14 It’s Not the Destination but the Journey

18 Capture Hidden Savings

22 Real-time Intelligence

26 Selecting for Success

Together we
On the production floor where true
productivity is achieved, sometimes
you just need a hand. Overcoming
production challenges and working
together to cut costs are just a few
of the ways Kern has been helping
customers succeed.

www.kerncan.com
Better Technology, Products, Processes, Partnership, People
 FEATURES
issue 3 Fall 2009

14
It’s Not the Destination
But the
journey
Understanding MPTQM
Certification
FEATURES

By Krystal Barr

Capture Hidden Savings 18

 Reduce costs while increasing
postage discounts

By Hank Martin

Real-time Intelligence 22
The measure of a complete
Automated Document Factory

By Pramod Madala
Fall 2009

Selecting for Success 26

 The dos and don’ts of
mail strategies

supplier evaluation

By Graham Newell, CMDSM

4
forethought

FORETHOUGHT
issue 3 Fall 2009

8 EDITOR’S VIEW
The changing role of the USPS
Ryan McManus

9 A Word from the Publisher/

CONTRIBUTORS
Perspectives on the past, present and
future of mail

10 Service Strategies
Building relationships for success
Scott Moore

11 communication Strategies
Strengthening your message for improved
response rates
Todd Russell

12 Financial Strategies
Savings from the shop floor
Rick Stepp
beyond

BEYOND

30 new products
Product Innovations

34 in conclusion
Organizing for success
Thomas Brock
Fall 2009

mailstrate g ies
mail strategies

P R E P A R I N G F O R S U C C E S S

6
FORETHOUGHT | Editor’s view

EDITOR’S VIEW mailstrate g ies

P R E P A R I N G F O R S U C C E S S

The Changing Role of the USPS

PUBLISHER
Dave Squires
dsquires@kerninc.com

We started putting together the fall issue of Mail Strategies just after EDITOR
returning from the National Postal Forum in Washington DC, and the Ryan McManus
USPS was fresh on our minds. May was a busy postal month with new rmcmanus@kerninc.com
rate changes going into effect and Intelligent Mail barcode systems go-
ing online. At NPF, the Postmaster General, Jack Potter, announced MANAGING EDITOR
that 25,000 jobs had been cut so far in 2009 in an effort to curb the Amanda Cook Armendariz

growing losses at the USPS. The USPS most recently made headlines amanda.c@rbpub.com

when news broke that almost 10% of existing post office branches were
Circulation
going to be reviewed for consolidation or closure.
Rachel Spahr
BY ryan mcmanus
rachel@rbpub.com
Cutting jobs and closing branches are just a few of the ideas that the
USPS has been kicking around. The Postmaster General and other Production Director
postal executives have been in the news several times during 2009 as Chad Griepentrog
the USPS makes plans for survival while lobbying congress for a little
relief. There are no handouts or bailout requests coming from the CREATIVE DesignER
USPS, though. The Postal Service has every intention of continuing its Kelli Cooke

long-standing tradition as a self-sustaining government agency. That is

something every taxpayer can appreciate. Designer
Greg Middleton

Legislation plays a major role in the workings of the mailing industry.

Advertising
Recently, San Francisco passed the first piece of ‘do not mail’ legisla- Ken Waddell
tion, which most members of the mailing industry would agree is a ken.w@rbpub.com
negative. Of course, mailers have had to make accommodations in the
past for insurance, financing and other regulations in regards to han-
dling personal information on documents, but the issues at hand are
much greater. The USPS needs Congress to pass legislation to lighten
the universal service requirements and open up the possibility of five-
day delivery. This seems like one of the best ways to quickly save signifi-
cant amounts of money, which ultimately helps volume mailers because
rising costs of doing business for the USPS will not have to be absorbed
through larger postage increases or fewer available discounts. RB Publishing, Inc.
2901 International Lane
This issue will be arriving on most desks just before Print 09, which will Madison WI 53704-3128
be in Chicago, Illinois September 11-16. As the remainder of 2009 flies 608-241-8777 • Fax 608-241-8666
by, Kern will continue to keep you updated through our digital sites at www.rbpub.com
www.kerncan.com and www.mail-strategies.com.

REPRINTS
For high-quality reprints, please contact our
exclusive reprint provider. FosteReprints • 866-
879-9144 • www.marketingreprints.com
mailers have had to make
accommodations in the past MAIL STRATEGIES (ISSN 1081-4035) is
for insurance, financing and published 2 times a year by RB Publishing Inc. All

other regulations in regards to material in this magazine is copyrighted 2008 ©

Fall 2009

handling personal information by RB Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Nothing

may be reproduced in whole or in part without
on documents, but the issues
written permission from the publisher. Any
at hand are much greater.
correspondence sent to MAIL STRATEGIES, RB
mail strategies

Publishing Inc. or its staff becomes the property of

RB Publishing, Inc. The articles in this magazine
represent the views of the authors and not those
of RB Publishing Inc. or MAIL STRATEGIES.
RB Publishing Inc. and/or MAIL STRATEGIES
expressly disclaim any liability for the products or
services sold or otherwise endorsed by advertisers
or authors included in this magazine.

8
 FORETHOUGHT | CONTRIBUTORS
CONTRIBUTORS
Perspectives on the past, present and future of mail

A Word from the Publisher | BY Dave squires

It’s been almost a year since we published our last issue of Mail Strategies. Last
time, our focus was Quality, and we were reflecting on some fresh news regarding
our financial systems. We had no idea how severe the impact would be on our
industry. With USPS Q3 results still not in as of this writing, the reading of the tea
leaves still points to historic losses in both mailpiece volumes and in every econom-
ic measure. Though they haven’t pulled the trigger yet, a five-day delivery schedule
seems all but inevitable. And just wait until the February announcements!

So it seems fitting that this issue of Mail Strategies focuses back on the art and
science of making mail in great quantities with world-class systems, processes and
people with optimal efficiency and effectiveness. We have an obligation to keep this
medium alive and healthy, not just as a way to keep ourselves relevant but to pre-
serve a critical communication channel between organizations and their customers.

As always, we hope this issue provides some insights that you can use, presented
in an enjoyable way. Simply put, our goal for this medium is “edutainment”
(where education meets entertainment). Come to think of it, that’s what should
be going into our mail. Enjoy.

