**Minutes of the**

**Mailers\' Technical Advisory Committee**

**August 1-2, 2001**

**U. S. Postal Service Headquarters**

**Ben Franklin Room**

**Washington, D.C.**

## Wednesday, August 1, 2001

**Welcome**

Postal Chair John Wargo called the meeting to order, welcomed members
and guests. He and Industry Chair Joe Lubenow presented a special
service award to Tom Tully for his long-time dedication to MTAC. Mr.
Wargo then presented an award of appreciation to Jay Freitas and, in
absentia, Ann Wright for their service as Postal Vice-Chairs. Finally,
Mr. Wargo announced that a certificate of appreciation was available for
each member of MTAC.

Mr. Wargo discussed the MTAC-related parts of the Postal Forum program,
inviting members to attend and to participate in the various session
programs.

Mr. Lubenow announced new members:

Tim Schratwieser -- Offering Envelope Association

Scott Lorenz -- Association of Leading Ag Media Companies

(formerly Agricultural Publishers Assn.)

Richard Paschen -- National Retail Federation

Amy Bringardner -- Classroom Publishers Association

And a new association -- Newsletter and Electronic Publishers
Association, Patricia Wysocki, Executive Director.

**Fall Mailing Season Plans**

**Nick Barranca, VP, Operations Planning & Processing**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Fmspnick.ppt>

Nick Barranca noted that the Postal Service has been involved in fall
mailing season planning for four years. This year the process will be
similar to last year -- a fall planning guide was published in June, the
field is putting plans in place in July and Headquarters is looking at
some sites that may require closer review.

The checklist developed in the past continues to be the backbone of the
process. Items on the checklist include communications (customers and
intra-USPS), assessment of mail volumes and capacities, focus on DSAS,
control of MTE, maintaining processing and transportation equipment,
managing complement, insuring space availability and providing for
contingencies through a written contingency plan.

There will be regular communications with MTAC, major printers, key
customers, the BSN and operational contacts within the USPS. The purpose
will be to inform, to anticipate customer requirements, to solve
problems and to support the various monitoring processes.

Monitoring will continue in all areas -- the DSAS appointments process,
mailings entered late, MTE, operating conditions at the BMC, plant and
delivery units, and time-sensitive mailing through the ADVANCE program.
The Inspection Service will repeat its observation program (September
10), making reports to Operations and, when appropriate, issuing site
specific memoranda of change that requires local action. Entry
guidelines will be published in the Mailers Companion (August 1), and
the DSAS facilities condition reports (green, yellow and rarely red) to
help mailers schedule direct mailings at specific facilities.

The fall mailing period (August 11) has several key dates when heavy
volume is anticipated -- Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day and
Thanksgiving. The Holiday period begins after Thanksgiving and continues
into mid-January, with special focus on the usual peak days. The tax
rebate mailings are not expected to have a burdensome effect on the fall
mailing, since these mailings are staggered and are automated letters.
Based on economic forecasts and industry information, volume is expected
to only equal last year's volume, perhaps even slightly lower.

Mr. Barranca noted the total number of AFSM 100s will reach 361 by
September 8, almost five times as many as the same time last year.
Slightly over half of all flats are now processed on the AFSM 100
equipment. The capacity and speed of operation is well above other
sorters, resulting in an overall reduction in total work hours of 1%, in
mail processing 3%, in manual work in plants 11% and in customer service
2%. The cost of sorting is one-third the historical total cost for flats
processing, and when flats preparation and keying, are added, the
reduction in cost is still almost half. Manual sorting costs about \$62
per thousand pieces. The breakdown for the AFSM 100 is \$5 for keying,
\$11 for preparation and \$18 for sorting, a total of \$34 per thousand
pieces, about half the cost of manual processing. An additional result
of this efficiency is a reduction in delays in delivery.

During discussion, Mr. Barranca stated that the engineering efforts of
the next generation machine are focusing on FSM 1000 characteristics
which will allow heavier pieces and move further into the system, into
delivery point sequencing and sector segmenting. Concerning overall
service, Mr.Barranca felt that the AFSM100s and the new partnership with
FedEx (discussed below) will continue to improve delivery times. He
added that, although volume is expected to be flat in the fall, total
volume (YTD) is slightly higher than planned.

