Memo to Mailers
- September 2002 (Text)
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
VOLUME 37 NUMBER 9
SEPTEMBER 2002

WHAT'S INSIDE
THE NEW DMM
INDUSTRY TASK FORCE
ELECTION SEASON AHEAD
POSTAL NEWS BRIEFS
BUY STAMPS HERE

TRANSFORMING … AS WE SPEAK
The Postal Service is moving full speed ahead on transformation, taking steps to meet today's challenges while preparing for the future. "The Transformation Plan is a blueprint. It's not a wish list. We're going to follow it," says Postmaster General John E. Potter.
The factors that drove the creation of the Transformation Plan have not changed. USPS is experiencing extraordinary declines in mail volume - projected at more than 6 billion pieces for FY 2002 - and resulting losses in revenues.
USPS is cutting costs and improving efficiency wherever possible. The Postal Service has reduced the number of career employees through attrition by 20,000 people, cut over 60 million workhours, postponed other program expenditures and delayed capital investments. This will reduce planned expenses for the year by $2 billion.
And be assured, USPS will continue to do all it can within the limits of existing law to protect the right of every American to affordable, accessible, universal mail service.
The Transformation Plan - front and center.
THE LOOK OF TRANSFORMATION
It is possible to build a better mousetrap. Look at what the Postal Service is doing to its Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). There's a new design. A fresh focus. It's easy to use and understand. And, the title of the first new DMM series describes this redesign in a proverbial nutshell - it's
A Customer's Guide to Mailing.
Postal transformation is about making it easier for customers to do business with USPS.
The new DMM, a multi-part project, is based on the ways customers use the mail and focuses on the key decisions customers make in doing business with the Postal Service. Instead of one big volume, it will be a series of smaller manuals. Charts, illustrations, tips and real-life examples will be added to help customers understand USPS products and
services.
The new DMM will be divided into different pieces for different kinds of customers:
-100 Series for retail customers, A Customer's Guide to Mailing is available now.
-200 Series for beginning and small bulk mailers, small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
-300 Series for professional mailers.
-400 Series for other information such as labeling lists and hazardous materials.
Why redesign the DMM?
The current DMM is the document that is the basis of domestic mailing standards. It's a complex document. It can be frustrating for both employees and customers.
In writing and publishing mailing standards, USPS has emphasized compliance with the law, the engineering requirements of postal equipment and the operational flow of mail through the postal system. While these are important objectives, there has been no comparable attempt to present mailing standards in a way that's easy for customers and employees to follow.
The new DMM will clarify mailing alternatives for different employee and customer groups (for example, retail customers, nonprofit organizations, small businesses, business mail entry clerks, USPS administrators). It will create mailing requirements that are easy to use and understand.
A Customer's Guide to Mailing (DMM 100) carries the same weight and authority as the current DMM. The DMM 100 Series document for retail mailing is ready now. The 200, 300, and 400 series documents will be published in stages over the next few years. In the meantime, either the old or the new DMM is the authority for mailing standards. Both contain the same information, they are updated at the same time, and they both represent the Postal Service's legal mailing standards.
Customers should look for copies of the DMM 100 in post offices, or they can download a copy at www.usps.com. Also, USPS is enclosing a copy of the document with every order from the Postal Store on the website.MAIL INDUSTRY TASK FORCE: TRACKING TRANSFORMATION
The transformation of the mail channel is under way as recommendations made by the Mailing Industry Task Force become reality. The task force - co-chaired by Pitney Bowes Chairman and CEO Michael Critelli and Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan - was formed in March 2001 to explore ways to help the mailing industry thrive in the future. Now, as the Postal Service moves full speed ahead with implementation of its Transformation Plan, the work of the task force serves as a conduit to USPS efforts to preserve universal service and strengthen the mail system in the future.
At the National Postal Forum (NPF) Sept. 22-25 in Boston, Critelli and Nolan will explain what progress has been made on task force recommendations in support of these strategic goals: to respond to customer needs, to make mail more competitive and to unify the
industry. "The progress of the Mailing Industry Task Force subcommittees is overwhelming," says Hamilton Davison, president and CEO of Paramount Cards, a steering committee member. "The accomplishments coming from this group are innovative, collaborative and focused on all customer groups. Changes are occurring in the Postal Service very quickly. Given the complexity and scale of what is involved, the speed of implementation is amazing."