MPTQM Certification: It’s Not the Destination but the

Journey | BY Krystal Barr
Krystal Barr is the Director of Print and Mail for Sprint Mailing Services. Krys-
tal led a cross-functional effort to achieve MPTQM certification for Sprint and
has shared her experience and expertise in her article that outlines the process-
es of achieving this valuable USPS certification. MPTQM mailers identify the
value of quality in mail production and reinforce the need for quality processes.

Capture Hidden Savings | BY Hank Martin

Hank Martin is the OEM Sales Director for Address Vision. Now that postage
is set to increase on a yearly basis and the USPS increases their requirements on
automation mailers, searching for savings is not just a goal but a requirement
to remain competitive. Your organization has made an important investment in
print and mail technology, and Hank has identified several areas where mailers
large and small can find cost savings.

Real-time Intelligence: The Measure of a Complete

Automated Document Factory | Pramod Madala
Pramod Madala is the Vice President of Technology for Kern, Inc. and plays a major
role in the development and implementation of Kern’s ADF solutions. He has writ-
ten about the many advantages that an intelligent ADF solution that encompasses the
entire mail production process provides. There will continue to be new innovations
in ADF processes that will lead to even better mail production center management.
mail strategies Fall 2009

Supplier Evaluation: Selecting for Success | BY Graham Newell

Graham Newell is President of the Mail Systems Management Association’s The
Carolinas Chapter, which is an organization for mail and distribution profession-
als committed to advancing the education and integrity of those in the mail com-
munications industry. Graham has written about the vendor selection process
with advice on how mail and print centers can objectively make the right product
or service buying decision. He is currently employed with Wells Fargo Bank.

9
FORETHOUGHT | COLUMN

SERVICE STRATEGIES
Building Relationships for Success

Relationship building is an important aspect of doing business, and very few businesses can
survive without establishing solid relationships with their customers. But the question then
arises as to how we should actually maintain those relationships.

This is where continuous communication is key. Communication between both parties is one
of the most important factors of not only developing but also maintaining a strong service
relationship. This will lead to a true valued partnership: a partnership where both sides ex-
perience and appreciate value and simultaneously push for a common goal, which results in
By Scott Moore continuous improvement for the customers’ operations.

So how do we bring value to a customer partnership? Value can be defined differently in

every partnership; however, every customer sees and recognizes value in a collaborative effort
between vendor and customer that is working towards meeting their day-to-day operational
requirements. How can a trusted supplier demonstrate the desire to do this within their cus-
tomer base day in and day out? How can they demonstrate a genuine concern for customer
success every day? The answer lies in being very interactive on the customers’ floor, working
with operators to meet production goals by job, shift and ensure that SLAs are met every time.
It means working through outside issues with the idea that our customer still has an obliga-
tion to meet their goals, regardless of the external factors. It means proactively communicating
with operators and supervisors about what problems they might anticipate with their upcom-
ing day or week and discussing how we can be successful as a team.

But communicating with a customer does not always mean that both parties are completely
satisfied. In fact, how do we even measure the satisfaction of a customer? Is their produc-
tion level the only number that counts? At Kern, our personal mission for service is 100%
customer success, 100% of the time. In order to achieve goals of perfection, a culture must
be established within the company to seek continuous improvement. You can’t believe that
just because the customer is currently satisfied, they will stay that way. Companies are always
changing, requirements change, and employees change, making continuous communication
the only way to satisfy the ever-changing needs of your customers.

Demonstrating to your customers that you are proactively working towards improvement and
that their success is your number-one concern will build stronger relationships. Never forget
that continuing strong service relationships with your customers is one of the most important
parts of business.
Fall 2009

Value can be defined differently in

every partnership; however, every
customer sees and recognizes value
mail strategies

in a collaborative effort between

vendor and customer.

10
 FORETHOUGHT | COlumn
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Strengthening your message for improved response rates

Business-critical documents sent through the mail are like conversations; one party sends out
a statement and awaits a reaction or response. For business mailers, these conversations have
the power to drive organizational goals, maintain a steady revenue flow and create awareness
about your company and your products and services. For these communications to be suc-
cessful, the messages must be clear and eye-catching. Much like a regular conversation, where
more than 50% of what’s being said is conveyed non-verbally, a successful mailed communica-
tion is much more than the words on the paper. Overall, a mailpiece must be eye-catching,
cohesively organized and relevant to the recipient. When all these pieces come together, then
the second half of the conversation can continue. BY todd russell

Mailers already have a desired reaction in mind when the documents are created. The effec-
tiveness of the mailed communication will be measured by the number of respondents who
correctly react, either by calling about an offer in a direct mail piece or by sending in payment
for a monthly bill. These correct reactions come from sending the correct communications,
either as a stand-alone direct mail piece or as part of a transactional mailing.

Companies today record an incredible amount of data about their customers. Regardless
of the company, when you call a customer service line today, you will undoubtedly hear the
person on the other end feverishly typing to input your information and take notes about
your account. These interactions with customer service, along with your patterned buying
behavior, are available data for most companies who have the forethought to integrate their
customer relationship management systems with their customers’ billing or statement data.
Data mining and the ability of a company to scrutinize their data and make intelligent deci-
sions is the future of communications. With Google’s entrance into targeted search-based
marketing, mailers who want to remain relevant will need to be targeting their customer
and prospect base with very relevant and timely messages. Once this is accomplished, true
TransPromo mailing will begin to take place.

The Internet has all but destroyed the art of letter writing, and the attention spans of people
today do not allow for the unknown return time of a mailing response. People want informa-
tion now. Mail center managers want to know today when their return mail will be arriving.
With the introduction of the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMB), this waiting game has been mini-
mized, and the answers are just a browser away. Some advanced companies are even leveraging
IMB to trigger payment or renewal notifications. For all-around mailing success today and
in the future, it is important to craft target communications that leverage valuable customer
data and provide tracking information so that mailpieces can be monitored full-circle. And
remember, initiating the conversation is half the battle.
mail strategies

correct reactions come

from sending the correct
communications, either as a stand-
alone direct mailpiece or as part of a
transactional mailing.
Fall 2009

11
FORETHOUGHT | COLUMN

Financial Strategies
Savings from the shop floor

By now, you’ve all learned a recession lesson. Cost savings is in, and it’s here to stay. So how
can your company turn these short-term lessons into long-term success? While saving money
now is important, the savings mindset is the real long-term solution. An organization can
draft all the cost-saving initiatives it wants, but the real savings come not from the board
room, but from the shop floor. The value of an organization lies not in its assets, but in its
employees. The culture and attitude of your employees will have more to do with your future
financial success than your current investments and size of your bank account. The key is to
instill a culture of cost savings within your employees. This attitude is not only important
By Rick Stepp for your CFO and accountants, but your administrative assistants, production operators and
receptionists can be the most important and influential members of the organizational team.