**MTAC Program Evaluation**

**Ernie Harris, MTAC Program Manager**

Ernie Harris discussed the January MTAC program evaluation, which
revealed that MTAC is important to the member groups, and resulted in a
number of recommendations to improve the MTAC process. He explained that
a supplemental survey would be distributed and he requested that the
members present complete the evaluation form and return it before
leaving the meeting.

**Engineering Update**

## Tom Day, VP Engineering

Tom Day focused his presentation on flat technology, beginning with a
description of the ASFM100. After some early engineering problems were
solved, the system is working exceptionally well with substantial
improvements in speed and throughput. The major challenges now are
preparation and loading the AFSM100, which handles up to 18,000 flats
per hour, and getting the mail out of the system once sorted.

A lift assist device has been developed based on an off-the-shelf
robotic arm, modified to clamp down on a horizontal stack of flats
(about a foot high) and then make a 90-degree flip to align the mail
vertically for the sorter. Another vendor has developed a system to move
full flat tubs out from the individual bin and replace with a new empty
flat tub. The full flat tub, once it is pushed out, will move via a
conveyor belt for dispatch. A more sophisticated add-on is in early
stage development that will hopefully allow sequencing for the flat
tubs.

Size is a major challenge when considering possible sorting technology
for flats sequencing. The sorter itself, combined with induction
consoles and output configuration will probably require more than 9,000
square feet. Although the technology is probably available, the cost of
production also represents a major challenge. The system must be
produced at a price that can be economically justified given the savings
potential in carrier flat distribution operations. Vendors have agreed,
but have indicated that some risk sharing in the development process
must be a part of the equation.

The Postal Service expects its OCR contractor, Siemens, to continue to
improve readability capability, supported by financial incentives for
those improvements. NEC has prototyped a flats cancellers that is
considerably faster than any current USPS flats cancellers. The flats
canceller has the ability to detect leading edge and imprint a
reasonably small cancellation mark, which is much less intrusive that
the previous continuous stripe "tire tread" cancellation.

### During discussion Mr. Day noted that problems associated with tearing flats on the AFSM100 would be addressed on an individual basis. A test currently underway in Denver is being conducted to further define the machinability standard for the AFSM 100. If, emphasis on if, there is a design problem with the AFSM 100, a fix would probably not be available for the fall mailing season. National data on AFSM 100 performance suggest it is not a design problem. Individual problems would have to be handled on a case-by-case basis. 

### 

### Concerning Merlin, and the comparability to ABE, the Merlin resolution is more accurate and capable of recognizing the DMM specs. Although not currently set at that very strict requirement, the Merlin is nonetheless more selective than ABE. Concerning a number of comments about problems related to Merlin, Mr. Day assured the MTAC members that the Postal Service is working to get hard data, to get past anecdotal information, to specifically address problems that are proven.

### **FEDEX Transportation Status**

**Paul Vogel, VP Network Operations and Management**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Uspsfedx.ppt>

Mr. Vogel described the new USPS-FEDEX agreement which replaces the
prior dedicated networks that were difficult to manage, relatively
expensive, fragmented with agreements with many vendors, fraught with
performance problems, and which required very complicated coordination.
The FEDEX system will affect Priority Mail, Express Mail and First
Class, which will make other transportation more available for other
classes of mail. The ASYS (commercial air carriers) performance was even
worse.

The FEDEX proposal offered an expanded network, advanced and centralized
information technology capabilities, predictable and stable costs, and a
guaranteed consistent performance. The seven-year agreement makes a
\$1.3 billion savings and guarantees 95% on-time delivery. The scope of
operations involves an increase in night operations (mainly Express Mail
and international) from 50 market cities to 116; and expanding the day
operations (mainly First Class and Priority Mail) from 26 market cities
to 84. The agreement is based on space and weight, delivered in bulk
containers (no loose pieces, bags, etc.) The number are: day, 443,120
cubic feet (over 3 million pounds) and night, 250,000 pounds. The
challenge is to maximize the amount of mail (weight) on each flight,
which requires a sophisticated computer analysis and control of mail
flow. Some mail will continue to move on parts of the previous ASYS and
in ground transportation systems. Day operations began on June 25 and
will be full bore by August 27 and the night ops will be fully
operational by August 6. The heart of the program is a coordinated bar
code tracking system (the two systems were made compatible in a
cooperative technical effort). Preliminary results are far ahead of
expectations -- delivery is reliable, USPS utilization is above plan,
and FEDEX is pleased with the operations and the payments process.

