Mail Entry Roadmap and the Near-Future of the USPS BROUGHT TO YOU BY ver. 112315
You may have noticed that the United States Postal Service has provided customers a Mail Entry Roadmap outlining the differences in the way mail will be accepted or presented to the USPS for delivery. They have proposed a slew of changes that have been bubbling under the surface for some time now. The USPS describes the changes in detail in a 48-page document that has been revised eight times over the past four months. These changes will affect your business. This guide is intended to demystify and provide some context on the Roadmap itself, and help you, the mailer, understand what the changes mean to you. FULL SERVICE STILL NOT REQUIRED (EXCEPT WHEN IT IS) The mail entry roadmap spends a lot of time talking about customers entering Full Service Mailings. For all the discussion around Full Service, it boils down to just two requirements: electronic documentation and unique Full- Service IMb barcodes. 1. First, all mailings must be presented with edocs, or electronic documentation, providing all of the information that would typically be in your Qualification report and Postage statement, but uploaded directly to the USPS PostalOne! website. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, such as Mail.dat, Mail.xml, or using the Postage Statement Wizard. 2. The second requirement relates to the IMb, or Intelligent Mail Barcode, including uniqueness. You probably know that to claim automation discounts, you must use an IMb for all mailpieces. The IMb itself is not compliant with Full Service regulations, but it is pretty easy to do so by making sure the serial number in the IMB is unique to each mailpiece for 45 days. The same rule holds true for Sack/Tray labels (IMTL) and pallet placards (IMCB). If you can prepare your mail with edocs and unique barcodes, you are compliant with the Full Service regulations. The adoption of Full Service is progressing, and according to the USPS, now makes up nearly 86.9% of the overall mail volume (USPS, Mail Entry Roadmap statistic from April 2015). There are a lot of benefits that accompany the use of Full Service mailings. The Mail Entry roadmap makes sure to call them out early in the document. The first and most obvious is a postage discount. The discount is $1 per thousand on Standard mail, and $3 per thousand on First Class mail. The remainder of the benefits are a little less obvious, but hold a lot of weight. Here is a quick list of some of the other benefits: Waiver of the permit fee and the annual presort mailing fee If 90% of a mailers eligible mail is prepared as Full Service, your permit fee or destination entry fees for mailing at that location is waived, completely. Depending on your volume and the capabilities of your software product, this could be money you stop spending right away avoiding the possibility of finding out a permit account has expired when you already have mail on the way to that facility. Ability to participate in Mail Anywhere The ability to pay anywhere in the country on the same permit. This sounds like a small benefit, but it also means you can drop ship enter your mail at any post office in the country without having to arrange a permit for that entry point. Mail Anywhere provides the maximum level of flexibility with the least amount of hassle. USPS Track and Monitor Track and Monitor provides you visibility of the pallets, handling units, and bundles in a mailing as they travel all over the country. The reporting is available for all Full Service mail through the Data Distribution / Informed Visibility dashboard.
Includes a Start-The-Clock scan, so you can see when your mail started processing. Free Address Correction Service (ACS ) Available for all full service mail pieces with associated edocs. In the near future, if 75% or more of your volume is entered as Full Service mail, free address change service information will be provided even on the non-full service residual portion of the mail with a valid MID. Incentive Participation To participate in any of the additional USPS Postage incentives, you must provide edocs. Some of the programs have Full Service participation as a requirement. It is likely that all incentive programs will require Full Service participation in the next 18-24 months. Keep your Detached Mail Unit (DMU) If you want to keep using your Detached Mail Unit, as of November 2014, 75% of your eligible mail must be entered as Full Service. Use of the Self Service terminals Larger BMEU facilities have added these terminals so you can Scan In your mailing. Use the PostalOne! Confirmation page or the IMCL or IMTL to have your mailing recognized. Will monitor the mailing check balances and fees, and finalize the mailing if no further verification is required. Changes to non-profit authorization Paper reports and Ghost Numbers still valid if needed. Linkage to NPA authorized CRID s for each mailer in the non-profit mailing will be required in the future (TBD). Mailings that do not meet this criteria will not be accepted Tools are provided in the BCG to locate the correct CRID, MID, MPA or Permit number Based on the way the benefits and new program are laid out, it s pretty clear that the USPS has returned to an incentive based system for moving mailers to Full Service. It s only a matter of time before non-compliance is penalized. You can see a little of the USPS aggressiveness on this in the way they are packing high-value incentives, tracking data, and access to a DMU with Full Service mail only. MAIL ENTRY ROADMAP UPCOMING CHANGES TO MAIL ENTRY, THE SCORECARD, AND INVOICES With all the benefits of using Full Service Mail laid out in the Mail Entry Roadmap, the document delves into more details of what they intend to do in the future for mail entry - and a lot of it is based on the use of Full Service mailings. The USPS is focusing on three changes to ensure and enforce the quality of your mail. MAIL ENTRY The biggest change is fundamental to the Seamless Acceptance process, and involves inspecting your mail after induction