A Data-enhanced Presorting and Commingling Operation

Westampton, NJ - Ray Clemmer is officially launching his new company, Firebird Presort. The company, which opened its doors more than a year ago, is a standalone operation with full service data-enhanced presorting and commingling capabilities. Today they are releasing their fresh new brand and website.

Ray Clemmer, Founder and CEO, describes his vision: "I wanted to give clients both a world-class service experience and a lot more flexibility in this crazy world of direct mail. I've been in the direct mail business since 1985," he notes. Clemmer learned the business from the ground up. As a well-respected and seasoned professional, he had a vision for a presort business offering an exceptional customer experience. And he had a unique ability to create and execute the necessary strategies to build such an organization. Ray built his dream company, and named it Firebird Presort.

"We really stand apart from other comminglers," explains Clemmer. "There are a lot of things we do to go the extra mile, to make sure our clients have the information they need when they need it. For instance, even though trays or pallets arrive on our dock without a detailed mail manifest, we create one in our process so that emergency piece extraction can be done, if and when a client needs it. This is above and beyond what other comminglers offer. It's like insurance- you don't appreciate the policy until you need it," explains Clemmer. "At the end of the day, it's about saving clients from common issues that can occur during direct mail projects, and of course saving them money with commingling," he adds.

Tracey Gerhart, owner of ICS Corporation, comments on the new business: "I have known Ray for over 15 years, and he understands the business from every angle - the mailshop, the mailer, the USPS and the consumer. He uses that knowledge to provide innovative ways for us to maximize postage savings for our clients and get their mail in homes as quickly as possible, all while creating production efficiencies for the mailhouse. Ray and the entire team at Firebird help us provide enormous value to our clients," she says.

The Equipment

Firebird Presort's customers produce a wide variety of mail pieces that challenge the extreme limits of any sorter. Firebird has chosen sorters by NPI, and has recently installed its third NPI sorter, giving them the capability to sort a total of 2 million pieces of mail per day.

The New Brand

Firebird's new brand identity and website were the brainchild of What's Your Plan LLC, a marketing consulting firm in Chicago. Principal Pat Veverica comments on the process of working with Ray and his staff until everyone was satisfied: "It's not often that you can do 'branding-by-committee,' because the sheer volume of contradicting input tends to water down the final brand. But Ray was very clear about including his hard-working staff in the process. They're all incredibly smart and opinionated," she adds. "The brand personality needed to convey trust and hospitality, and the brand image had to include a firebird of sorts. I'm pleased that the final product represents everything Firebird Presort stands for," Veverica notes.

The website includes playful superhero images of each of the staff members, along with tongue-in-cheek biographies of each person. "We don't take ourselves too seriously around here, everyone is busy working incredibly hard," notes Clemmer.