**Minutes of the**

**Mailers\' Technical Advisory Committee**

**August 4-5, 2004**

###### U. S. Postal Service Headquarters

**Benjamin Franklin Room**

**Washington, D.C.**

**First Day**

###### WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4

**Welcome/Introduce New Members**

**Bob O'Brien, Chair, Industry**

**Marty Emery, Vice Chair, U.S. Postal Service**

Bob O'Brien called the meeting to order, welcomed members and guests,
and announced proposed MTAC meeting dates for 2005: February 2-3, May
4-5, Aug 10-11 and November 2-3. He invited comments from members about
whether there might be conflicts, such as major association meetings. He
announced the formation of a new Work Group #90, Improving the Change of
Address System for Colleges and Universities. Thom Roylance and Jim
Wilson are the work group leaders. He noted that Work Group #89, Coding
Accuracy Support System (CASS) Refinements & Awareness is also new and
will give its first report at the Thursday General Session meeting.

Mr. O'Brien recalled the discussion at the last meeting of the use of
9999 coding with CASS software and Merlin. He announced that the Postal
Service has agreed to a number of actions to resolve the issues, which
include alignment of CASS testing with Merlin acceptance with
recognition of the 9999 coding. The CASS system will accept valid 9999
coding, but have zero tolerance for invalid 9999 coding; therefore
Merlin will not reject proper coding.

Marty Emery announced a new member organization, Custom Publishing
Council, Lori Rosen, Executive Director, and new member organization
representatives -- Celena NuQuay, American Forest & Paper Association;
Nicole Bowman, Fulfillment Management Association; and Chet King,
Florida Gift Fruit Shippers Association. New MTAC representatives
include Bruce Woodward and Carol McCarthy, Custom Publishing Council;
Dennis Farley, Red Tag News Publications, Inc.; Erv Drewek, Agricultural
Circulation Association; Bernie Schraml, Fulfillment Management
Association; Stephen Hart, Envelope Manufacturers Association; Brian
Euclid, Chamber of Commerce of the United States; and Tony Fowler,
Florida Gift Fruit Shippers Association. Mr. Emery announced a new
Steering Committee member from the Postal Service, Pritha Mehra.

**Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS)**

**Dave Williams, Mgr. Systems**

**Integration Support, Operations**

Dave Williams described the Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS)
that will automate, for the first time, the redirection of mail pieces
for which change of address orders have been submitted or are
undeliverable as addressed (UAA) for any other reason. About 16% of U.S.
residents move every year, resulting in 43 million change of address
orders affecting 2 billion pieces of mail.

PARS is the most sophisticated automation system ever adopted by the
Postal Service and, for the past two years, systems installed at three
locations (Dulles P&DC, Santa Clarita P&DC, and Mid-Florida P&DC) have
allowed testing and alterations that have made the deployment of Phase I
possible -- 86 system sites, 49 Processing and Distribution (P&D)
Centers, 15 remote encoding centers and the National Customer Support
Center. That deployment should be complete by November 2004.

The equipment at the P&D sites will be able to scan and identify mail
class mailer endorsements and both return and recipient addresses. It
will divert the mail for imposition of forwarding information (at the
rate of 30,000 pieces an hour). The mail will be reinserted in the
automated mailstream without a single manual operation -- as long as the
mail is properly prepared by the mailer. Finally, PARS will be able to
automate the creation and processing of Form 3547, which has required
thousands of hours of manual handling in the past. The forms will be
automatically generated, presorted, barcoded and fully trayed for mail
processing, also without a single manual handling requirement.

The service quality and efficiency of PARS is directly related to the
quality of the mail piece. It requires mailers to print a return address
at the top left, place endorsements in one or more of four designated
areas on the mail piece with clear space at one-quarter-inch around the
endorsement, use a readable typeface (greater than 8 points and clearly
readable against the background design). In summary, PARS will
dramatically improve service and operational efficiency.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC%20MAILPIECE%20DESIGN%20FOR%20PARS%20AUGUST%204%202004.PPT)

**National Postal Forum (NPF)**

**Marty Emery, Mgr. Customer & Industry Marketing**

Marty Emery discussed the upcoming National Postal Form (September
19-22), a four-day experience with greatly expanded opportunities to
participate in general sessions, special symposiums, workshops and
certificate programs. Over 1,100 customers have already registered and
vendor participation is very strong. The Postmaster General will deliver
the keynote on Monday; Tuesday's general session will center on future
technology, automation, and new products and services. Tim Russert, host
of Meet the Press, will be featured at Wednesday's general session
luncheon. There will be a number of special symposiums, including
marketing, remittance mail, periodicals, packages, government and small
business, as well as 13 business tracks and over a hundred workshops
(about half of which are brand new). There are six professional
certificate programs and an increased number of networking opportunities
(golf tournament, two exhibit hall receptions, PCC gala event, and a
closing ceremony at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History). Vendor
exhibits will be extensive and there are a number of incentives and
enhancements to the registration process, all available on the Forum web
site -- [www.npf.org](http://www.npf.org/).

