January 19, 1996 ALL MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES MAILERS' TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (MTAC) Enclosed are the minutes from the December 13-14, 1995, Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee meetings. Also included is a handout on the Workforce Planning and Complement Management Briefing provided by James Walton. The following dates for the 1996 MTAC meetings have been confirmed by the MTAC Executive Committee: March 12-14 June 11-13 September 10-12 December 10-12 As information, the 1996 MTAC association dues are scheduled to be sent out at the beginning of February directly to the Association Executives. (signed) John R. Wargo Enclosures MTAC First-Class/Expedited Mail Subcommittee December, 1995 Meeting Minutes 1. Priority Mail Redesign - The Postal Service Board of Governors approved the Phase I concept for the improvement of Priority Mail. This is one of the most important challenges to the Postal Service due to the competitive nature of the business. The components of the plan are designed to build around the improvement of the Priority Mail Service. It is crucial that the service is separated from the other mail streams as much as possible. The new system establishes new transportation and handling systems and piggybacks existing systems where it is beneficial to do so. Collection will include numerous acceptance points with a universal system of 52 processing centers. A map of the locations is provided as an attachment to the minutes. Phase I will test ten Eastern Coast sites which handle 28% of nationally identified Priority Mail. Delivery will use existing service as well as a passive tracking system. Transportation will use the Eagle and existing air transportation and an increase in ground transportation. The processing centers will be identified as a single product facility. The system will be designed to continuously monitor the network and improve the areas which may be problems for providing service. The employees will be trained with the idea that this is the vital link to getting the best service possible. It is expected that most employees will be new rather than existing employees. The detailed slides used at the meeting are attached to the minutes. 2. H. R. 1963 USPS Position - Paul Van Coverden of Government Affairs briefly stated that the Postal Service has not taken a position on H. R. 1963, the bill which establishes the postmark as the legal date for crediting payments for such bills as mortgages, credit cards and the like. The mailers were requested to provide information which would help determine future Postal policy on this issue. Some of the items which surfaced included: * The need for improved postmark quality * An estimated 10% of all postmarks are unreadable. * Mailers would like to receive USPS support. It was noted that mailers routinely provide the USPS with support when requested. It would be nice if the USPS reciprocated. * The Postal Service could be inundated with mail at the first of the month if this bill is passed. It was noted that the next hearings on this bill will probably come early in 1996. Additional input from the mailers was requested so that the Postal Service would be able to make a more informed decision as to the position it will take in the future. 3. EXFC Quarterly Report - Quarter IV of 1995 showed continued improvement in over night, 2-day and 3-day delivery performance. Over night performance reached 87% as compared to the same period last year when it was at 83%. 2-day and 3-day service reached 80% and 83% respectively as compared to a year ago when service was 74% and 79% respectively. For the Fiscal Year, over night performance was 86% as compared to 82% in FY '94. 2-day and 3-day performance for FY '95 was 78% and 80% respectively as compared to FY '94 performance which was 73% and 75% respectively. Data charts are attached as part of the meeting minutes. A working group will be established to provide the Postal Service with information which will support the industry needs for two additional pieces of information. This will include data on the "Tail of the Mail" and average days of delivery for overnight, 2- and 3-day performance. 4. Remittance Mail Update - It was noted that several actions have been taken to improve the Remittance Mail service over the past few months. These include: * FIM Network - This has been designed and implemented Nationally. * Best Practices - Input from field plant managers has resulted in the development of "best practices" which are being shared across the country. The program is to be rolled out to the mailers as well so that improvements can be made in all facets of the system. * National Operations Center (NOC) - There is an effort underway to include Remittance Mail as one of the services being monitored by the NOC. It could not be included in time for the December meeting. However, every effort is underway to include it in the future. * White Mail - This remains one of the critical problem areas needing further attention. Such ideas as clustering and developing new processing systems are now in development to solve this problem. An area that still needs more attention deals with the measurement system or lack of a measurement system. This concern has been expressed to senior Postal managment and there is an indication that some action will be taken in the near future. 