Colorado In-plant Named Mail Center of the Year

The State of Colorado’s Integrated Document Solutions (IDS) was named the 2012 Mail Center of the Year by the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association. This award recognizes a corporate mail center for outstanding improvements in new technology, cost savings and processes.

“We are very honored and excited to receive this award,” says IDS Northern Regional Manager Mike Lincoln. “To be recognized by our peers and in-plant community is truly humbling.”

IDS has made huge advancements in establishing itself as a full-service document management/publishing agency.

“It has indeed been an amazing year of growth and evolution, reinventing ourselves to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s government,” Lincoln notes. “We have established a position of relevance, and are no longer viewed as the mailroom, but rather a key strategic partner to all of our customers in local municipalities, counties and state agencies.”

In 2011, the mail team implemented several strategies:

• An estimated $1.6 million was saved in postage with the installation of a new Pitney Bowes Olympus letter sorter that allows for five-digit presorting.
• The addition of a flat manifesting system paid for itself in less than nine months, saving taxpayers a minimum of $100,000 in postage during 2011.
• Productivity increased by 30 percent thanks in part to a new inserter, letter sorter and inkjet printer.
• By presorting flats with the new Pitney Bowes EZ Flats system, these items now qualify for postage discounts.
• Hand labor and setup time on the floor inserters have been minimized by adding a tabletop inserter.
• A new electronic ordering system was created to allow customers to include with their mail request the bill code, mail rate and contact information. These elements have aided in processing mail jobs more efficiently.
• Each job submitted by customers is now analyzed to identify any avenues that could be pursued to deliver a savings in postage, labor and materials.
• The implementation of daily production meetings has significantly increased communication among customer service, mail and print.
• Using the NCOA database, IDS created its own Address Quality Program that cleanses the database at the beginning of the process before any materials are produced or any postage has been affixed. On just one mailing alone, the state was able to save $150,000.
• To develop more efficient mail routes, IDS procured hardware and software to track packages travelling through the network. Using the information and route development software, IDS was then able to create routes that significantly reduced the number of miles traveled and time spent between stops.

In 2011 IDS Mail Operations launched another special service: archiving customer hard copy files. The idea was born when a high security state agency with documents archived across the state was searching for a way to consolidate its materials. Because the reproduction and storage facilities of IDS are secured areas, requiring official clearance, the agency reached out to the mail team for suggestions.

“It was our security procedures and our speed in delivering requested documents that sold the customer,” explains Lincoln. In May 2011 the agency moved its archived inventory from three cities outside Denver to the IDS Mail Operations’ northern facility.

“When customers need a box, we deliver it within 24 hours and in most cases 8 hours,” Lincoln proudly notes. This project was completed in October 2011 and has been a key factor in obtaining Federal Accreditation for this state agency customer.

“We continually strive to eliminate inefficient and outdated practices by taking advantage of 21st century technology so that we can provide our customers with high-quality and cost effective document solutions,” Lincoln concludes.