Some of you may have heard the story about the matchbox company that was presented with
a cost-saving idea from the janitor. The janitor suggested that the company start putting the
match striking surface on only one side of the matchbox. This, in turn, saved the company
millions of dollars, and the janitor was rewarded accordingly. For organizations to reach their
pinnacle of success, they need to instill a sense of empowerment regarding cost savings to each
and every employee. Create a culture of employees actively searching for cost-saving measures.
This can save your management team time and increase their flexibility while providing even
entry-level employees the power to make decisions that create savings. It is often the tempta-
tion to offer up quick-fix cost savings initiatives, but in reality, any cost-saving measure must be
a well thought out, long-term solution. Harnessing the power of a culture of savings will go a
long way toward helping you consistently reach your fiscal goals.

A major challenge in
running a business A major challenge in running a business is in motivating your employees to care just as much
is in motivating your about the company as you do. The more empowerment an organization’s employees have,
employees to care just as the more ownership they will take in their handling of the company. One big incentive to
much about the company offer employees is a kick-back on any cost-saving idea. This will get employees actively thinking
as you do. of ways to save money, and when it works, they earn more money. It gets hard in the busi-
ness world sometimes to get employees to think about saving money because it’s not “their”
money, but when you get employees to feel like it really is their money being spent, true long-
term savings can be realized.

While cost savings on every level should be considered, it may be unwise to consider only
cutting costs. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money. This should be done
strategically by thinking about how the expenditures will help you in the future. You and your
organization need to look at spending money as a skill, not a mindset. For every dollar you
spend, look at what that dollar will contribute back to the organization.

An organization’s employees are the most important aspect of ensuring future success. Right
now is a great opportunity to spend a little extra money and hire top-level talent. With the
Fall 2009

current high rate of unemployment, there is some serious talent available on the job market,
and as an organization, you have the opportunity to pick the best of a crowded field. There
are great opportunities out there, if you spend your money wisely.
mail strategies

12
FEATURE
It’s Not the Destination
but the Journey
Understanding MPTQM Certification
As major mailers look to implement systems and processes
to be the best that they can be, one strategy that is freely avail-
able and supported by the United States Postal Service (USPS)
is its MPTQM certification program. Short for Mail Prepa-
ration Total Quality Management, MPTQM was created by
the USPS in 1995 to improve the quality of mail production
processes and drive efficiencies through the entire mail preparation
value chain. Rooted in and based on international Quality manage-
ment standards, including ISO 9000 and the Total Quality Man-
agement principles behind the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality
Award, it is earned by mailing organizations that demonstrate a
pervasive commitment to quality control in the preparation of com-
mercial mail.
As part of the MPTQM certification process, the USPS conducts
Mail Strategies Fall 2009
onsite audits to verify that mailers meet MPTQM standards. It
has outlined a comprehensive process where mailers first register
for MPTQM Certification and the USPS provides a guidebook
and checklist for each of the business process areas that need to
be documented and improved to meet certain quality standards.
After conducting a series of internal audits to ensure that your
progress is on track for certification, a USPS team of auditors will
schedule the initial audit. If everything goes according to plan,
you receive your certification, and ongoing recertification au-
14
| By Krystal Barr
dits are conducted every three years to ensure that you continue
to meet MPTQM standards. In addition, surveillance audits are
conducted each year except for the year a recertification audit
is conducted.
So far, this just covers the “what.” What really matters is the “how
and why”! Why would any organization want to put themselves
through the pain of process change and multiple USPS audits when
it is not a requirement to do business? The answer lies in both the
title to this article and the first line: to be the best that you can be
and because the value is more in the journey and not so much in
reaching the destination.
MPTQM certification is the premier external validation for any
major mailer. It says that you are the best of the best. It provides
proof positive that you have internalized the principles and con-
cepts of Quality throughout your organization and have put them
to work to make mail better and make better mail. But beyond
the “bragging rights” lies a tremendous opportunity to take your
team through a remarkable journey that will transform your or-
ganization into a continuously improving, constantly learning
culture that drives better business results and is some of the most
personally rewarding (and at times trying) that you will experience
in your career.
FEATURE Mail Strategies Fall 2009

15
 It would take far longer that the space allo-
cated to this article to review all of the steps
to success for your journey to MPTQM, but
the following stand out as a few that may prove
helpful as “takeaways:”
1) It’s not about the sheepskin: MPTQM is
not something that you do just so you can
hang it on the wall. It will be a multi-year
endeavor that requires a commitment to a
culture change within your organization.
The deeper you get into assessing and im-
proving your processes, the more you will
have to change your expectations. MPTQM,
like any serious Quality initiative, is not a
FEATURE
Fall 2009
Mail Strategies
16
“project” or a “program” and certainly not
a “flavor of the month.” It is a commitment
to a new way to working and thinking.
2) Everyone in the boat: You will not have
the luxury of having just some on your
team embrace the concepts and actions
required by MPTQM. Everyone plays. As
you take this journey, you will find that
your reward and recognition programs
will change to reward those that embrace
Quality, and you may even find that some
on your team may not make the trip.
Pervasiveness at every level within the or-
ganization is an absolute must.
3) How can you count the ways: Your metrics
will change. Count on it. Measures that
point to success in your pre-MPTQM world
will just not be good enough anymore. In
school, 90% was still an “A,” right? In our
MPTQM world, we look for “defect-free” as
the goal and measure accordingly. The im-
pact of defects in our mail has far too great
a customer and budget impact to accept the
old ways of measuring things.
4) A little help here: Your people will need
training, coaching and consistent feed-
back followed by more training, coaching
and consistent feedback. Your systems
will have to be upgraded to comprehend
more frequent measures and calibrations
as you manage towards tighter and tighter
specifications. You will want to implement
internal certification steps and metrics for
training effectiveness.
5) Quality doesn’t come cheap: You will
need to dedicate some of your most talent-
ed and critical resources to your MPTQM
initiative. There are usually two ways to do
this in most organizations. The easy way
(less common) would be to secure senior
management commitment and get their
support in the form of increased resources
to drive towards MPTQM. The hard way
(most common) is to take a good look at
your existing budget and internal team to
determine how you can shift resources to
self-fund your need for dedicated Quality
coaches and auditors. The sacrifices and
investments in Quality that you make up
front will be paid back as you drive supe-
rior business results in the long run.
So, what about those business results? Where
will the tangible benefits come from? Besides
the obvious — postage discounts — the single
biggest opportunity savings area is in the elimi-
nation of waste. In the production mail busi-
ness, we just don’t have a full appreciation for
how much rework and waste occurs in the pre-
MPTQM world until we view it through the
Quality filter. Every time there is an error, you
could possibly be wasting the cost of labor, ma-
terials, postage, customer perception and time,
not to mention the additional cost to rework
the mailpiece(s). Would you rather proactively
invest this “cost” in a quality program such as
MPTQM that will help catch or prevent these er-
rors or continue to waste your budget dollars on
preventable errors? Attaining MPTQM certifica-
tion isn’t easy, but it’s well worth it.
Ready to take that first step on your journey?
The USPS website has a wealth of informa-
tion, including descriptive documents for
download at www.usps.gov/mptqm. Good
luck, and we’ll see you on the road.
 Capture H i d
Reduce costs while increasing postage discounts! | by Hank Martin
FEATURE
Mail Strategies Fall 2009