Judy Marks, president, Distribution Technology at Lockheed Martin and a new member of the task force, agrees. "The results of the Mailing Industry Task Force are very significant and relevant, and the speed of change is remarkable," she says.
Individual sessions at the NPF will provide more detailed information on the recommendations made by the task force involving intelligent mail, consumer gateway services, enhanced payment systems, preparation and entry optimization, network optimization, postal pricing and address quality.
In addition, a new industry council - the non-profit Mailing Industry CEO Council - will discuss its efforts to shape the debate on the future of the mail channel, including marketing and communications strategies to promote the value of mail to the nation's economy.
In addition to Marks, new members of the task force are Jeff Jurick, president and CEO, Fala DM Group, and Hugh Mahler, president and owner, Wolf Detroit Envelope Co. Retiring task force members are Jonathan Linen, vice chairman, American Express, and Thomas Siebel, chairman and CEO, Siebel System, Inc.
A full list of task force members and additional information about the task force are available on www.usps.com. Information
about the NPF can be found at www.npf.org.
FYI
On Sept. 22, CONFIRM tracking service becomes available by subscription.
CONFIRM lets customers know when their letters or flats have
traveled through various stages of the automated mailstream and
provides USPS with useful operations data.
CONFIRM adds value to the mail and allows mailers to better support their marketing efforts.
POISED TO PROCESS
An uncertain economy is the number one factor that will influence the fall mailing season this year and while USPS is not planning for major increases in volume during this period, postal operations are poised to process mailings efficiently and effectively.
"Based on current information from the industry, we are confident we will be able to handle what comes to us," says Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan.
The fall mailing season runs mid-August through Thanksgiving and includes four holidays - Labor Day (Sept. 2), Columbus Day (Oct. 14), Veteran's Day (Nov. 11) and Thanksgiving (Nov. 28). The holiday mailing period begins after Thanksgiving and continues through January.
This will be the first fall mailing season during which postal employees capture electronic information about the induction of plant-verified drop shipments which may contain letters, flats or parcels.
Mailers submit an electronic data file and print a barcode for that shipment on PS Form 8125, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment Verification and Clearance. When the shipment arrives at the destination entry office, a postal employee will use a handheld scanner to capture information from the shipment barcode.
The USPS scan provides electronic notification of when and where a shipment entered the Postal Service and "starts the clock" for service performance measurement for two programs. CONFIRM was the first program to allow mailers to access data electronically through the Internet for letters or flats on which they printed a PLANET code, which uniquely identifies each mailpiece.
In June, a new service measurement for Parcel Select was announced for mailers with larger volume business-to-residential and business-to-business ground shipments containing parcels with Delivery Confirmation or Signature Confirmation services.
ELECTION SEASON AHEAD
The Postal Service created a trademarked "Official Election Mail" logo to help process voting-related materials. It's there to make the mail more prominent. The logo signifies to voters and postal employees the importance of this mail, which is so critical to the democratic electoral process.
The logo will apply to all classes of mail and all processing categories, but it is not intended to upgrade service. The logo was not intended to be a substitute for a method of postage payment. This includes postage meter tapes or impressions, postage stamps and permit imprint indicia. The logo is strictly for identification purposes.
No candidate for any election, or anyone other than voter registration officials, can use the logo.
Guidelines for use of the logo are available to federal, state and local government election officials.
All questions regarding the limited use, conditions and legal policy of the Official Election Mail logos and guidelines, please contact:
Donna Gallegos
Marketing Specialist
Market Development
Telephone:
703-292-3577.