using a census process, rather than the current sampling process. Today, you present your mail for entry and that mail is physically inspected in addition to some portion of the mailing being run through the Merlin machine. The clerks will often take a single tray of mail, verify that that tray is produced correctly, and then accept the entire mailing. The change to census measurement means that the mailing itself will be accepted with no special acceptance verification. Certain tests will remain sample tests at the dock (postage method, piece type), but the remainder will be performed in-line. The census testing is performed while the mail is processed through MPE (Mail Processing Equipment), information about each mailpiece will be captured and compared to the presented edoc to see if they match up. This significantly changes the playing field for the level of risk associated with entering mail into the USPS mail stream because the ability to be Failed before the mail is entered is lost. As a result the chance that mail, which would have once been caught and failed inspection on the dock before,
will make it deep into the system without you knowing there are errors. Your ability to have the error detected during acceptance, and either rework or reprint the mailing is now gone. In addition, in many cases you will not be able to gather any proof of the error. Often the mail has been delivered to the customer before you know anything about the mail quality. This move to post-entry verification is a challenge for a lot of mailers, but it places the burden squarely on the backs of the Printer/Mailer and the vendors providing solutions to them to ensure that the mail and addressing is prepared with the highest standards to prevent downstream errors, and in some cases back-charges. MAILERS SCORECARD The quality of your mail is communicated to you on the Mailer Scorecard. This tool is available through the Business Customer Gateway and allows you to see the status of the quality measurements used as the mail travels through the system. The scorecard has a number of Tabs, where different information can be collected. Mailer Profile summary of volume of letter and flat mail, class of mail, edoc types and total revenue (postage?) Data available 1 calendar day after finalization Electronic Verification Tab Data available 3 calendar days after finalization for Full Service, 4 days for Move/Update This part of the scorecard contains 5 major elements Volume information, Full Service verifications, Move Update validation, Entry Point validations and edoc/nesting validations. Volume information is a quick visual indicator of what you have deposited into the mailstream, and includes statistics such as the number of Full Service pieces, handling units, and containers. This section is informational, and should allow you to see your full service volume. Full Service Verification shows you errors specifically associated with your Full Service preparation. It will indicate MID errors, STID errors, By/For errors and problems with uniqueness of serial numbers. This section will drive sample invoicing if the errors exceed the thresholds indicated by the USPS in May of 2015. Real invoices are still listed as TBD. The error ranges are between 2% and 5% depending on the specific type of problem found in the mailing. Move Update violations are indicated next. This will measure your compliance with the 95 day Move Update regulation and will create errors if there are moves in your list between 95 days and 18 months. In August 2014, the USPS started populating the scorecard with this information, but it is not yet a chargeable penalty. In November 2014, the USPS will start applying this measurement to all mailers with more than 75% of their mail deposited as Full Service. In March 2015, sample invoices with For Review Only penalties began being distributed to mailers. The USPS still has the real invoice date listed as TBD. The new threshold for mail analyzed in this way increases from 70% to 99.2% compliance allowing a razor-thin.8% margin. Entry point validations primarily cover drop shipping and investigate if the edoc entry point matches the physical entry point. It will also validate against the version of the Mail Direction File that is being used for redirections of mail. This section has been recently modified to check against Induction date rather than Mailing date, so it validates based on the day the mailing arrives at the destination facility, and not where the mail may have been verified prior to drop shipping. At this time there are no established thresholds in place where errors might start causing postage assessments. The last measurement on the scorecard is Nesting / Sortation errors focusing on the quality of the sort. This measurement will provide an understanding of how well your mail is sorted, and any errors that might be hidden within. This is also a section that will be important for larger First Class mailers, as any errors against your Customer Supplier Agreement will be identified. Also included will be errors showing when pieces are not in the correct parent container, or when presort has not been performed at a deep enough level (for example, a 3 digit container where a 5 digit may have been able to be made). At this time there are no established thresholds in place where errors might start causing postage assessments. einduction Tab Data available 1 calendar day after finalization. Mailers participating in einduction can see container induction statistics by entry point, errors (if any) when the mail is compared to edocs. Sample invoices became available in May 2015 and the Real invoices are still listed as TBD. Thresholds for errors of this category are as low as 0% for destination containers without matching edocs, and as high as 2% for mis-shipped containers. There will also be an error calculated for mail pieces claiming an entry discount that are not eligible for the entry point rate. Seamless Acceptance Tab Similar verifications to Full Service (See above), plus counts