18
d e n Savings
IN
today’s US economy, identify-
ing new approaches to achieve
value in Print and Mail op-
erations is critical to managing
costs and improving efficiencies. Many compa-
nies operate Print and Mail with methods that
have been used for years. While this approach
gets the mail out, it is not always the most effi-
cient or cost-effective. With budget cuts affecting
many areas of business and loss of mail volume
an ever-increasing reality in corporate America,
evaluating your Print and Mail processes is es-
sential to the survival of the mail center. By
discovering areas of opportunity for operational
efficiency, many can reduce costs and increase
postage discounts important to the longer-term
survival of the corporate mail center.
Companies processing smaller individual
mailings find it difficult, if not impossible, to
achieve significant postage savings in their mail.
Densities to the five-digit or three-digit discount
levels simply do not exist. Looking at internal
processes for opportunities to combine smaller
mailings into larger single mailings can achieve
deeper discounts and improve productivity. In
many environments, identifying these opportu-
nities can be met with dependencies or changes
in legacy systems and applications that are dif-
ficult to modify and adapt. These obstacles
often prevent consideration of optimized mail
streams. Use of outside consolidation services
or presort bureaus can be the only option con-
sidered, yet this option is not always the most
optimal from a cost/value standpoint.
With every organization pushing to become
more efficient while simultaneously reducing
costs and improving profits, Print and Mail man-
agement is now better positioned to take the lead
in identifying areas of production improvement.
These enhancements can then drive cost out of
the system by adding savings in labor and postage
as well as improvements in mail center efficiency
while also creating opportunities to provide
more value to the organization and its clients.
Evolving the mail center requires analysis of Opportunities for savings can exist in the fol-
processes to include many of the following: lowing ways:
1) Identify common mail streams.
a. What mail streams print on the simi-
FEATURE
lar paper stock and can process on the
same inserter?
b. How many inserts are in each unique Cycle 1A: 3-digit 546, 400 Pieces
mail stream?
i. Can the inserts be accommodated
on the same inserter?
c. What part of common mail streams are
being outsourced?
d. Presort test combinations to show what Cycle 1B: 3-digit 546, 220 pieces
value can be achieved.
e. Build a cost model to support findings.
2) Identify mail streams with different paper
stock that could be migrated to same pa-
per stock. Cycle 1C: 3-digit 546, 271 pieces
a. Test combinations to demonstrate
what value can be achieved.
b. How many inserts are in each unique
mail stream?
i. Can the inserts be accommodated
on the same inserter? Cycle 1D: 3-digit 546, 320 pieces
c. What mail streams in this mix are be-
ing outsourced? In this scenario, 3-digit 546 contains a total
d. Build a cost model to support findings. of 1,211 mailpieces. Further analysis shows
e. Present cost model to business owners the four 3-digit 546 trays, three of which have
with recommendations. 5-digit ZIP opportunities:
3) Identify an approach to merge common • 54601 = 445 pieces
mail streams. • 54650 = 220 pieces
a. Identify any changes to existing sys- • 54660 = 206 pieces
tems.
Mail Strategies
The remaining 340 pieces qualify for 3-digit.
b. Identify changes to paper stock to ac-
commodate merging.
c. Identify changes to inserts that might The results of merging
allow more merging to occur.
Cycles:
d. Identify new systems and software that
improve success.
e. Determine cost and ROI of
Fall 2009
approach(es). 5-Digit 5-Digit 5-Digit 5-Digit
54601 54650 54660 546
f. Document key success factors, benefits
and risks of each. Cycles 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D now result in
19
 three 5-digit trays and one 3-digit tray. Sav-
ings on 871 pieces going to 5-digit versus
3-digit is $19.16, with a savings of $.022 cents
per piece. While this is not significant for a
single, 3-digit ZIP area, the savings can greatly
increase when applied to regional or national
mailings. In this scenario, 72% of the pieces
FEATURE
Fall 2009
Mail Strategies
20
across four sets of 3-digit trays were upgraded
to 5-digit rates. If 150,000 pieces existed in
Cycles 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, they were at a
3-digit level and 72% of that mail could be
updated to 5-digit, it would reflect 108,000
pieces and an overall savings of $1,620.
Spreading similar savings across multiple cy-
cles per month and per year begins to reveal
substantial cost justification factors for chang-
es within Print and Mail operations that en-
able successful capture and overall benefits to
the organization.
When applied across all cycles being processed in
an operation, savings can be dramatic while real-
izing benefits that drive profit to the bottom line.
Looking at internal
processes for oppor-
tunities to combine
smaller mailings into
larger single mailings
can achieve deeper dis-
counts and improve
productivity.
Additional benefits:
• Print and Mail departments can improve
control of managing postal costs that ben-
efit the overall organization.
• Less mail is outsourced to presort bureaus,
resulting in savings.
• Success breeds success.
• More mail owners will approach the Print and
Mail department on how they can save money
and still be successful in their message.
• Migration to a file based manifesting sys-
tem provides tracking of each version or
client mailpiece, providing more accuracy
and auditing of the mailing processes.
• File-based manifesting provides other
operational efficiencies with enhanced
value.
Print and Mail is an important investment in
every organization producing mail. In today’s
economy, providing alternatives to estab-
lished processes enables users of the system
to adopt creative approaches for continued
viability in the mail. Identifying these oppor-
tunities and the potential contribution to sav-
ings and improved efficiency create visibility
and opportunities for success.
FEATURE
Fall 2009

The measure of a complete Automated Document Factory | By Pramod Madala

F
rom the time you started school all the way through college, someone was always there to grade you and examine how you
Mail Strategies

compare to others in your class, or even to your siblings. Teachers and their aides were always at your side, observing your
work. Tests were created to show how much you learned and how productive you could be within the given timeframe. Your
progress was then analyzed to see if you were keeping up with the rest of the class. After your grades were reported, they would
coach you to make improvements where needed. But after transitioning from learning to earning, how do you measure your productiv-
ity? Managers don’t have time to hold every employee’s hand and walk them through processes to make sure they are optimizing their
productivity, earnings potential and careers. Too often, the good intentions are there, but the measures are missing.

