Innovation in Motion Presentation at Post Expo 03 (for PowerPoint slides please contact DHawkins@IDMailSystems.com) ID Mail Systems Innovation in Motion Automation of International Mail Production Over the last decade, as the world speeds down the path of globalization, international mail volumes have continued to grow and increase in complexity. While many domestic postal providers have done well in automating of the internal mail distribution, the outbound, cross-boarder mail volumes are still largely processed manually. Since 2001, ID Mail Systems has innovated many of the core MLOCR technologies utilized in the domestic USA presort industry, to automate the multiple processes that make up the international mail segment. In order to appreciate the complexity of these mail volumes, we need to first review the current processes still in use around the world. Recently, ID Mail Systems under took an automation project with the Deutsche Post Global Mail organization to consolidate the manual processing into a single automated step. Prior to the deployment of the ID Mail solutions, DPGM’s daily processing of international mail volumes consisted of the following steps: Step 1: Job Check-In – Operators manually entered job set up from Job Tickets. Step 2: Zone Sortation – Operators manually break down mail items by Zones Step 3: Weights and Counts – Operators manually weigh and count each mail piece by zone Step 4: Final Sortation – Mail is sorted by destination. Special handling for REIMS destinations Step 5: Franking – variable PPI (indicia) applied based on service level of delivery Step 6: Data Collection – mail data manually entered into customer billing system Step 7: Dispatch – mail containers closed and verified for accuracy Seven steps just to prepare mail for delivery, prone to clerical and sorting errors, taking multiple operators hours to produce, with mail possibly handled upwards of 4 times per piece. What Deutsche Post Global Mail and the international remail marketplace demanded was for suppliers to understands their processes and build systems that could consolidate all the above into a single step. ID Mail Systems has answered the call and introduced in 2002: The ID Mail MLOCR International Dispatcher A mail sorting system to automate the production and perform the following processes in a single step Sort Letters, Flats and Mixed Mail Trays Read Addresses and Other Codes on Mail and Sort to Destinations Video Code Addresses Not Automatically Sorted Format Recognition – Sorting by Mail Item Dimensions Weigh-on-the-Fly – Sorting by Weight with Manifest Reporting Label Over Poly Items or Pre-Printed Indicia Print Bar Codes and Postage Paid Impressions Based on Service Level Sort Mail Items into Existing Tubs and Trays Manage Customer Jobs Download Job Configurations Upload Job Production Data to Billing/IT Systems Develop Auxiliary Products for Total Solution Processes Revenue Protection Systems Manual Workstations for Non-Machineable Mail Items M Bag Mail Processing The ID Mail Dispatcher available today is a system that has evolved over the last 2 years to comply with the market requirement both within the United States and around the world. To date several major European Postal Services, such as Deutsche Post, Royal Mail and La Poste, along with major USA International Remailers like Brokers Worldwide, Johnson & Hayward and others have implemented the Dispatchers to fully automate the weighing, counting, sorting and accounting processes. Let’s explore how ID Mail Systems integrated a number of technologies to produce a single step production...... Continuing to build on the international automation plan, ID Mail Systems introduced several accessory products in 2003: M-Bag System Manual Mail Workstation (MMW) Production Management System (PMS) Offline Hand Print Recognition Interface Software And for 2004, ID Mail System takes “AIM” at international revenue protection and mail quality measurements with the launch of the “Automated Inspection of Mail” or AIM System: a statistical data collection system to measure incoming international mail for postal services. The ID Mail AIM System is designed to: Measure All Mail Formats o Petite, Grande and Small Packets in Bundles and Mixed Trays Capture Weight for Each Mail Item Capture Full Images of Mail and Storage Networked Data Transfer of All Mail Measurements Fully Upgradeable International/Domestic MLOCR Dispatcher System ID Mail Systems provides innovative and cost-effective USPS and International postal barcode printing, identification, sorting and accountable mail tracking systems to mail service bureaus, corporate mail centers, international mailers and private delivery companies. Founded in 1997, ID Mail has helped customers worldwide improve their profitability by reengineering mail operations with solutions that reduce expenses and increase quality and speed of mail processing. Visit ID Mail Systems at www.IDMailSystems.com to see the latest technology in mail automation offered to meet the demands of an ever changing marketplace.