5. Expedited Mail Classification Reform - The Reclass principles for Express and Packages are the same as Reclass I. These include: * Maintaining rates below inflation * Eliminating barriers to market based pricing * Providing incentives to mailers for using our most efficient mailstreams * Simplify and modernize mailing requirements * Increasing volume and contributions The teams goals are to strengthen the Postal Service franchise with existing customers by better meeting their needs and by increasing the customer base. The team includes representatives from Postal marketing, pricing and industry management as well as individual customers. Any input is requested to be sent to Dave Shinnenbarger in writing. He can be reached at (202) 268-2272. 6. Reclass Implementation - Any additional input on Reclass Implementation should be provided to Mury Salls as soon as possible. This information will be forwarded to John Ward. 7. Prepaid Post Cards - A new concept being developed by the Postal Service is currently known as Prepaid Courtesy Reply Mail. This service would allow customers to "check off" the annual payment and have it either added to the bill or as a credit card charge. The mailer would then enclose a pre-addressed, Prepaid Courtesy Reply Mail envelope in the customers' monthly billing statement, thus encouraging the customers to mail their bills sooner. This would actually occur as research has shown that one of the reasons for bills being paid later in the cycle is that consumers often do not have an envelope or a stamp available at the time the bill is received. This problem is now eliminated. A handle out was provided and is attached to the meeting minutes. Mury Salls Industry Chair MTAC SECOND-CLASS SUBCOMMITTEE DECEMBER 13, 1995 Charles Pace, Chair (Absent) Russ Shores, President, RUSMAR, Inc. (Substituted for Charles Pace for this meeting) Ernie Harris, USPS Coordinator INTRODUCTION Russ Shores opened the meeting by welcoming all participants. He announced that Charles Pace was traveling abroad and then introduced Glen Cournoyer, the Postal Service's Program Manager for ADVANCE. ADVANCE TRACKING AND MONITORING PROGRAM Glen Cournoyer briefly summarized the results of the last ad hoc meeting on ADVANCE which took place on November 15 in New York City. Attached is a list of the detailed points covered at this meeting . Glen said the next meeting on this program will be January 10 - 11 in San Francisco. ADVANCE software testing is being pursued and should be completed by April 1996. The pilot test will follow during April - May with the actual start date being dependent upon the depth of programming changes which may be identified. POLICY, REQUIREMENTS & METHODS (PRM) UPDATE Bill Strong, PRM Industry Chair reported that the PRM ad hoc meeting held yesterday was very productive and the group enjoyed participation from a good mix of publishers and printers. He announced the PRM Postal Chair, John Dorsey, will be pursuing other duties and has committed to finding a replacement who would ideally be from USPS Operations. Bill stressed that it is the PRM group's consensus that it should continue to function as an entity unto itself as opposed to being absorbed by another group in order to continue striving to serve the interests of smaller publications. He reviewed that Dale Brewer from Hassett Airfreight has been helpful to the group as has Dennis Farley of Fairchild Publications. SECOND-CLASS AUDIT PROCEDURES UNDER RECLASSIFICATION Jim Schemmel of CDS discussed issues having to do with publishers under reclassification qualifying for Publications Service which may involve nonpostal, independent, third party audit procedures. Jim referred to the March `95 Postal Bulletin which listed four audit agencies currently approved by the Postal Service. He stressed that audits are relevant for all publications and traced the origins of his involvement in this effort to the National Postal Forum in May 1995 in Nashville. He praised the wide variety of participation mentioning specifically the Industry's Bob O'Brien, Bill Armstead, Charles Pace, Dick Funck, Rich Bobic as well the Postal Service's Anita Bizzotto, Jerry Lease, Ed Mayhew and others with relevant expertise who provided valuable input. Jim stressed all publications should be audited the same and that non member titles and non audit publications were all invited to participate. Jim stated that this initiative is of value to the Industry and the Postal Service irrespective of what evolves from the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) on