22
FEATURE Mail Strategies Fall 2009

23
 Classic management philosophy says, “What
gets measured, gets done.” John E. Jones took
this concept a bit further by adding, “What
gets measured and fed back gets done well;
what gets rewarded gets repeated.” But the real
magic in turning a business philosophy into
practical processes is in establishing sound
metrics and measures. And, in the end, you
can’t measure something that you can’t cap-
ture data about, and nobody wants to take the
time to measure things that don’t matter. So
the refined goal is choose the right things to
FEATURE
Fall 2009
Mail Strategies
24
measure and have the systems in place to en-
sure that those things are being done right (or
at least continuously improving).
This business we call production mail is a com-
plex, deadline-driven, quality-critical, manufac-
turing process that starts with structured data
from a business application and winds up as a
completed, sorted, trayed and palletized finished
product on a forklift being loaded into the back
of a USPS truck. Completed work is the result of
human resources, sophisticated IT systems and
machines all working together through predict-
able, repeatable processes from “data to door.”
This is the domain of the Automated Document
Factory (ADF). How then do we apply the met-
rics and measures to this complex web of activity?
Today’s technology provides the answer, and the
payback on the production floor speaks for itself.
A well-designed and implemented ADF takes
you to the highest level of production and raises
your efficiency beyond what you thought pos-
sible. In today’s working environment, time is
money. ADF can help companies avoid hidden
inefficiencies and non-conformance costs that
result from errors. Despite mail quality pro-
grams and initiatives, USPS still reports that
way too much mail is mislabeled or contains er-
rors, resulting in the dreaded “UAA” (undeliv-
erable as addressed) and being returned to the
sender. Preventable errors on the production
floor incur a host of non-conformance costs, in-
cluding return fees, material waste, labor costs
and the opportunity costs associated with lost
capacity. And for mailers dealing with private
or personal data, mistakes can mean hundreds
of thousands of dollars in penalties, not to men-
tion the loss of confidence in your services.
A well-designed ADF system minimizes these
costs by ensuring the correct information in
the right order, print quality assurance, accu-
rate accumulation with no mixed mailpieces
and accurate postage, based on destination
and tray density. If errors do occur, ADF sys-
tems notify immediately and automate the op-
portunities to make corrections or recycle back
through the process without slowing down or
stopping their workflow. What, then, are the
elements of a well-designed ADF system?
Real-time Measurement and
Reporting: I’m sure by now that most
people are aware of how important real-time
capabilities are when it comes to any form of
information technology. Within many typical
production systems, measures are manual or
even anecdotal and performed by operations
supervisors and quality assurance personnel.
Production reports are assessed monthly or
quarterly, depending on the business and deci-
sions, for improvement goals are set after even
more planning. Waiting that long to discover
inefficiencies can cause productivity levels to be
dramatically reduced. With ADF systems with
real-time data collection and reporting, opera-
tors and managers will see results in seconds,
allowing them to respond quickly.
Open and Accessible: Everyone
is aware of the web and the tremendous access
to information that it supplies to our daily
business and personal lives. A well-designed
ADF system should take advantage of modern
web technologies to make reports available to
users through their web-connected worksta-
tions, laptops and even their mobile phones.
Flexible and Portable: Webster de-
fines a report as “common talk or an account
spread by common talk.” If ADF reports are to
be effective in spreading that “common talk,”
then it needs to be flexible in the formats that it
can adhere to for both human sharing and com-
prehension (e.g. PDF, HTML) and machine-to-
machine sharing and data portability (e.g. CSV,
XML). Reports are only as good as their ability
to carry their message. This ties back to both
real-time and accessibility aspects of the system.
same and the management is different, result-
ing in the operations running in two completely
different ways. ADF technology understands
this and is configured to the environment in-
stead of you adapting your operation to the
technology. As teenagers, we all thought that
we knew everything and that we could do no
wrong. Then we finally realized that we should
have taken advantage of some outside help. The
ever-evolving advancements in ADF technology
will optimize your production by speeding opti-
mizing solutions right to your production floor.
In the future, ADF techniques will continuous-
ly improve to ensure lower costs, higher quality,
document integrity and process controls. As
strategies continue to progress, new functions
to support TransPromo color printing, content
and campaign management driven document
composition as well as response management
systems will require peak performance from
production systems.
ADF systems offer intelligent, real-time optimi-
zation solutions — and it’s only getting smarter.

Action-Oriented: A well-designed

FEATURE
ADF system helps decipher your data, analyz-
ing and offering suggestions for improvement,
which are made visible to both the operator and
manager, as well as measures the efficiency of
every employee and machine. This allows you to
focus on areas that need improvement. Manag-
ers can determine where training needs to be
implemented, when and where the equipment
needs attention and how to distribute the work-
force based on peak performance in production.

But ADF systems are not just about machines.

Your human resources and your operators rep-
resent your greatest corporate assets and are
worthy of your improvement efforts. Having
the ability at your fingertips to see the produc-
tion or idle time by employee vs. benchmarks,
the number of jobs or tasks they have com-
pleted and the areas where improvements can
be made gives you the power to respond and
to make adjustments almost immediately. As a
manager, you are investing in people through
compensation and benefits every time they
walk in the door. But why not invest in them
by helping them do their job better? Any tool
that helps you analyze data and quickly make
improvements to your operations will be a great
improvement to your production. By obtaining
the productivity of operators in real-time, you
can easily discover the most efficient employees
and begin a training program for new employ-
Mail Strategies

ees with these mentors. This way, operators are

continuously improving to a point where both
they and the machines are running smoothly at
their peak performance levels.