Mr. Vogel described some limitations that would have to be resolved for
the benefit of customers -- commercial air carriers (including FEDEX)
will not carry certain HAZMAT materials or live animals; will not accept
ACT tags (USPS must use Distribution and Routing tags).

Finally, Mr. Vogel described the evolution over the last decade of the
HASP (Hub and Spoke Program) that provides ground transport of mail from
a central hub to relatively local sites (e.g., within radius of a few
hundred miles). It began small in the northeast and has expanded
steadily to include most of the area east of the Mississippi, and has
recently expanded to the western states. The challenges there are sparse
population and geographical obstacles, particularly the Rocky Mountains.
Nonetheless, the HASP now handles about 80 percent of ground transport
mail. The latest HASP proposal is for Atlanta and in Greensboro

**Product Redesign**

**Don O'Hara, Executive Director, Product Redesign**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Productr.ppt>

Mr. O'Hara discussed the current Product Redesign effort. He noted that
customer needs and capabilities are changing, the internal Postal
Service operating environment is changing, and competition from both
electronic and conventional sources is increasing. The objectives of
Product Redesign are to better meet customer needs, to reduce the
combined customer/USPS cost of mailing, and to develop products that fit
future USPS operations and that are priced to encourage growth and
volume. The tentative time line is to develop ideas and refine proposals
from now through March 2002, complete market research and cost analyses
by September 2002, file in February 2003, with a Postal Rate Commission
decision by the end of the year and implementation by May of 2004.

Mr. O'Hara invited input of ideas from MTAC members, mentioning several
possible areas for consideration. One is the question of how best to
translate the evolving flats strategy into new rate categories and mail
preparation requirements that reflect customer capabilities and USPS
costs. A second area is increased recognition that mailers vary widely
in their worksharing capabilities. Businesses that are "mail-intensive"
can probably do more complex types of worksharing than they do today,
while other businesses might want to put less time and resources into
mail preparation than they do today. The latter mailers could be offered
the option of simplified preparation (at rates reflecting the increased
work this would leave to be done by the Postal Service), while
requirements for the deepest discounts could be increased to take
advantage of the capabilities of mail-intensive businesses. Along these
lines, there could be new rate structures that would treat bundle and
container characteristics more explicitly than today's structure. Other
possible areas include ideas that would better reflect the needs of
households and other single-piece mailers, possible harmonization of
rate structures in the Package Services subclasses, and seasonal
variation in rates.

MTAC will be extensively involved as the Product Redesign process
unfolds. Ideas and suggestions (not limited to the areas mentioned
above) may be sent to Don O'Hara at 1735 N. Lynn St., Arlington, VA
22209-6028, or at <dohara1@email.usps.com> (be sure to include the "1"
after dohara).

### **USPS Flats Strategy**

**John Nolan, Deputy Postmaster General/CMO**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/uspsflat.ppt>

John Nolan announced that the USPS Flats Strategy publication was
available and would be distributed at the meeting. Ralph Moden explained
that currently there are four mail streams for flats -- automated,
mechanized, AFSM100 and manual (and a fifth if you add carrier route
presort). There are significant prep and handling costs, which lead to
increased rates. There are currently 287 AFSM100s in place, handling
about half of the flats in all plants. The plan is to have 530 sorters
in place by next May. In the AFSM100 sites, including all equipment
available at the site, flats productivity is up 27 percent. In all
plants, regardless of equipment, flats productivity is up 18 percent.

