Post Office pondering Intelligent Mail barcodes on all commercial parcels

This is taken and condensed from Enterprise Labeling News, posted March 13, 2013
http://enterpriselabeling.com/2013/03/14/usps-moving-toward-requiring-the-use-of-intelligent-mail-barcodes-on-all-commercial-parcels/

Since January 28, mailers looking to take advantage of the discounted "automation prices" offered by USPS have been required to use the Intelligent Mail barcode.

Now, it seems the agency is preparing to require the use of the new barcodes on all commercial parcels. On February 26, the Postal Service published a pertinent notice in the Federal Register, informing mailers that it is "exploring the advisability of requiring the use of Intelligent Mail package barcodes (IMpb) or unique tracking Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) on all commercial parcels."

The organization said it would expect to implement the new standards "on or about July 28, 2013." USPS offered a brief explanation of the rationale behind its actions by pointing to the benefits associated with the "intelligent" barcodes.

"Mailers will benefit from the tracking services provided with IMpb, both from improved service performance and from more efficient postal operations," the notice said.

The notice in the Federal Register was introduced as a way to provide stakeholders with an opportunity to submit comments before the beginning of a final rulemaking process. The agency will be accepting comments on the proposal until March 28, 2013.

For continuous form printers that are IMb capable and ready, visit http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/CheshireLabelsIMBIntelligentMailBarcodePrintingonImpactPrinters.aspx

DocPath Business Suite Industrial Bringing New Life to Matrix Printers

DocPath, PCI’s partner in document software especially for the run-native IBM “i” operating environment, has announced the availability of Business Suite Industrial.  It is a new software solution that enables businesses to generate professionally-formatted documents such as invoices and labels for printing on line matrix, serial matrix, or thermal printers. This solution provides users with document design technology that was previously only available to laser printer users.

The challenge of using line matrix technology is an inability to have an easy and affordable way to design graphical documents for printing on a line printer or other industrial units. With Business Suite Industrial, line matrix users can continue to reap the benefits of a greener technology solution, migrate completely away from or use less expensive and inflexible preprinted forms, and do far more with their printed documents.

Business Suite Industrial also includes an intuitive design tool for creating professionally-formatted graphical documents that allow for tables, images and data-driven messages, barcodes and more, which are commonly used by industrial companies.

“Many businesses like the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of existing industrial printers, but have been forced to migrate to laser due to a severe lack of application flexibility. With DocPath, this is no longer the case,” said Julio Olivares, the president and CEO of DocPath. “Industrial printers are increasingly relevant by offering benefits such as lower energy consumption, hardware longevity, lower cost of ownership, and support for graphical forms generation.”

A renewed relevance for line matrix, serial and even thermal printing:

•A “greener” alternative – When factoring hardware longevity, consumable waste, and energy consumption, line matrix is one of the most environmentally-friendly ways to print.

•Lower cost of ownership – Especially for high volume and high coverage print requirements, industrial printers can be the least expensive to operate per page, long-term, providing an attractive alternative to laser for nearly any business.

•Unmatched reliability – Continuous form industrial printers maintain superior performance when exposed to humidity, extreme temperatures, dust/dirt and other elements, making them ideal for harsh environments.

Business Suite Industrial is available for installation on iSeries, Windows, UNIX, and Linux. Business Pro Suite, a more comprehensive version enables support for laser printing, larger distributed print environments, PDF generation, and automated delivery of documents to email or fax.

For more information, contact Warren Neeley, GM of PCI Solutions via email address  WNeeley@PCIprinters.com or by calling 817-939-5614.  For a proposal, visit the website http://www.chooseglmgroup.com/Pages/DocPathBusinessSuiteIndustrial.aspx and request a quote.