Just as no two students in a classroom function

the same way and require different attention,
Fall 2009

no two production mail operations process

in the same manner. Even if two shops have
the same equipment, the operators are not the

25
FEATURE
Success
Selecting for
The dos and don’ts of supplier evaluation |
O
ver the past 18 months or so,
businesses across all sectors
have been pursuing one com-
mon goal: sell more products
and minimize resources to reduce costs.
This has placed additional pressure on the
relationship between companies producing
the goods and the suppliers that provide the
tools to produce more effectively. We are see-
ing companies go to their suppliers and re-
quest better rates, services and technologies.
Conversely, we are seeing suppliers utilize this
Fall 2009
economic environment to justify the impor-
tance of their services and products to their
clientele. Now, perhaps more than any other
time in the past decade, companies need
mail strategies
to be able to make an informed decision to
select suppliers for optimum success. With
every vendor putting their best foot forward
and considering the purchaser’s economic re-
sponsibility, how can the purchaser make an
intelligent decision based on the facts?
26
By Graham Newell
The Objective Purchaser
The key to supplier evaluation is to develop
a methodology that allows you to objectively
evaluate service providers or products. An ob-
jective supplier evaluation will ensure that the
best supplier is selected for a given business
problem. The intent is to consider all relevant
factors and minimize the subjective issues that
can potentially influence such a decision. The
objective data is not always clear and may re-
quire you to create your own system of mea-
surement. A weighted matrix is just one tool
that can be used to ensure objectivity while
reaching the decision.
The weighted matrix method can be used for
filling a specific need, such as a courier, presort
service, printing operation or letter fulfillment.
It can also be used for selecting equipment,
software or even a complete service provider
that will manage the operation for your busi-
ness. In fact, the more complex the decision,
the more important it is to properly evaluate
all relevant factors of the decision. Before an
RFI or RFP is even produced, it is a good idea
to discuss with your group the requirements
and expectations that they have for the poten-
tial vendors. It is also important to understand
the overall goals of the business and how the
selection will impact or augment those goals.
This is not a like-for-like comparison of cost
and product but a holistic understanding of
how the supplier should affect your organiza-
tion. Requirement definition will also help
you convey the need to engage a third-party
supplier. As you are looking at all of your
business requirements, you will need to un-
derstand the factors that are most important
to your company. It is also recommended that,
at this point, you have a conversation to un-
derstand the factors that are most important
to your upper management to ensure you will
have stakeholder buy-in once the evaluation is
complete. The requirements that you include