reclassification. He reiterated that publishers must drive this process to relieve the Postal Service from this task and that he is not trying to resolve differences (i.e. between audit agencies and the Postal Service) but rather is attempting to establish procedures. SECOND-CLASS FOCUS GROUP REPORT Tom Tully, National Chair for the second-class focus groups, reviewed results of the ad hoc meeting yesterday for which minutes are attached. Highlights which Tom reviewed were the fact that Postal and Industry Focus Group Co-Chairs are being successful in favorably impacting service issues by stressing knowledge of local plant requirements which can play a critical role in enhancing delivery performance. He mentioned specifically the Northeast Area Focus Group's successes due to utilization of service teams which provide analysis of mailers needs on an individual basis. Subjects which will be covered in 1996 at Focus Group meetings (besides the normal emphasis on service problem resolution) will be getting more customers involved in barcoding, ADVANCE, IMHS, and reclassification. The calendar of the 1996 meetings are included in the attached minutes. UPDATE ON CLASSIFICATION REFORM AND NEW EFFORTS TO REVIEW 2C REQUIREMENTS Both the USPS's Anita Bizzotto and the Industry's Dick Funck stressed that no matter what evolves from reclassification, that the workgroup which they chaired for the new Publications Service should be continued due to the many benefits which the group has been able to identify as appropriate for change irrespective of final classification reform rulings. Specifics were offered such as shortening of time needed to apply for second-class mailing privileges, the potential streamlining of the Postal Service's procedures in the field organization to be better able to respond to publisher needs, possible formation of a special inside or outside SWAT team to handle second-class audits, and exploration of the dynamic entry concept whereby we might be able to reduce administrative work associated with additional entries, etc. Anita suggested that she and the Industry's Wayne Tinch would get a proposal to explore the dynamic entry concept further at the next MTAC meeting. Dick asked that publishers who have an interest in joining this group should contact him. Dick said future meetings on this subject will take place at either USPS Headquarters or another convenient location and will not be during MTAC week. Anita said the group will probably meet during the January/February timeframe. SECOND-CLASS NON-PROFIT RECLASSIFICATION As an additional agenda item the Postal Service's Ashley Lyons provided an update on second-class non-profit reclassification. He said the case will be contribution neutral, will offer a mirror image vis-a-vis commercial rate structure, and that the "pieces" are coming together as planned to allow for an early `96 filing. He said the next Steering Committee meeting for this initiative will be January 12, 1996. BACK NUMBERS AND REPRINTS Russ Shores added "Back Numbers and Reprints" as an agenda item referring to DMM eligibility in Section E211.9.0. He said the section states that second-class rates may be paid on mailings of unbound copies of back numbers and unbound reprint copies under specific circumstances. The problem statement which is causing confusion is as follows: "Other mailings of back issues or reprint copies, including permanently bound back issues or reprint copies, are subject to the applicable First-, third-, or fourth class rates." This is being interpreted by acceptance clerks as meaning that, for example, an April 1996 issue of "Widget World" could not be mailed in December at second-class postage rates. At times publishers may have a back issue of particular interest to subscribers and they may have to go back to press to print additional copies they have requested. Again these copies historically have been allowed to be mailed at second-class rates. It appears that this section is being scrutinized by acceptance clerks since the "sidebar" in DMM issue 49 denoted a change on 3/27/95 concurrent with the implementation of the new second-class content rule changes. Much discussion followed and Jerry Lease offered clarification. Joe Schick of Quad Graphics said there are a lot of acceptance clerks having problems with this and Jerry offered to clarify this further and offered both himself and Alixe Johnson as points of contact. THIRD CLASS MTAC MINUTES USPS HEADQUARTERS December 13, 1995 I. Third Class return rates for heavier third class pieces. Ashley Lyons - Bulk Small Parcel filing prepared. Due to Classification Reform Case, postponed filing for Bulk Small Parcels. Bill Hoyt stated that meetings were held earlier this week regarding Bulk Third Class. Currently, return Parcels subject to weighted fee. However, some immediate options: (1) Printed continuity - if glue cards together, then qualify for bound printed matter as stated by Anita