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/NPF%20MTAC%20Briefing%20110p.ppt)

**Automated Package Processing System (APPS)**

**Scott Bombaugh, Mgr. Materials Handling USPS Engineering**

Scott Bombaugh discussed the Automated Package Processing System (APPS),
beginning the presentation with a video showing the system in operation.
He stated that the experience with letter automation facilitated
developing the system that will handle packages and bundles from near
letter size to a single piece up to 25 pounds, measuring up to
22"x18"x15". The weight allowance is slightly higher than the current
Small Parcel and Bundle Sorter (SPBS). Seventy-four installations should
be in place by the fall of 2005.

Mr. Bombaugh explained that APPS relies on an OCR scan to read addresses
and optional endorsement lines (OELs) and tests have shown that a read
rate of 80% is currently possible. That rate could be improved by better
packaging methods -- the primary obstacle is address visibility. The
present problems include obscuring of print by straps and banding,
polywrap seams, polywrap opacity, specular reflection, and the tightness
of the plastic against the address (loose wrap may cause a space between
the address and the wrap and consequent reflection issues).

The Postal Service will publish a Federal Register notice that deals
with requirements for polywrap materials, placement of the address label
and an optional bundle label. Issues under consideration that will not
be in the notice include addition of a special barcode, use of
OCR-friendly fonts and type size, addition of a redundant OEL code for
confirmation, elimination of dashes (which tend to blur and appear
connected), and separation of characters. Recommendations for specific
fonts are being considered.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/APPS_without_images%20130p.PPT)

**NCOA^LINK^**

**Jan Caldwell, Mgr. Address Management**

Jan Caldwell affirmed that the NCOA^LINK^ program is proceeding on
schedule and that the earlier NCOA data process would end in the fall.
The first distributor's license was issued in March and the first
service bureau license in April. There are now 11 certified interface
developers, 6 licensed software distributors, 4 full service bureau
licenses, and 5 limited service bureau licenses. There are a number of
licenses in the various categories in progress and a new category,
end-user licenses, has 14 applications in progress. There have been no
delays in the certification process. Reports from users have been
positive -- match rates are similar and acceptable, and throughput has
been satisfactory -- so retirement of the old NCOA system is proceeding
on schedule. Half of the current licensees (who had been using the old
system) have either transitioned to NCOA^LINK^ , or are in the process
of doing so. A few, who found the service inappropriate to their
business, have opted out.

Ms. Caldwell added that the end of the old NCOA system will be September
30. During discussion, she stated that work in progress will ultimately
provide NCOA^LINK^ to the mainframe market, but users should not delay
in anticipation. Conversion will be very easy.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/ncoalink%20mtac%20-%20230p.ppt)

**Address Quality Enhancement (WG #88**

**now called "Barriers to Address Quality")**

**Jody Berenblatt, Rick Arvonio & Jan Caldwell**

Jan Caldwell explained the mission of the work group, to look at
barriers to quality addresses and barcodes, and not to develop
solutions. The name of the Work Group was changed to reflect this
change. The basic goal is to identify and prioritize barriers that
constrain the achievement of the 90% delivery point sequence barcoding
target set by USPS by the end of 2005. Jody Berenblatt updated the
progress of the work group, which had its first meeting on June 28.
There are 45 individuals involved and 72 issues were identified, later
boiled down to 26 primary issues. The second meeting was held August 3
and most of the issues were reviewed. After reviewing the last few on
August 26, the next task will be to prioritize the issues. The next
committee meeting is set for September 8. A report should be ready for
the next MTAC meeting.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/88a%20%20%20%20%20245p.ppt)

**Enhancing Confirm (WG \# 80)**

**Martin Bernstein and Vinnie DeAngelis**

Martin Bernstein noted that there had been major personnel changes on
the Postal Service side, with Paul Bakshi and Pritha Mehra moving on to
new positions. He conceded that there has been little progress since the
last meeting, but the new team had begun to identify issues and focus on
results.