of undocumented mail. Sample invoices became available in May 2015 and the Real invoices are still listed as TBD. Error thresholds will be listed with 2 values. The first is Mailer Contact threshold where the mailer will be notified of the error along with information to help resolve the issue. Errors over the Egregious threshold may trigger manual verification and postage assessments against the mailer. Tests include Undocumented pieces Mail pieces that include the mailer s information, but are not represented in any finalized edocs with the USPS..03% thresholds for Mailer Contact and Egregious Delivery Point errors 5, 9 or 11 digit routing value is missing or incorrect 2% threshold for Mailer Contact 5% threshold for Egregious Nesting/Sortation Census (while running through machines at USPS) 1% threshold for Mailer Contact 3% threshold for Egregious Nesting/Sortation Sampling vs edocs PAF calculates how much postage was actually paid vs what the USPS assesses Anything over a PAF of 1.05 (or 5% errors) will trigger postage charges for all mail volume for the month entered under seamless Postage errors Payment method mismatch, Postage affixed mismatch PAF calculates how much postage was actually paid vs what the USPS assesses Anything over a PAF of 1.05 (or 5% errors) will trigger postage charges for all mail volume for the month entered under seamless Weight PAF calculates how much postage was actually paid vs what the USPS assesses Anything over a PAF of 1.05 (or 5% errors) will trigger postage charges for all mail volume for the month entered under seamless Mail characteristic Piece type incorrect vs edoc, nonprofit eligibility, mail class vs edoc PAF calculates how much postage was actually paid vs what the USPS assesses Anything over a PAF of 1.05 (or 5% errors) will trigger postage charges for all mail volume for the month entered under seamless Barcode quality (similar to MERLIN) PAF calculates how much postage was actually paid vs what the USPS assesses Anything over a PAF of 1.05 (or 5% errors) will trigger postage charges for all mail volume for the month entered under seamless SPM Exclusions Tab A table of mail pieces that were excluded from measurement due to one or more issues. INVOICING This brings us to invoicing, which is the primary method the USPS is planning to manage downstream errors and enforce compliance. If 75% of your eligible mail is entered as Full Service, you will be compared to new thresholds for different aspects of mailpiece preparation over which a charge will be generated. For Move Update, the 70% compliance threshold is being raised to 99.2% Sort and Nesting items will also be tested against your edocs, and you may receive sample invoices. Sortation errors are a pretty familiar issue for the mailing community, but nesting is a newer concept. Nesting errors are caused when mailpieces or handling units are not properly matching up to their parent unit (pallet or tray). This means that the accuracy of your sorting operation is more important than ever, to make sure the right pieces are in the right sacks and trays, and on the right pallet. There are many issues that can cause a nesting error. For example, if you have two pallets going to the same destination, but have placed a tray from one pallet on another, that will cause a nesting error. The most common cause of nesting errors that we expect to see is mailpieces being placed in the wrong trays. Printer/Mailers that do not use sort marks to identify the end of a tray, sack, or package are at the highest risk. In the past, if you have two full trays going to the same ZIP, it didn t make any difference what mailpieces were in each tray. With the new nesting tests, even a few pieces of mail in the wrong tray can cause an issue.
You will need to examine these errors to determine that it is an error you might have made, and not a USPS error. There are cases where it is pretty obvious in the type of error where the problem was. For example, if you have a mailing where 9/10 trays are all good, but everything in one tray showed as a nesting error, that s very likely a USPS error where the tray tag was not properly scanned into the sort. The future of this, and how much of a penalty is assessed, will still have to be decided. In the long term, the nesting errors affect mailers processing lists in software much more than they would a presort bureau, since they do not have to link every piece to its container and then to its parent pallet as they use logical sort levels rather than physical sort levels. Over a certain threshold, that will generate an invoice of postage due as well. Like the rest, you should have started seeing sample invoices in May 2015 and real invoicing is still listed as TBD. SEAMLESS + EINDUCTION THE ENDGAME FOR USPS DEFINING SEAMLESS ACCEPTANCE AND EINDUCTION The USPS is clearly pushing Full Service participation aggressively, as well as moving quality measurement of your mail into the processing of the mail rather than at the docks. This is all moving towards a goal the USPS has had for some time Seamless Acceptance. The idea of seamless acceptance is to make the transactions at the acceptance facility merely a business transaction where custody of the mail changes hands to the USPS, and initial postage is paid. The long process of verifying the mail prior to acceptance is a cost that the USPS would like to relieve itself of. Seamless acceptance will allow the USPS to reduce the number of people staffed on any given mail entry unit, and focus their energy on moving the mail into the sorting systems. Measurement of preparation quality will move into the processing equipment rather than performed by a person on the dock checking your mail. The USPS will combine seamless acceptance with the einduction program. einduction is a paperless way to handles drop shipping mail to other USPS acceptance locations to streamline acceptance and verifications procedures. einduction will prevent the generation of forms 8125 and 8017, and will migrate the information into the PostalOne! system. This change will allow facilities