Areas which provide an opportunity to work together include bundle
integrity (supported by an MTAC work group), line of travel (also
supported by an MTAC work group), barcodes provided by industry (USPS
will not add barcodes) which barcodes about 85 percent of non carrier
route Standard flats, and 65 percent of non carrier route periodicals.

In the DMM there are optional preparation methods and guidelines that
offer additional opportunities for mailers to improve service and reduce
cost -- SCF pallet protection, merge/don't merge which allows some
carrier route and non-carrier route to be presented on the same pallet,
less than full sacks, address location/label placement. There are a
number of MTAC initiatives -- alternative flats prep test (test is over,
report is in progress), presort optimization, the efforts of the Flats
Strategy Work Group (which contributed to the Strategy document),
readability optimization and the Denver test on the AFSM100 mail
characteristics study.

Some of the objectives of the flats strategy include limiting the number
of mail streams (down to manual and automated mail streams), maximizing
bar-coding since there is a lot of room for improvement, and eventually
moving to an 11-digit barcode on flats. To achieve a fully automated
flats environment there must be standard physical characteristics for
flats, an agreed on placement for addresses, and a standard presentation
for mailing (container, pallet, etc.). Resolving Delivery Point
Sequencing (DPS) for flats (no sooner than 2004) requires working with
the customer allowing sufficient lead time to accomplish the goals. In
discussions to date with mailers, they have suggested the following lead
times --11-digit barcode, 6 months; standard label location, 2 years;
mail piece redesign and alternative mail prep procedures, indefinite,
since it involves how mailers and their clients do business. More
precise lead times can be identified once the requirements of a fully
automated (DPS) flats environment are defined.

Mr. Nolan then presented an award to Clarence Banks in recognition of
his leadership of the 2001 Flats Strategy Work Group.

## Mailing Industry Task Force Update

**John Nolan, Deputy Postmaster General/CMO**

**Michael Critelli, CEO, Pitney Bowes, Inc.**

Mr. Nolan, co-chair of the Task Force, discussed the role of the Task
Force, a group of Postal Service and Industry executives who joined
together to examine the future of the mailing industry -- to assess
customer needs, determine the role of hard copy in customer relationship
management and to understand the competitive environment of the mailing
industry. The Task Force has come to understand the future importance of
mail as an integral part of the business process.

There are four areas the Task Force is studying in relation to customer
relationship management: products and services, competitiveness,
partnerships and work sharing and consumer relationship enhancement. It
welcomes input from the mailing industry. A report will be published at
the Postal Forum, the product of the first phase of the review process.
From that report the process will continue to develop more specific
recommendations and programs for the Postal Service.

As co-chair of the Mailing Industry Task Force, Mr. Critelli underscored
the role of the mailing industry in supporting customer relations
management by citing a recent article that pointed to the increasing
importance of combining paper-based catalogs to the electronic
communications of e-businesses. The Task Force is looking at the role of
mail as an integral part of stakeholder management strategies. An
important aspect of the Task Force is its continuing nature, creating
the preliminary report, developing recommendations, analyzing why ideas
were not supported earlier, and continuing on to seek ways to implement
the good ideas. Finally, the "mailing industry" is really quite
fragmented, as large as it is. This begs the question -- why has such a
huge industry (estimated at over a trillion dollars), not come together
in a more united way to speak for the issues important to the entire
industry. Mr. Critelli urged the MTAC members to communicate ideas to
the Task Force at his personal e-mail address, <mjcritelli@pb.com>, or
John Nolan at <jnolan@e-mail.usps.gov>.

## Thursday, August 2 

## Financial Review

## Richard Strasser, Chief

## Financial Officer & EVP

## 

(click here for presentation:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Strasser.ppt> )

**Confirm: Status and Future Plans**

**John Ward, VP Core Business Marketing**

**Charlie Bravo, Acting SVP, CTO**

\[Presentation to be provided\]

**Merlin Successes, Issues and Concerns**

**John Sadler, Manager, Business Mail Acceptance**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Merlin.ppt>

Mr. Sadler briefly described the Merlin system, which is relatively
small (requiring about 175 square feet), verifies both mail and flats,
eliminates personal bias, is relatively fast ( about 6,000 letters per
hour, 4,000 flats). Merlin can certify ten parameters, some not possible
before ---walk sequence sort, line of travel sort, reverse look-up on
bar codes, tray label accuracy. It can also handle the basic
verifications -- makeup, weight, barcodes, fees, etc. A major advantage
of Merlin in the non-biased evaluation of the mailing parameters. They
are electronically set.