Vinnie DeAngelis commented that the work group realized it must focus on
fewer issues, and decided to look at reports, the certification process
and a more proactive communications process to provide information to
customers. The work group focused on testing two of the Shared Reports
-- Delivery vs. Service Goal and In Home Window Delivery -- and even
with only those two, more than 200 issues were identified. The main
issues, however, were ease of use, accuracy and reduction of time to
process reports.

In July, a meeting with customers, the Postal Service Information
Technology Department and the Headquarters Telecommunications Team was
held to try to figure out how to create reports with practical, usable
information. The early version, a redesign of the Delivery vs. Service
Goal report, met with customer approval and the process of revising the
reports will continue throughout the summer. The new versions of the
Delivery vs. Service Goal and In Home Window reports are targeted for
completion by October 2004.

Mailers also reported on some recent problems with receiving late data
due to a redirection of the Confirm data flow. USPS committed to
addressing this issue immediately and resolving the problem as soon as
possible.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/ConfirmMTACOverviewAug4-04-DeAngelis%20%20305p.ppt)

**Parcel Delivery Performance Measurement Effectiveness (WG \# 82)**

**Chris Finley and Bob Fisher**

Bob Fisher reported on the progress the work group is making to improve
use of data with improved service as an end product. He noted that the
Data Warehouse is up and running within the Postal Service, to be made
available to customers in September (after appropriate training). New
shipment quality reports that match submission of mail with the
concomitant 8135 have been implemented. He added that Destination
Delivery Unit (DDU) and Bulk Mail Center (BMC) package service has
reached new highs, in large part because data is being used more
effectively. Dedicated (although part-time) data service coordinators
have been appointed in a number of areas.

Mr. Fisher commented on a number of action items the work group is
taking on, including shipment arrival quality measurements, incentives
to improve service, and improved reports to support all mail pieces and
support the 8135 scans. There is a process to handle start-the-clock
when no 8135 is submitted and there will be regular review of that
process, as well as review of the BMC start-the-clock procedures.

Hopefully the product of these efforts, the processes and metrics, will
be implemented by the Fall mailing season, and the group will be able to
sunset then.

[Please click here to view the presentation](../MTAC0804/323mtac.PPT)

**Mail Irregularity Feedback (Work Group #55 now**

**called "Mail Improvement Feedback")**

**Joyce McGarvy, Susan Redman and Pat Killeen**

Joyce McGarvy announced that the name of the work group had been changed
to "Mail Improvement Feedback". There is a video in production that
describes the MTAC work group and how it plays a role in the MTAC
process.

Pat Killeen discussed specific next steps, which begin with a national
training program in late August that will emphasize the benefits of the
system to Postal employees, as well as customers. The system will be
tested internally during August focusing on data collection and data
entry, issue status, resolution management and the BSN/BMEU data
exchange process. It is hoped that the test will prove satisfactory so
that the system can be implemented in September. If that occurs, then
the program will be rolled out, two areas per week, during October so
that it will be fully deployed by November.

During discussion, Susan Redman conceded that, although identifying mail
owners by permit is relatively easy, identifying mail preparers
continues to be a challenge. A part of the training program emphasizes
the importance of trying to maintain identification of customers as much
as possible.

Ms. McGarvy suggested that this work group would probably sunset after
deployment, although a follow-on work group would need to look at the
reports, the ownership issues, and the general functioning in the early
months.

[Please click here to view the presentation](../MTAC0804/AUG%20MTAC.ppt)

**First-Class Business Mail Measurement System (WG #83)**

**Ken Metroff and Maryellen Clarke**

Maryellen Clarke reported that the work group reviewed options and honed
in on the Confirm system as the most appropriate solution. It will be
pursued in coordination with the efforts of Work Group #80 (Enhancing
Confirm). Confirm will provide a vehicle for a national measurement
system that will identify mail service problems, a system that should
benefit both mailers and the Postal Service.

Ms. Clarke reported that the work group would sunset, and that a
follow-on work group would be established to participate in the
implementation process once Work Group #80 has completed its work on
reports and certification.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC_%2383%20General_Session_Aug04.ppt)

**Second Day**

###### WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5

**Announcements**

**Joyce McGarvy, Industry Vice Chair**

Joyce McGarvy opened the meeting, announcing that Steering Committee
elections resulted in the following: Sue Taylor (First-Class), Val
Scansaroli (Periodicals), Anita Pursley (Standard), Jim Bowler (Package
Services), Jim Schemmel (Address Quality), and Peter Moore (Engineering
and Technology).

