Patent ID: 7987141

Claim:
A method for labeling a plurality of mail pieces, the method comprising steps of: detecting during run-time of a document processing device processing the plurality of mail pieces, a first mail piece and a second mail piece requiring application of a first label to the first mail piece and a second label to the second mail piece, wherein the first and second mail pieces are processed on the document processing device during the same run; calculating during run-time of the document processing device at least an expected preparation time required for the first and second labels based on run-time data obtained prior to application of the first and second labels to the first and second mailpieces, wherein the expected preparation time includes delay time associated with label feeding, cutting and printing and wherein the run-time data is based at least in part on variances in: mail gap between the plurality of mail pieces, mail piece size and mail pitch timing; applying on the first mail piece by way of a labeler device, the first label of sufficient size to accommodate information content to be generated upon the first label based upon its expected preparation time; and applying on the second mail piece by way of the labeler device, the second label of sufficient size to accommodate information content to be generated upon the second label based upon its expected preparation time, wherein the applied second label is greater in size than the applied first label.