Merging For Mutual Success

"We're really pumped; it shows we can afford to invest internally," he says.

At the University of Washington, automation investments were justified based on the university's volume. The conversion to box numbers and sorting by Zip +4 were implemented in 1995.

"It was a huge undertaking but very successful," notes Davis. Customers were taught how to prepare files for ink-jet addressing; bar codes are used to automate chargebacks of outgoing mail.