Phase I began in May with a plan to deploy 200 machines in the Southeast
and Southwest (43 are currently in place, only Tampa is fully
operational). Phase II will cover the country with 1,003 more machines,
assuming Board of Governors approval. A recent one week (week ending
July 20) analysis of all 43 current machines n operation

Showed that there were 29% barcode errors, 7.9% presort problems, and
.6% short paid postage. Any mailing over 10,000 pieces is sampled (1,800
pieces) and small mailings are samples at a rate of one in six )500
pieces. Sample selection is driven by a random sample computer program.

The contractor has provided train-the-trainer instructions, and each
operator receives at least eight hours of instruction in the use of
Merlin, and maintenance personal must attend a one-week school.

Concerning MTAC's earlier interest in the comparability with ABE,
previous tests have indicated a compatibility. But additional tests will
be run to respond to the MTAC concern. The Postal Service will provide a
60 day grace period that will commence upon the installation of new
barcode readability software.

The new software is anticipated to be deployed in late September.
Because of testing variances, the LOT and walk sequence requirements may
have an extended grace peiod, yet to be determined.

During discussion there was a comment that, although Merlin might be
able to detect a more restricted acceptance level for barcodes, the USPS
sorting equipment might well be able to run mail rejected, An MTAC
member felt that would be an inappropriate use of Merlin. Mr. Sadler
agreed that a "middle of the road" criteria of acceptance would be
appropriate, as long as that criteria assured a safety margin. He
suggested that future tests would rely on four parameters -- the DMM,
Merlin's capabilities, ABE's capabilities and real machine specs. There
was a suggestion that the DMM specs, which are about a decade old, may
have been overtaken by current technology.

**Merlin Deployment Information**

\- Deployment Schedule\
(click here for details: <http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Rev8.xls> )

-   Detached Mail Unit (DMU) Information\
    (click here for details:
    <http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Dmufinal.doc> )

-   Site Preparation Information for DMU\
    (click here for details:
    <http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Siteprep.doc> )

***NOTE:** THIS IS INFORMATIONAL ONLY - SITE PREPARATION FUNDING MUST BE
APPROVED THROUGH USPS TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PRIOR TO ACTUAL
COMMITMENT*

**New Address Information System**

**Wayne Orbke, Acting Manager, Address Management**

To view the PowerPoint presentation, click here:
<http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/mtac/Newais.ppt>

Mr. Orbke discussed delivery point validation (DPV) and electronic
address sequencing (EAS). DPV is a data product/address quality tool
that enables addresses on mailer lists to be validated (singularly
confirmed) as one that USPS delivers to as part of their normal ZIP+4
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) certified software-processing
stream.. The Secure Binary Hash table technology employed by DPV reduces
the space required to house the necessary data components to represent
the 151 million addresses that USPS delivers to only 600 megabytes. This
DPV binary code table provides a yes/no response to an address inquiry.
The DPV data product can only be used be used in conjunction with the
ZIP+4 CASS certified software. In tests of commercially available
mailing lists, 4% to 7% of addresses which could be ZIP+4 coded could
not be DPV confirmed, for various reasons -- most likely are a numerical
transposition, a data corruption, an improper address format (typo), or
possibly an address not yet entered into the system. The DPV product
cannot provide any rationale for a failed address -- it just says no.
However, the combination of the level of match codes from the ZIP+4
match and the DPV answer will provide the mailer with an increased level
of information as to where the problem with the address is, such as the
primary number or the secondary number. A negative DPV response should
be considered a red flag to the potential deliverablity of the address,
not absolute confirmation that the address is invalid.