Bob O'Brien invited Ernie Harris to accept the unanimous appreciation of
the MTAC members for the outstanding support he has provided since he
began his service.

**UPU Addressing Standard S42**

**Ruth Jones, Program Mgr. Intelligent Mail & Address Quality (IMAQ),**

**Mabel Grein, IT San Mateo-International Business Service Support
Center and**

**Joe Lubenow**

Ruth Jones briefly described the affiliation with the Universal Postal
Union and the effort to develop an international addressing standard.
The UPU was established in 1874. There are currently 189 member
countries and one aspect of the Union's mission is to foster
relationships and cooperation among the member posts, to facilitate
communications, and meet the needs of mail customers.

A "standard" is a published specification that establishes a common
language and includes technical specifications or other precise
criteria, designed to be used as a rule, a guideline or definition.
Standards are a prerequisite to efficient postal operations on the
national and international level, and the foundation of cooperation with
posts in other countries.

The Standards Board is a part of the UPU through which various standards
proposals are processed. The POST\*Code team, on which the U.S. Postal
Service serves, is charged with creation of a standard definition of an
address, which includes the components and the template for the address.
The templates need to support the requirements of all member countries.
The building blocks of a standard address template are the "elements"
that are used to fill the template, relying on what is called "rendition
instructions." An element is the smallest meaningful part of an address
-- e.g., first name, last name, street number, apartment number,
state/region, codes. The template is a map of how to place the elements
to create a meaningful address that can be used by any member country.
The rendition instructions designate elements that are mandatory and
others that may be optionally applied. Currently there are about 50
standard elements, each of which is assigned an identification code
(letters and numbers). For example, the Postal Service allows use of
elements such as military address (APO), firm name, internal mail stops
-- some of which are not needed in the Postal Service mail delivery
process.

Mabel Grein discussed the more detailed level of addressing that uses
the very specific elements, noting that the highly sophisticated
structure of the addressing process might result in competitive
advantages to some firms that can afford to buy the expensive software
required to derive most benefit out of the system.

Joe Lubenow discussed the IDEAlliance standardization program, Address
Data Interchange Specification (ADIS), that has been developed in
parallel with the UPU's system. It is focused on national and
international business mail and is compatible with the UPU system. He
explained that ADIS will make the standards available to more mailers.
The standards include not only the address elements, templates and
rendition instructions, but specifications for various mail pieces,
labels (size/dimension), etc.

Mr. Lubenow discussed the various advantages of moving toward
international standards, which are outlined in the PowerPoint
presentation. In closing, Mr. Lubenow proposed that the ADIS system
could provide a standard format for maintaining address files that could
be retrieved as evidence of address quality compliance when Merlin
reveals, in its limited sample, a level of address errors that results
in a penalty. The file could show that the errors were a fluke of the
sample selected and not an indication of unsatisfactory address quality
in the entire mailing.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC%20Aug%2005%20805a.ppt)

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC-UPU-ADIS-2004%20%20joe.ppt)

**Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) Refinements & Awareness (WG \#
89)**

**Joe Lubenow, Ruth Jones and Wayne Orbke**

Ruth Jones discussed this new work group, commenting that the
originators (and now Sponsors ) are Jan Caldwell and Rick Arvonio from
the Postal Service, and the Industry Work Group Leader is Cynthia
Harrelson and the Industry Sponsor is Joe Lubenow. The purpose of the
work group is to evaluate the CASS program -- goals, methods and results
from the perspective of removing barriers to address quality. The work
group will look at consistency, the role of industry, the relationship
of CASS to other tools (such as DPV), and the development of what CASS
is and is not (including the fact that the work group is not concerned
with how Merlin evaluates addresses). The work group will work in
cooperation with Work Group #88, Barriers to Address Quality.

Cindy Harrelson invited any interested MTAC members to join the work
group.

**Improving the Drop Shipment Process (New WG \# 87)**

**Anita Pursley and Cynthia Mallonee**

Anita Pursley recapped the work group's mission, to address process and
system improvements for drop shipment at the postal facilities, and to
assess the impact of the Department of Transportation service hours
change that increased the number of driver hours allowed, but decreased
the total hours on duty (which now includes loading/off-loading time as
part of the allowance). The work group activity has been intense \--
three meetings, several teleconferences and a field trip to a mail
acceptance site.

