Many times when you speak to companies about the subject of “zero defect mailing” they focus on ensuring their customers or management that all the mail was in fact sent out and that it was sent out on time.

Very few bring up or correlate zero defect mailing in terms of regulatory compliance and even fewer understand the ramifications of not being so.

Technology has changed significantly over the last 10-15 years making it cheaper to achieve and at the same time government regulations, in many cases, has amplified the need.

I spoke to David Day, who recently rejoined Inspectron (Formscan) as a Business Development Manager for the Automated Document Factory (ADF), Integrity and Compliance products about the subject of compliance as it relates to zero defect mailing.

SKIP:  Dave, when people do talk about compliance as it relates to zero defect mailing they usually regulate to meeting their service level agreements ( SLA’s ) what is your take on it?

DAVE:  Skip, over the years we have been talking about integrity and zero defect mail, well compliance is an extension of that.  Now the Government is taking an active interest in making sure the mail is created, printed and mailed correctly. 

With the various regulations in place, GLB, HIPAA, REGZ and of course Intelligent Mail Barcode, mailers are tasked with complying with the regulations and in some cases face fines if they are not compliant.  This is in addition to the negative press and loss of business when word gets out of errors.

I am constantly surprised when I visit accounts and ask about “what keeps them up at night”.  Many site the ability to know exactly what went out and when (SLA).  Some mailers are still using OMR marks to track their documents, or in some cases no marks at all – just hoping things go correctly.  Don’t even get me started on reprints and the almost non-existent tracking of reprints.

I don’t want to paint a doom and gloom scenario, there are many shops that are tracking all documents, SLA’s and reprints, but there are a lot more that need to.

SKIP:  Have changes in technology made it easier, and less expensive for compliance and tracking of all jobs / mail pieces.

DAVE:  In some cases yes, in others, no.  It really depends on what the product processes and equipment are.  With technology today, tracking can be extremely reasonable.  The price tag has dropped considerably over the past dozen or so years.

SKIP:  I remember 10-15 years ago, we were talking about Zero Defect Mail, what has changed?

DAVE:  Since then, we built some of the first automated documents factories.  We relied on big intrusive barcodes – basically a 3 of 9 code that in some cases was 5 inches in length.  Inspectron has been in the forefront of technology since 1976 and we quickly migrated to a 2 of 5,code 128 2-D and developed a  camera system to read OCR. Today cameras and readers are reading a vast array of marks on paper, some even “invisible”.  To stay in the forefront, Inspectron is working with RFID tags for tracking.  We have several clients where we have been tracking negotiable documents for compliance and SLA attainment for over 15 years.

SKIP:  RFID seems to still be in its infancy and is perceived as a high cost application, but costs have come down significantly. Actual applications for RFID seem hard to find.  What are you seeing?

DAVE:  The RFID tag is only pennies and when placed on high value documents has a clear ROI.  For example, if RFID tags were placed on credit cards/gift cards during the process, the cards could be tracked throughout the process.  The final tray of mail assembled on the end of a sorter could be passed under the RFID antenna and the entire contents could be verified.  Conventionally, the barcode is read at the start of a sorter process.  If we keep to the theme of zero-defect, the mailer will know exactly what is in every mail tray.  100% accountability - that can go a long way in helping mail executives sleep at night.

SKIP:  Any closing comments

DAVE:  Yes, we have several clients and prospects who are using RFID to track the assembly and step-processes of each mailpiece, document and in some cases high value booklets. Skip, I will be using these and other examples when I present at Xplor’s 30^th Annual Global Conference in March.