in your matrix will be a mixture of questions
that could be used in a variety of weighted ma-
trices because they are requirements strongly
rooted in the goals of your organization, as
well as questions that are going to be specific
to your product or service decision.
Your Requirements
Step One: Risk Assessment
Risks are often overlooked during business
need and requirement development; however,
they can be almost as vital a component of ven-
dor selection as the final price. Some suggested
areas to concentrate your risk assessment and
potential mitigations include:
• Financial impact: A moderate to sig-
nificant daily financial, customer or
operational impact if the supplier is unable
to provide services.
• Legal or regulatory compliance: Moderate
to significant legal or regulatory compli-
ance risk associated with failed supplier
performance.
• Confidentiality: Supplier possession of or ac-
cess to confidential or restricted information.
• Supplier connectivity to client networks: A
planned network connection between you
and your supplier.
• Direct customer interaction: Planned
supplier interaction directly with your cus-
tomers.
• Supplier mitigation of personnel changes:
Moderate to significant impact related to
supplier’s loss of key personnel.
The requirements process may be the most
involved and lengthy part of the supplier selec-
tion process but will be well worth it in the
end. Strong requirements will lead to better
leverage after you have begun engaging suppli-
ers as you will be focusing your efforts only on
those suppliers most qualified based on their
RFP response.
FEATURE
Step Two: Involving the
Supplier
A well-written request for proposal (RFP) or
request for information (RFI) should help you
and your supplier understand all of the factors
that will make the project a success and what
obstacles will need to be conquered. The ob-
jectives of an RFP/RFI are to:
• Identify critical success factors
• Identify barriers to success
• Integration of supplier activities with cor-
mail strategies
porate business strategy
• Provide legal framework of an agreement
• Enable ease of migration
I generally advise our business partners to keep
price out of decision-making until the field is
narrowed to two or three suppliers that can
Fall 2009
meet all the requirements. This prevents an
un-negotiated price from kicking out a very
qualified supplier. You should first see who
27
 can do the best job for your company, then
negotiate the best price.
Pricing can be simple or complex, depending
on the services being rendered. It is impor-
tant that you comprehend all costs involved,
such as hardware, software, service and main-
tenance as well as facilities costs. Outside of
these typical costs that most purchasers un-
derstand, think about the costs associated
FEATURE
Fall 2009
mail strategies
28
with establishing, maintaining and monitor-
ing security and access control and the costs
associated with establishing recovery capabil-
ity. The costs will vary depending on your
decision, but regardless, an exhaustive search
for all costs will save you many headaches
down the road. When including the vendor
in your RFP/RFI preparation, ask them to
consider all costs associated with their poten-
tial proposal.
Keep in mind that most service providers you
are looking at will be able to meet many, or
even most, of your business needs. However,
the supplier evaluation process is necessary to
effectively weigh each need in order to select
the supplier that meets the majority of your
requirements effectively. Stick to the process
to ensure success. By organizing the objective
data to effectively make your supplier decision,
you will have clear justification for deciding
one way or the other. Providing objective data
to support your supplier selection will: increase
stakeholder buy-in and approval by augment-
ing the decision-making process; decrease time
and effort in future supplier selection cycles by
creating a reusable method; gain personal cred-
ibility (you and your team) through validation
of the selection as well as company credibility
(with suppliers — both those selected and those
not) through validation of the selection
The Decision
Once you get the responses back from your
RFP, you can then plot each raw score into
your matrix. You can then identify the com-
pany that represents the “best fit” for your
organization. Your scored matrix will help in
complex evaluations with multiple criteria
and multiple vendors to consider. Here, each
requirement is weighted against the overall
cost of the delivery. Using this form will help
you determine where to let go of less critical or
lower-rated requirements for better delivery of
those factors that are most important.
Choosing the best supplier from a group of
qualified service providers can be a daunt-
ing task, but the benefits will outweigh the
upfront efforts. Determining specific require-
ments in advance and communicating factors
for success with potential providers creates an
equitable and decisive way to subjectively make
a decision as well as increase credibility and
validation of the final selection.
Finally, by using the weighted matrix meth-
odology, you will be sure that all aspects
of the request are covered and the ground-
work for a successful comprehensive agree-
ment between parties produces the desired
results. The methodology can be modified
and reused in a case-by-case basis to meet the
needs of a particular type of service provider
or product that is being evaluated. In the
end, you are seeking new solutions because
you want to improve your operation, and a
quantifiable system puts you on the right
path towards organizational improvement
with your new investment.
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 Pro d u ct
i n n o va
BEYOND | product innovations
K2600
The Kern 2600 Inserting System sets new stan-
dards when it comes to performance, modular-
ity, reliability and investment protection. Consis-
tent use of the latest servo technology allows for
virtually maintenance-free processing that push-
es the K2600 to deliver up to 16,000 envelopes
Fall 2009
per hour with either #10 or 6”x9” envelopes.
The K2600 features an ergonomic design for
ease-of-operation and better access throughout
Mail strategies
the system. Standard on the K2600, Kern’s
4-plate folder makes almost any type of vertical
or horizontal fold possible. The new clam-shell
design of the folding unit of the K2600 allows
for rapid application changeovers and offers nov-
el features that serve to increase versatility and
30
simplify adjustment procedures. The new and in-
novative unit is an integral part of both the new
continuous forms cutter and the new single-sheet
feeder. The K2600 can also handle up to four in-
puts at the same time with the systems integrated
inputs for both continuous and cut-sheet forms.
The K2600 is integrated with the most ad-
vanced document safety features that include
additional monitoring sensors in the docu-
ment transport, as well as barcode cameras
that give a real-time image of the document on
the local operating panel to aid operators in
lining up barcodes, allowing for quicker setup
and better accuracy. Industry leading sensor
density ensures every piece and packet are con-
tinuously monitored and tracked, guarantee-
ing 100% mailpiece integrity.
“Kern Integrated Inputs” reduce the complexity
found in current input systems and more impor-
tantly, reduce setup times. The Kern Single Sheet
Feed EFQR also combines three functions in a
compact unit: It separates folds and collates docu-
ments in a single module. The single sheet feeder
is extremely reliable and is simple to adjust. When
collating two pages per group, the module can
process up to an impressive 32,000 documents
per hour. Both input modules set new standards
for reading capability. All common types of code
can be read anywhere on the document. The
Kern SIGR continuous forms input combines
the cutting, accumulating, and folding into one
compact unit. The fast SIGR processes two-page
document sets at the full rated chassis speed of
16,000 envelopes per hour and three-page sets at
12,000 envelopes per hour. The K2600 is natively
capable of handling either pin-fed or environmen-
tally friendly pinless forms. Kern’s mailFactory
Suite has also been fully integrated into the frame-
work of the K2600 for unmatched ADF flexibility
and reporting capabilities.
For mailers that need a flexible inserting system
with integrity built-in and full integration of an
automated document factory, the Kern 2600
Inserting System delivers 10 years of production-
grade output when maintained under a Kern
Service Maintenance agreement.
tions
EasyMailer
Mailboxes today are filled with statements, bill
notifications and a variety of mass-mailed market-
ing pieces that are fighting for attention. To stand
out from the typical “Dear Resident” letters that
blanket a ZIP Code, wise direct marketers are
leveraging the power of full color and variable
data printing to create targeted messaging that
will catch the recipients’ attention and deliver
increased responses rates as high as 25%. This di-
rect mail philosophy has become even more valu-
able and effective during the last 18 months as
companies tap their mailing lists to look for new
opportunities and to increase business revenue
Kern’s latest innovation is the Kern 515 Easy-
Mailer: a turnkey, self-mailer that turns an
11x17” form into a complete mailpiece. Now
you can maximize your marketing messages by
using all sides of the envelope for added graph-
ics and text inside and outside the mailpiece.
Personalization, along with the use of variable
color graphics and text, has proven to gener-
ate a much higher response rate than general
letters. Marketing companies, transactional
printers, copy shops and quick printers are
seeing opportunities to provide more focused
marketing solutions for their customers by us-
ing personalization to increase response rates.
The K515 EasyMailer has been improved with
the addition of an optional insert feeder and
the improved capability of adding up to three
documents per envelope.
preparing for success
BEYOND | product innovations
With the Kern 515 EasyMailer, you can easily
connect more personally with your prospects
and customers. The EasyMailer complements
the new age of variable digital and offset print-
ing to revolutionize direct mail and transac-
tional mail processing. The EasyMailer allows
any company to go the extra mile in commu-
nicating with customers and prospects. For
every personalized finished letter, the barcode
tracking system guarantees integrity between
envelope and contents to be finished. So from
print to finished solution, the product is ready
to be mailed.
Not only can the EasyMailer give you the com-
petitive edge when mailing to your customers,
but compared to conventional methods requir-
mail strategies
ing separate envelopes and an insertion device,
it can provide cost savings for short to medium
mail runs of fully personalized mailpieces.
As an added benefit, the K515 EasyMailer
can process common paper stock, giving sig-
nificant savings over specialized envelopes and
forms. The K515 EasyMailer is an easy-to-de-
Fall 2009
ploy and cost-effective direct mail solution that
will surely make your customer’s mail stand
out in the mailbox.
31
BEYOND | product innovations
DFD
Why pre- and post-processing? A simple an-
swer to a simple question: savings potential.
Any production printer requires pre- and post-
document processing. Savings comes from
automating processes and minimizing manual
input during the document production pro-
cess. Kern’s line of Document Finishing on
Demand Solutions for pre-and post processing
requires little operator supervision, reduces
operator handling, and increases operator
productivity for better overall production ef-
ficiency. Your printers can only processes as
quickly and efficiently of their inputs and out-
puts and Kern’s line of Document Finishing
on Demand Systems maximize the efficiency
of your complete production from end to end.
Kern Document Finishing on Demand (DFD)
provides intelligent solutions for the pre- and
post-processing of digitally printed mate-
rial from roll-to-roll, roll-to-fold, roll-to-cut and
Fall 2009
mailing strategies
K125 Web Buffer
Printing and post-processing modules need to maintain a perfect balance of input and output so produc-
tion processes can run efficiently and without delay. Post-processing devices, such as cut-sheet drop stackers
like the Kern DS-29, require time to eject the finished forms. Printers, however, must continue production,
32
roll-to-book, thus saving you time and money.
Kern offers a variety of modular products with-
in the DFD category that ensures all steps in
the printing, inserting and finishing of docu-
ments are accomplished efficiently.
Roll to Roll — Unwinders
and Rewinders
Kern’s line of Roll to Roll solutions optimize
today’s high-speed printers with input and
outputs that can handle up to 500 feet of
continuous form web per hour. The K100 roll
unwinding module feeds Kern’s high-speed in-
serting systems and is also perfectly suited for
use in combination with high speed printing
machines or with offline cutting, folding and
inserting systems. The K100-DR6 series of un-
winders and rewinders are also available in a
lighter version for those who do not demand
as much functionality but still want advanced
electronics and performance. The K110 high-
speed roll rewinder ensures perfect web re-
winding so that the finished roll will process
correctly during the next step of production.
One advantage of the K100-DR6 series is that
90% of the parts on the K100 unwinder and
K110 rewinder are interchangeable, saving you
money in parts inventory.
Large shops face the challenge of ensuring every
device is matched to its purpose and ready for
production. When equipment configurations
change on the production floor, that may mean
expensive and time-consuming changes. Kern
has taken the DFD concept a step further with
the announcement of the K115 “Runwinder,” a
fully featured system that can serve as either Un-
winder or Rewinder on your high-speed print
lines, giving customers the flexibility to shift
production assets to different uses as produc-
tion needs change.
or the entire line will be stopped until the
drop stacker is ready to resume. The Kern
125 Web Buffer serves as the buffer zone
between two different production process-
ing stages and allows for continuous web
flow. The module also synchronizes print-
ing systems with follow-up paper process-
ing systems, a feature which allows you to
connect a printer directly in line with a
Kern Inserter.
With the K125 Web Buffer will maximize
your printer capabilities and keep auto-
mation to the max, saving you both time
and money. Featuring an automated loop
control to adjust variations in printer
speed, the web buffer also offers an auto-
load system for easy startup.

