Embrace Technology Or Face Ruin, Rich Gebbie Tells MAILCOM Attendees
Business mailers must embrace technology to grow their business, Rich Gebbie told MAILCOM ’18 attendees April 11 in Philadelphia. The CEO of Midwest Direct detailed how his company has grown since the 1980’s.
The bottomline: embrace technology or fail.
“The USPS is far from dead and remains a critical part of the economy,” Gebbie said. Mailers must stay on top of changes in postal regulations and printing and processing technologies.
Critical new technologies include production inkjet printing and digital technologies like IP Targeting. Together, these give marketing service providers a foundation to print variable documents with digital value.
But be warned: selecting inkjet technology is a complicated process. You must pick the inkjet press that is right for you.
Midwest Direct in the 1980’s …
Gebbie sees Seamless Acceptance becoming a requirement for mailers within the next two to three years. Seamless Acceptance is an option for entering commercial mailings. It leverages full-service mailing technology by using scans from USPS mail processing equipment and hand held devices to automate verification and payment for commercial First-Class Mail cards, letters, and flats, Periodicals, Standard Mail letters and flats, and Bound Printed Matter Flats.
Midwest Direct today …
Business mailers must adopt lean manufacturing techniques and view their operations as part of a supply chain. Key to this is staying on top of your Mailer Scorecard, which Gebbie recommends be checked every day.
Midwest Direct’s operation is a high-tech marvel, where automation in mail poece creation, printing, processing, and conveyance begins with mail piece creation right through to automated tray conveyor processing and palletization.
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