The DPV capability will be made available via licensing in two distinct
forms in late August. The first will be as an USPS licensed product,
which will only be licensed to manufacturers/authors of CASS certified
ZIP+4 software for integration into their commercially available address
matching software. The second will be as an USPS-licensed service which
will replace the current the DSF License Service (presently offered
through six commercial companies). The new licensed service will be
titled DSF^2^. The objective is to make the new licensed service as
widely available as possible, to those who can meet the licensing
requirements. The licensing fee for DSF^2^ should be approximately half
as much as the current DSF system.

During discussion, Mr. Orbke stated that several initiatives are under
way to insure that delivery points are entered into the system as they
become viable (current accuracy is estimated to be 99.5%).

Electronic Address Sequencing (EAS), the product of an MTAC working
group, is a new service from the National Customer Support Center. It is
an electronic version of the existing DMM A920 sequencing service to
qualify address lists. The fees and service are identical to the manual
service except much faster (6 days versus 30 days). The service began on
July first and now has 14 customers, with over 1900 zip codes submitted
and 74% CDS qualified. Direct questions regarding participation in EAS
to DeWitt Crawford or Becky Dunn at 1-800-331-5746.

**Work Groups Update**

**Standard Mail \-- Anita Pursley**

Issue 64 \-- In-Home Delivery Instructions for Standard Mail: The Postal
Service indicated an interest in approaching this subject in an ad hoc
way, but the Steering Committee agree to establish a work group and a
joint MTAC-USPS meeting will meet within a week to discuss specific
issues the work group might review.

Issue 49 -- Standard Mail (A) \-- Aligning Payment and USPS Ownership:
The work group reported that the USPS had prepared a letter that
conceded that the issue could be resolved with Postal One, but there are
no funds to implement such a program. The work group recommendation is
to sunset and re-establish the work group when the Postal Service
indicates that funds can be made available.

Issue 14 -- Mail.dat: The work group reported that mail.dat, as a
useable program, had become well established among its users and had
enjoyed continuous refinement, Now the work group will redirect its
efforts to identify up to five new applications, choose one and focus on
developing a report for MTAC at the next meeting. During discussion,
there were comments that some considered mail.dat too large and
cumbersome to be useful, and noted that even in the Postal Service there
were some who felt it was not an appropriate program. On the contrary,
users of the program stated that mailers could select the few files
required to accomplish their reporting requirements, and that the
dissatisfaction was evidence of a lack of understanding of the program
and that proper education would ameliorate some of that situation. There
was also a need for the work group to address alternative methods of
creating Planet Code data for Postal One. Finally, the work group
invited feedback from users on the recently published User's Manual.

Issue 13 -- Postal One: It was reported that Postal One was in a holding
pattern anticipating funds to get the program back on a forward moving
track. To the credit of the Postal Service, it was observed that
maintenance funding had been provided so that future ramp up should be
rapid and smooth. The work group anticipates reviewing the entire Postal
One process to be ready to provide support and recommendations when
Postal One moves forward again.

**Engineering -- Robert Lindsay**

Issue 22 -- Maximizing the Value of Planet Code: The work group reported
that Confirm is operating in a pilot mode in Raleigh and will move to
Egan (MN) on October 1. Egan has the hardware capacity to provide
full-scale service with data available at near real-time. Mailers will
be able to pre-program data requirements. Planet Code provides mailers
with four digits for proprietary use. Some of the information that some
mailers would put into those four digits has been incorporated in the
data digits, thus freeing up space for even more information. In
addition, the plan is to go from the current 12 digits to 14 digits.
With the new barcode, there would be "start-the-clock" capability for
Postal One (which requires an induction barcode and a manifest from the
mailer containing information about the mailing).

Issue 36 -- Window Size and Position for Envelopes: The work group
addressed mail rejection caused by standard manufacturing specifications
(half-inch bottom location) that were not compatible with Fast Forward
but which complied with DMM requirements. The manufacturers maintain
that volume is not sufficient to change manufacturing specifications,
but there are some manufacturers who produce Fast Forward compatible
envelopes at a cost similar to the standard envelopes. The work group
position is to recommend an education program for both users and
envelope sales personnel. The Envelope Manufacturing Association agreed
to support that program by disseminating information to its members.

