Reprint from Output Links: The forth of a six-part series on customer communications management and optimizing the mailstream

Special Interests: Customer Communication Management Series
Unlock the profitability in your mailstream.

August 1, 2006

Revenue and Relevance through
Intelligence in the Mailstream

Part Four: Adding Production Intelligence to drive the
“who, what and when” of the customer conversation.

By John Schloff
Vice President of Strategy, Product Management and Marketing
Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies

A customer relationship is an ongoing conversation.

Production Intelligence that drives the who/what/when of that conversation is critical to optimizing the Customer Communication Value Chain and increasing productivity.  It’s the information layer that improves analysis and provides accurate real-time reporting to gain efficiencies.

Ten years ago, the Gartner Group described a vision called automated document factory (ADF).  It marries the production and delivery of high-volume documents with proven manufacturing techniques.  Today, the ADF is a highly efficient reality with a strategic twist -- production intelligence comprised of solutions that apply the data and intelligence that is collected.  While “speeds and feeds,” remain an important factor, adding intelligence delivers more valuable information across functions.  These gains include: total end-to-end mail piece tracking, reporting and control; shared intelligence among work steps; uniform data collection and storage interfaces; and flexible configurations that are scaleable and modular, device independent, with full backward compatibility.

Production intelligence can also be extended to identify who your customers are, what you’re delivering to them and when you delivered it.  Part of this who/what/when is determined using customer data that can be accessed to supplement production data when needed.  The result is an end-to-end production intelligence that allows you to know exactly what is being communicated to which customers and when.

What drives the demand for production intelligence?
Periodic documents such as bills and statements are becoming relationship and marketing vehicles.  Savvy organizations use personalization and timely messaging to match communications -- outside and inside the envelope and online – to customer needs.  What’s more, marketing and customer support departments need records of the who/what/when and where of those communications available any time, any place.

Next is privacy.  Organizations must comply with stringent privacy regulations (HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, etc.) that stipulate flawless integrity and accounting to ensure the right messages reach the right customers.

Consider, too, consolidations and acquisitions that force various print and mail operations to inter-operate between multiple locations on various platforms and systems.  Short of consolidations, many organizations must integrate disparate legacy systems with new technologies and multi-vendors. This raises openness and flexibility to the same level of importance as controlling costs, meeting service level agreements, and reducing cycle times and handling.

All this isn’t cheap.  Document production (printing, insertion and sortation) comprises a significant portion of mailing costs.  Cost control demands tighter real-time, end-to-end tracking and reporting, all of which are becoming standard requirements.

Add it up and accuracy, integrity, reliability and total accountability equals, and even surpasses, through-put speed as critical to profitability.

Raising Production Intelligence I.Q. with file-based processing
Adding ADF intelligence starts with storing it in a central data repository that allows all users to store, share, view and manage critical document information.

This enables transforming inserter control from direct bar code scanning to file-based processing (the basis for Pitney Bowes Direct Connect™).  File-based processing employs a compact bar code that acts as a pointer to a larger, data-rich (more intelligent) server-resident file.  Because file-based codes are pointers, they can be much smaller and less obtrusive than markings that carry all data “in the ink.”

With its set of tightly controlled management tools, file-based is fast becoming the standard for high-volume insertion.

A file-based system offers these benefits:

• Piece-level tracking makes the insertion process infinitely more intelligent with the ability to know exactly what was communicated to what customers and when 
• Intelligent controls and real-time auditing support 100% integrity 
• Reprints can be made on-the-fly, without stopping production 
• Sharper fine-tuning of production performance

Building intelligence without breaking the bank
A full transformation to file-based can be time consuming and costly.  That’s why companies are making the transition affordable with scalable solutions that gradually implement file-based upgrades in the production department with little or no additional resources from IT.

With a foundation of centralized file-based processing in place, output management software and hardware solutions can be deployed to support integrity, production efficiency and distribution of critical customer communications.

Holding up the hardware end of the conversation
Total integrity at the inserter is another area where higher intelligence can make a big difference.  Today’s advanced, high-efficiency, intelligent inserters (Pitney Bowes’ APS™ and FPS™ series inserter systems are examples) are designed to run in a file-based environment.  Whether running in a high-volume in-house mail production area, or a service bureau, intelligent inserters are becoming the workhorses of near 100% integrity processing that delivers not only raw speed, but also maximum uptime.

Putting more “up” in uptime
Maximizing uptime can be realized through high-reliability inserters and automated processes.  One process example is automated inserter control (ACI) -- as offered by Emtex®, a Pitney Bowes company -- that makes controlling and changing documents on the inserter faster, easier and more flexible.  With ACI, users can add, delete or move OMR/barcodes without changing the print application.  It also sorts documents by page count into multiple output buckets and separates oversize/overweight pieces to minimize manual labor and downtime.

Efficiently closing the conversational loop
Knowing where customers’ messages are is easy with “instant” media like Web or phone.  When it’s via mail, many companies use tracking systems that leverage USPS® PLANET® codes and other coding to track not only where mailpieces are in transit, but also their contents.

With a mail tracking system in place, companies can leverage information that provides timely updates on which incoming and outgoing mailings went out when, to whom, and delivery dates.  For instance, knowing the precise dates on which customers receive outgoing mail can provide a basis for more efficient staffing and preparation of call centers.  Another example:  e-mail follow-ups can be timed to the most advantageous dates following customers’ receipt of mailings.

And so it goes – a continuous, intelligent customer conversation that builds stronger, more profitable relationships.

About the author
John Schloff is Vice President of Strategy, Product Management and Marketing for Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies.  He has provided thought leadership to small businesses to Fortune 100® firms on how Customer Communications Management optimizes the mailstream to create cost savings and increased revenues.

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