Fax: 703-292-3832
E-mail: dgallego@email.usps.gov
Any requests for Official Election Mail logos and guidelines please contact:
Brand Equity and Design
475 L'Enfant Plaza SW
Room 10653
Washington, DC 20260-3100
Telephone: 202-268-7804
Fax: 202-268-2392
E-mail: imagereq@email.usps.gov
POSTAL NEW'S BRIEFS
ADVERTISING CONTRACT AWARDED
The Postal Service awarded its advertising contract to the Campbell-Ewald Agency of Detroit, MI. It will be joined by Draft Worldwide to form a single entity dedicated to the USPS account.
The Campbell-Ewald/Draft Worldwide team emerged as the choice after "a thorough process and weighing every factor to ensure that the Postal Service was making the best choice," says Larry Speakes, manager of USPS Advertising.The three multi-cultural agencies - Bravo, Chisholm-Mingo and Asian Partners - will continue with the Postal Service.
PRINT YOUR OWN
USPS has authorized a new version of PC Postage that extends the convenience and access of Internet postage for Postal Service customers. The new service - Stamps.com's NetStamps - enables postal customers to print sheets of individual NetStamps for use like regular postage.
The earlier version of Internet postage required that postage be printed at the time of mailing and in association with the recipient's address. Customers can now use NetStamps like regular postage stamps, printing and storing them for future use without worry of expiration.
A GIANT STEP FORWARD
The business mail acceptance process takes a giant step forward as the Postal Service conditionally approves the use of PostalOne!'s new electronic postage statement capability by several major customers.
PostalOne! is a suite of electronic capabilities that simplify much of mail acceptance, verification and payment processes by streamlining or eliminating much of the traditional hardcopy documentation required of business mailers. The system features a direct electronic link between the business mailer and USPS.
After months of successful pilot testing, the customers - Arandell, Quad/Graphics, Quebecor World and RR Donnelley & Sons - will be able to use the new electronic Standard Mail PS Form 3502-R postage statement.
"This is the beginning of a major move toward making the entire acceptance process more customer focused and easier for customers to use," says Larry Goodman, manager, Business Customer Support Systems.
Goodman says these four companies will no longer have to submit a hardcopy postage statement to USPS because they've demonstrated the ability to accurately provide this information electronically. On the USPS side, acceptance employees will now have access to this information electronically through PostalOne!
"Both USPS and customers benefit with PostalOne!," says Goodman. "This is a deliberate effort to move away from paper-driven processes to an electronic exchange of information makes it easier for all of us to do business."
ONLINE INTEGRITY
Businesses and consumers soon will be able to turn to the Web for the Postal Service's Electronic Postmark (EPM) service, which applies a trusted time and date stamp to an electronic document or file.
USPS signed a strategic alliance agreement with AuthentiDate, a subsidiary of AuthentiDate Holding Corp., to provide management, technology and support for the Postal Service's EPM service. AuthentiDate will transition the Electronic Postmark from a hardware-based solution to a
Web-based, software product that is easier to integrate into existing computer systems.
EPM service is similar to postmarking physical mail. It offers a high level of integrity for electronic communications and transactions in that it validates the existence of a document at a specific date and time, and detects attempts to alter the postmarked document.

Volume 37 Number 9
Ilze Sella, Editorial Services
Frank Papandrea, Art Director
David Ostroff, Designer
Alan Valsi, Printing Specialist
John E. Potter, Postmaster General and CEO
Deborah K. Willhite, Senior Vice President, Government Relations and Public Policy
Azeezaly S. Jaffer, Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications
MEMO TO MAILERS is published by U.S. Postal Service Public Affairs and Communications.
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memo to mailers
US POSTAL SERVICE
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e-mail: mmailers@email.usps.gov
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BREAD, MILK, AND STAMPS
Nothing could be easier than picking up a book of postage stamps at the supermarket checkout. Isn't it nice to know that in addition to 38,000 post offices and contract stations, there are about 60,000 additional places where you can buy stamps, not counting your home computer?
Coming this fall, to help you easily identify non-postal locations coast-to-coast where stamps are sold, USPS is introducing its new "Buy Stamps Here" decal. Stamps - when and where people need them.
Look for the decal at participating grocery stores, drug stores and ATMs, on vending machines, and at contract postal stations.
And don't forget. You don't even have to leave your home to order stamps. Do it online at www.usps.com.