to a non-automation-compatible surcharge.
 
Address for success
Undeliverable addresses cost the USPS an estimated $2 billion per year, and to businesses that can mean unpaid invoices, lost sales, and poor customer service. Accurate addresses are critical to the post office delivering mail to intended recipients and ensuring that postage costs will not be wasted on bad addresses. Additionally, the USPS implemented a new intelligent barcode system last year. Creating automation-compatible mail pieces with proper address components will enable companies to maximize their postal discounts and reduce surcharges for non-compliant address content.
 
Contain Certified Mail Costs
Organizations can realize significant savings by using a Certificate of Mailing instead of Certified Mail. Businesses often use Certified Mail to verify that a mail piece has been sent. Using a Certificate of Mailing can accomplish this much more cost effectively, especially if verification of delivery or a return receipt are not required. For example, a company can save $3.82 for every one ounce letter using a Certificate of Mailing. For a small fee, Proof of Delivery can be requested from the USPS at a later date.