Issue 27 -- Drop Ship Appointment System (DSAS): The work group has
contributed a number of enhancements to the DSAS system over the
six-plus years of its existence, including a guidelines publication for
mailers. Recently the Postal Service provided a briefing on ADVANCE
(with a caution that users must include the ADVANCE identification
number in all submissions) and the facilities database program. The
movement of the hardware/software and support to San Mateo, which would
bring the entire operation under the IT umbrella, has been delayed. A
white paper concerning the integration of DSAS with Postal One is
complete and should soon be submitted to the Postal Service for review.
The work group considers its tasks done and recommends sunsetting before
the end of the year.

Issue 11 -- Presort Optimization: The work group met before the MTAC
meeting and discussed 14 agenda items (information on those items
available in the regular minutes of the work group). One issue of
particular interest is the ability, in the future, to combine automation
and non-automation flats in a single submission, which will enhance mail
density and reduce the number of containers and the amount of residual
mail. The work group discussed its future role as one related to the
Alternative Flats Preparation work group and the Product Redesign
process, mainly because changes developed by these two groups would
impact presort optimization.

Issue 34 -- Information-Rich Mailpiece Barcodes: It was agreed that this
work group could be combined with the Work Load Tracking work group,
since that group is working with the Planet Code. For example, the work
group is concerned with the addition of digits to the Planet Code, which
would eliminate some of the duplicated information requirements -- an
agenda item of the Work Load Tracking work group.

**Addressing and ZIP+4 -- Peter Moore**

Issue 48 -- Improved Line of Travel (LOT) Adherence: It was announced
that this group would sunset after a final meeting with the Postal
Service to discuss recommendations regarding LOT. An agreement was
reached to allow LOT to be optionally included in the Optional
Endorsement Line. Some companies are developing internal control systems
to insure LOT conformance, and for others, First Logic, a software
manufacturer, offers a program to validate sort before submission. There
is also a new e-LOT tool available. Finally, the Postal Service has
developed wording for a Federal Register announcement tying delivery
walk sequence and LOT to the same error rate factor of 5% across the
mailing. There is still time to comment on that wording before the
Postal Service submits it to the Federal Register.

Issue 44 -- Address Change System Enhancements: The work group has
agreed to sunset, partly because the Position Paper on Enhancements to
ACS, prepared by the Postal Service, has been completed. Service
recommendations were included in the report. First, a new ancillary
endorsement (ACS Service Requested) will prompt Postal Service personnel
to send such mail directly to the CFS site, and not to return to the
mailer. Second, it would revise Change Service Requested to be an
ACS-only service (which obviates the time and expense of returning
mail). Third, there should be a temporary end-of-away notification that
results in a second notice (re-start) from ACS. Fourth, to enhance
readability, larger typeface may be required for the endorsement and the
slash zero may be required to reduce letter/digit confusion. There is a
recommendation to establish a penalty for more than two ACS transactions
in a single performance cycle, although this probably requires PRC
action. Finally, there was an idea to produce a hard copy report as an
alternative to the current electronic reporting requirements. Since
these are Postal Service recommendations, it is anticipated that most
will be acted on. A schedule will be posted on MITS concurrent with
sunsetting the group.

**Parcels -- Clarence Banks**

Issue 61 \--Service Assessment for DU Drop Shipments:

The work group met twice since the last MTAC meeting and agreed to use
the delivery confirmation barcode and electronic file format as a
measurement tool. The electronic file format barcode (on the 8125
document) can serve as a "start the clock" identification at point of
entry. The measurement program should be in place by year end. Next on
the agenda, a review of delivery tails at the DDU, BMCs and SCFs.
Priority Mail customers are invited to participate in the assessment.

Issue 62 -- Priority Mail Service Improvement: The first meeting in
April identified four concerns. Outbound single shipments have improved
and should continue to improve as the FEDEX agreement becomes fully
operational. Outbound drop shipments, which had been difficult to track,
now offer delivery confirmation. The Emory operation was completed
without incident. The major concern for the work group, however, was in
the area of returns, and the work group will look at ways to standardize
the process

Proposed Issue -- Bound Printed Matter "Firm Bundles": This work group
has been approved as issue number 65. Interested MTAC members are
invited to participate.