The work group is looking at a number of process improvements that
should increase efficiency of the drop ship system, which will include
the replacement of the DSAS with FAST (Facility Access and Shipment
Tracking). The Postal Service intends to provide improved communications
by the Fall Mailing Season with regard to drop ship policies,
availability and changes at facilities, and changes in hours of
operation.

Cynthia Mallonee discussed the FAST system, which will require
appointments and notification of all mailings so that the Postal Service
can develop a facility mail arrival profile. Mailers will be able to
provide more information about the characteristics of individual
deliveries (e.g., mail makeup, content, sorts). The FAST Internet site
will be easier to use with added options for both submitting information
and retrieving information about appointments and facilities. FAST will
be assessable through PostalOne!, and will be capable of taking mailing
information from mail.dat. All FAST users will be required to register
with PostalOne!, though FAST users need not be full PostalOne!
participants.

Concerning next steps, the work group will address destination delivery
unit (DDU) mail entry procedures and Periodicals issues. The
participants in the FAST pilot test will also be identified and a time
line finalized.

During discussion, the issue of the need for Periodicals mailers to make
appointments each time they have a delivery was raised. Their
appointments are consistent and an inadvertent failure to make a
recurring appointment would create serious problems. Ms. Mallonee stated
that the work group was aware of the issue and would work to insure an
efficient and acceptable process.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC%20Aug%205%20900a.ppt)

**Consistency of Mailing Standards& Business Mail Acceptance (WG #86)**

**Sue Taylor, Pritha Mehra & Sherry Freda**

Sue Taylor recapped the mission of the work group, to identify
inconsistencies in mailing standards and in the business mail acceptance
process, and to develop some resolutions to those issues. The work group
has met five times, addressed the most important issues, and the minutes
of each meeting are promptly posted on MITS.

The issues include the DMM, which is currently being revised. The DMM
Redesign will support the work of the group by creating a foundation in
which mailing standards can be located and the user can be confident the
standards identified are the standards needed to complete a task. This
will lead to consistency in the application of the standards.

Another issue is address correction service. The data available from the
Capital One program has been extremely helpful in the work to increase
the hits for electronic ACS service. More industry participation in
providing 5 digit level data about their ACS service is desired.
Concerning Merlin, most of the twenty or so issues initially identified
are being addressed by the Postal Service (including updating
publications and improving the BMA website). Industry comments were
solicited and the Postal Service has provided a report on all Merlin
inconsistency issues identified to date. Finally, the work group has
identified all communications vehicles, begun to develop a list of
possible enhancements, and will now address the development of a
communications plan.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/MTAC%20Week%20%20Aug%205%20%20920a.ppt)

**PostalOne! Postage Payment & Statements -- Approach & Design (WG \#
84)**

**Dan Minnick and Larry Goodman**

Larry Goodman announced that the software to eliminate the legacy permit
system will be released on 8 August. He commented that the vision for
Postal One! continues to be to streamline the acceptance process, to
create visibility for mailings, and to create an electronic process for
documentation and postage statement processing. There will be various
processes to serve the small, medium and complex mailers. Mail.dat will
continue to be supported for those mailers who use that system. Dan
Minnick commented that the work group will now address periodicals at
the next meeting, which may be scheduled during the Postal Forum.

**Flat Mail Preparation Optimization (WG \# 81)**

**Joe Lubenow and Marc McCrery**

Marc McCrery reviewed the activities and accomplishments of the work
group, beginning with an important sorting scheme that allows
consolidation of two or more 3-digit ZIP Codes within a single 3-digit
bundle consistent with our processing schemes. The list of over 250
qualifying zips has been compiled that will allow about 100 combination
bundles under a single code. This process is an example of matching
mailer preparation to Postal Service procedures. The work group has
considered a number of imaginative methods and procedures for flats
preparation, some of which relate to the automated package processing
system (APPS). There are also changes that allow certain firm bundles
(multiple copies of a Periodical to a single recipient) to be placed
directly on 5-digit pallets, which would expedite movement to the
destination delivery unit (DDU).

The work group is considering a number of preparation changes related to
APPS, which will result in a Federal Register Notice to be published
shortly. Specifically, visibility issues related to banding placement,
transparency of shrinkwrap materials, and bundle dimensions all in
relation to the placement of the address on the top piece of the bundle.
An optional bundle label on the outside of the bundle may be authorized.
Finally, there have been a number of optional endorsement line (OEL)
formats considered, which are being reviewed by Engineering for
cost/benefit potential.

[Please click here to view the
presentation](../MTAC0804/flat_op%233%20Marc%201025a.ppt)

## Adjournment 

## 

## The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m.