receiving drop ships to have an idea what volume they should expect on any given day, and speed the acceptance and postage payment process significantly. The combination of seamless acceptance and einduction clearly signal that the USPS is moving focus from acceptance units being a measurement site to a process flow site. The two programs share many common goals, including the ability to make the entry process as expedient as possible, and to help mailers and the USPS meet their respective service standards. GETTING STARTED Enrollment in Seamless Acceptance is being made automatic. When more than 75% of your mail volume (mail associated with your CRID) is entered as Full Service, you will be enrolled in a program called Seamless Parallel. Seamless Parallel is an intermediate program in which your mail will still receive standard dock inspections, allowing you to correct problems before entry. Simultaneously, your mailing will be evaluated by the Seamless Acceptance system to show you what sort of errors or problems the mailing may have had once entered into the system. During this period of time, the Seamless Parallel warnings or postage assessments will not be binding. This process is intended to let you understand the impact of, and make changes to your mailing process to meet with seamless guidelines. OPEN ISSUES One of the largest problems Seamless Acceptance can detect is what is called Undocumented Mail, where you have a piece with a Full Service IMB applied, but no associated edocs. The USPS is seeking out sources of undocumented mail to see where it originated, and determining how they can ensure it is in PostalOne! prior
to acceptance. A common culprit creating undocumented mail is statement processors that have damaged pieces in the production process. When they are reprinted, they are often metered with the original barcode, which has likely been removed from the edoc upload so not to pay postage on the spoiled piece of mail. Understanding what leads to undocumented mail will hopefully allow both mailers and the USPS get a handle on this problem. Seamless Acceptance will also allow the USPS to use a function called Auto Finalization of postage statements. This means that the clerk does not manually have to release the mailing in PostalOne! before postage is paid. The system will recognize when the mailing is entered completely, and deduct initial postage from the associated postage account. CONCLUSION ADOPTION OF THE ROADMAP BY CUSTOMERS OF THE USPS The roadmap clearly communicates what the USPS is trying to accomplish. They are aggressively working to: Eliminate costs from the system as a whole. When you include the facility consolidation in the discussion, it becomes even clearer The USPS wants a right sized system for the volume of mail being processed, with the least amount of cost associated with inducting mail into the system Increase the speed and efficiency of the custody change and postage payment using Full Service and Seamless Acceptance Stop both the mailer and the USPS from consuming thousands of man-hours inducting mail Simplify drop shipments with einduction Better for the mailers Simple transfer of information without the clunky paperwork Mail Anywhere prevents any postage payment hassles for a new drop ship location Better for the USPS Visibility into the mail that is in transit Planning appropriate staff levels for dock receipt and overnight mail processing Insulate the USPS from risk Central postage payment eases the path for USPS to receive postage payment Measurement of the quality of the mail in-line Protects the USPS when mail may have been Accepted with errors that produce cost down stream Keep mailers responsible for the quality of all their mail, not just what the USPS had time to check As with any new program, there are still issues to iron out, for both the Industry and the USPS The USPS needs to be sensitive to the fact that the new ways that postage is to be paid creates obstacles for many mailers. This downstream measurement of mailing quality can be challenging to mailers, especially mailers who have their clients pay direct postage. They are being pushed to use the programs stated above, but that would require these types of businesses to begin paying postage out of a central account that they manage, rather than having the customer tender payment for postage directly to the USPS. This is an obstacle that the USPS and industry need to find a middle path on, if the USPS truly expects the Printer/Mailer to start taking advantage of all the new technologies and efficiencies the Roadmap lays out before them. Clarify the requirements to mailers Perception in the industry is still that Full Service is exceptionally difficult to accomplish dependably. Educate the mailers on the need to voluntarily move to Full Service by de-mystifying the process. Make requirements to vendors very clear and concise so the vendor community can help educate the mailers on what they really need to do. Slow the pace of other changes While streamlining mail entry and consolidating facilities, hold off on other major classification changes. Vendors and customers overburdened with unexpected changes that distract from the objectives of cleaning up mail entry and payment.
BCC Software has been providing extensive data marketing services and creating innovative postal software solutions for over 30 years. Our offerings focus on helping our customers deliver the right message, at the right time, to the right audience through data management including cleansing, enrichment, and profiling. We remain committed the industry and are bringing new solutions to market to help our customers seize the opportunity to transform their businesses by leveraging the value of their data. BCC Software brings a How Can We Help approach to everything we do from creating innovative postal and data quality solutions to our live and knowledgeable customer support. FIND OUT HOW WE CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS BECOME MORE SUCCESSFUL. marketing@bccsoftware.com 800.337.0442 bccsoftware.com