**Periodicals -- Jack Widener (reported by Joyce McGarvy)**

Issue 10 -- Publication Watch: The publisher's complaints page has been
on the web site for evaluation by users and the e-PubWatch test began
with two sites, now up to 18 sites. The Delivery Unit personnel have
been very cooperative in making recommendations for improvement.
Suggestions developed in the work group include allowing batch uploading
of multiple complaints, extended watch time for bi-monthly publications
(beyond the 30-day limit), and adding prompts to the web site forms to
insure that all required information is entered. The User's Guide and
the Carrier Tutorial and Guidebook are completed and on the web site.
Next steps include responding to the many suggestions submitted by
individuals during the early test period, completion of compliance
reports, a customer review of the User's Guide, and a test of the web
site work sheet. Then 508 compliance is required. The system should be
ready for national implementation by the end of the year, after a second
phase assessment by customers and the Postal Service.

Issue 55 -- Mail Irregularity Feedback Process: The work group recently
completed two pilot tests (in Washington and Portland) which ran 30
days. Data was collected on about 240 mail preparation irregularities.
It was observed that data collection was tedious and time consuming. A
number of recommendations emerged to improve the data collection form
and the web site. Mail identification was a problem and the work group
suggested looking at the use of a mail preparer number to identify the
mail owner. The BSN completed customer notification, also a time
consuming and tedious task. The BSN advised revising the web site to
reduce the amount of scrolling required to navigate the site, and adding
either a search or hyperlink capability. It was also suggested that an
interface with AccountNet be added to allow data entry personnel to
identify the account type (premier, national, A account, etc.) that
would allow more appropriate complaint resolution. The limited efforts
at resolving problems has been satisfactory and, with an assurance of
proper funding and further process improvements, the system should be
ready for the field.

**First Class Mail/Expedited Mail -- Laine Ropson**

Issue 51 -- Business Reply Mail Service: The work group reported that
the Internet application should be up by the end of September and fully
operational by December. QBRN standards were posted in the April Postal
Bulletin, mainly directed at mail piece design analysts, trying to
provide a tool to allow them to be aware of and use the standards.
Mystery caller and mystery shopper programs will be used to simulate a
customer calling in or visiting a counter to set up a QBRN piece. The
business reply mail brochure, aimed at field offices, will be published
and distributed soon. Finally, the work group is still focused on
bringing BRM service to at least the level of courtesy mail reply
levels.

Issue 60 -- Changes to Delivery Standards: The work group reported that
there was substantial unhappiness with the recent wave of changes in
deliver standards, mainly because the customers had little time to
respond to the changes. The work group is looking at how to more
effectively and more smoothly implement changes in the future. After
establishing recommendations, the Postal Service will publish proposed
changes on the RIBBS 30 days in advance of the anticipated changes.
Prior to that, e-mail notification will go out to selected users, and
especially interested associations for redistribution to members. Major
changes will be publicized well in advance of the usual 30-day limit.
The work group looked at measurement of First Class mail and the Postal
Service agreed to publish EXFC data on RIBBS beginning I n September.
The work group plans to sunset by the end of the year.

Issue 57 -- First Class Delivery Issues: The primary purpose of this
work group is to develop a process for reporting problems in First Class
delivery. Three types of important data to this end were identified.
Planet Code information is key to understanding the movement of First
Class mail (although customer proprietary mail control systems would
also be helpful). The work group hopes to engage the BSN in developing a
standard format for reporting problems and, when that is accomplished,
plans to sunset, probably by the end of the year.

**Announcements**

Future meeting dates for 2002 were discussed and since then it has been
decided that the dates will be January 30 -- 31, all day April 4 (with
the reception only for the evening of April 3), August 7-8 and November
6-7. Members are urged to volunteer for the MTAC sessions at the Postal
Forum.

**Adjournment**

Mr. Lubenow noted that there was no further business. The meeting
adjourned at 12:00 noon.