K146 High Stack Folder
The Kern 146 High Stack Folder folds continuous stationery perfectly into large stacks. This module offers
everything you could possibly desire: It creates fanfold stacks of one-up or two-up continuous stationary with
or without pinfeed. It can automatically separate jobs at an odd or even number of sheets; the intermediate
MailFactory
Continuous technological advancement is the
key to business success today, and it is even more
important for the mailing industry to stay ahead
of the curve. Production mail centers utilize the
most advanced printing and inserting systems
and these environments need the ability to moni-
tor and control the entire processes, from end
to end. To meet this need, Kern has developed
a suite of Automated Document Factory (ADF)
solutions, mailFactory. Kern’s mailFactory is a
comprehensive suite of web-enabled ADF soft-
ware tools designed to help clients manage docu-
ment production, verify document accuracy, and
easily interface with other workflow systems in
an ADF. All of mailFactory’s components are
based on an open structure, making it possible
to network document inserting systems and to
store data in a central database.
mailFactory Manager allows you to visualize pro-
cesses monitored by mailFactory, giving you the
ability to see all finished and processing jobs.
mailFactory Document Control ensures the in-
tegrity of your mailings by controlling the infor-
mation for file-based/database driven inserting.
mailFactory Workplace provides a window into
the production mail job being run at the inserter
with a color-coded view of each mailpiece. It also
provides the capabilities of repairing, reprinting
or manually handling mailpieces within a job.
Interfacing with mailFactory Manager SQL
Database, the mailFactory Reporter is capable
of reporting on inserting, operator, job, mail-
piece and mail recovery data.
mailFactory Media Control provides tracking of
inserts via a barcode read at the time the insert
is added to the packet.
mailFactory PROStream helps customers man-
age their production resources by enabling
print stream engineering, replacing barcodes,
organizing control files and signaling auto-
matic reprints.
mailFactory Postal Reporter provides integrated
CASS-certified address cleansing, PAVE- certi-
conveyor belt makes it possible to create sep-
BEYOND | product innovations
arate stacks without interrupting print jobs.
You can choose between two delivery sys-
tems: The folded forms can be transferred
directly to a drop stacker, where they are set
upright and then moved away on a stack
trolley with stacks up to 31 ½”, or they
can be stacked with the automated Forms
Transfer Systems (FTS) for high stack trans-
portation up to 48”.
fied presorting, and full manifest report writ-
ing for meter elimination.
In addition to mailFactory Manager, mailFac-
tory FileManager allows you to control file
transfers and distribution, as well as store in-
structions for production jobs.
mailFactory Validation provides input and out-
put validation, diverting documents that are
out of sequence.
More than just document inserting systems,
the components of mailFactory cover all lev-
els of mail production.
mail strategies
Any piece of mailFactory software will benefit
mail producers and greatly increase your pro-
duction integrity, speed and capabilities.
ADF Systems enable a significant increase in
productivity and greatly enhance processing se-
Fall 2009
curity. Furthermore, they make production veri-
fiable and retraceable, allowing you to quickly
and confidently process your mailpieces.
33
 in conclusion
Organizing for Success

In our last Mail Strategies, I reflected on challenging times and the need to “get go-
ing.” As our 2009 year unfolded, we have all felt the impact of those challenges and
have taken actions in response that we deemed necessary. Sometimes those actions
had a human cost and are some of the most difficult choices to make. What are the
actions, taken during tough times, that will provide the best payback as we enjoy the
recovery? How do we make sure that we are doing more than just doing things right,
but that we are doing the right things?

BY Dr. thomas J. I believe that any organization’s attentions and efforts are best focused on customer
brock, President/ relationships and ensuring that every customer is successful in achieving their goals
CEO, Kern, Inc. with the products and services that they receive from their supplier/partner organiza-
tion. We have organized ourselves accordingly.

It’s too easy for senior managers to concentrate on cost-cutting and divesting business-
es. Though we understand that this approach can be necessary in the short run, we
preferred to take this “down time” to strengthen our relationships with our customers
by establishing metrics for customer success and ensuring that our measures demon-
strate continuous improvement. We have reorganized to put our best people closer to
the customer and increased our focus on collaborating with customers regarding their
challenges today and their emerging needs tomorrow. We are looking for new ways to
serve our customers with new product and service offerings.
BEYOND | in conclusion

That brings us to the spread in the front of this issue. We know that many of you have
experienced trying times. More than just a “get going,” we want to work side by side
with you to help you meet and exceed your production expectations. And, as always,
we would like to hear from you regarding the steps you have taken to organize for suc-
cess, so contact us via email at mailstrategies@kerncan.com.

We hope you enjoy this third edition of Mail Strategies, and we look forward to col-
laborating with you towards your success.
Fall 2009

I believe that any organization’s

attentions and efforts are
best focused on customer
relationships and ensuring that
mail strategies

every customer is successful in

achieving their goals.

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