Bizzotto. Non glued cards may qualify at special fourth class rate. (2) Merchandise continuity - will be the biggest beneficiary of new parcel return service. Dan Minnick; as associated issue to parcel return, shipper paid forwarding for third class will have an update at next MTAC meeting. II. Non Profit Classification Reform Status Non profit will be revenue neutral - rates and structure will be the same. Filing early February 96. III. "Or Current Resident" on piece with "Address Correction Requested" Rocky Matthews - endorsements task group looking at creating a model from existing data to evaluate components of proposed services. Looking at a broad change at simplifying endorsements and ancillary services. Current variations of endorsements are confusing to customers and USPS employees. Proposal for four new levels of endorsement: 1) Address Services Requested 2) Forwarding Services Requested 3) Return Services Requested 4) Change Services Requested Consistency in application of service from class to class and, therefore, better overall performance. Question: Will there be a review of acceptable abbreviations? Yes. IV. Mailing facility liability if mail owner defaults on postage check. Letter from Richard Porras (attached) USPS will no longer pursue payment of client's insufficient funds from lettershops. USPS will pursue the owner of the mail unless the lettershop wrote the check (Jan/'96 implementation). Question: Will this policy apply to "checks for stamps?" V. Non profits using "Doing Business As" names in return address. Jerry Lease - a memo has been sent to the field and a printed article was placed in USPS Newsletter, "Entryway." Companies can use "Doing Business As" in return address in lieu of their legal name VI. Availability of self-adhesive stamps in rolls. Dan Minnick - coils of 100 - 32 cent stamps will be available in the spring. Coils of 100 - 20 cent stamps will be available in the spring. Coils of 10,000 will be available by the summer of `96. Coils of 3,000 will be available the 1st quarter of `97 (Sept.). Question: Will the coils have backing or not? VII. Additional Questions. In-home date sensitivity Rick Schart "Entry Ways" October / November issue says "Mail must be delivered as addressed regardless of requested in home date." Mailers find it damaging to have mail delivered after the sale date. It appears that the USPS may be undoing the benefit (preventing late delivery) that has been developed over the past several years. Pat McGee stated clarification (supporting existing policy) will be issued. Third class manifest mail John Mulford Do we need a review of verification procedures for pound rate manifest mailings in third class? General review of manifest mailing procedures for "During Production" adjustments? PARCELS SUBCOMMITTEE DECEMBER 13, 1995 The meeting was opened at 3:15 p.m. by Ed Meszaros. Ed introduced John Mulkay who gave a presentation on the Large Parcel Sorting System being tested at the Memphis BMC. This type of equipment will be installed at the Springfield BMC in the near future. The Springfield version will have bar code reading capability and direct induction from a door. The Memphis facility has bar code readers and will be modified to have direct induction from a door. the equipment can process packages up to 6 feet in length and 30 inches in height (Springfield will handle 36 inches in height). Four more BMCs will be equipped during FY `96. Next, Bob Brooks showed a video about the Integrated Mail Handling System (IHMS). The goal of the program is to have 60% of the mail containerized by 1999. The system will be rolled out by a paired relationship. For example, at the Jacksonville BMC the runout for the LA BMC will be modified at the same time the JAX runout at the LA facility is. This will allow for best use and management of the Postal Packs. Eventually there will be 850 loaders and over 150 unloaders. Postal Packs will be for internal use but may be provided to customers who have equipment to load and unload the containers. The use of Postal Packs permit the USPS to move more mail in their vans because right now the loading etiquette only requires mailhandlers to load up to their shoulders. After Mr. Brooks was finished, Ed introduced Maurice Curtis who gave an update on the Electronic Drop Ship Appointment System (DSAS). this is the use of a computer to make drop ship appoint- ments instead of phoning. There are 200 customers on the system but only 50% use it. The close-out rate for first quarter of FY 96 was 86%. The number of appointments missed, canceled or customers arriving unscheduled is still a problem, this is about 16% of all appointments not just electronic appointments. Diana Genda then described the efforts underway at Swiss Colony to overcome the problem of reading bar codes through polywrap. A machine which can read through poly and apply a bar code to the outside of the wrapped container is being tested at Swiss Colony. Although successful the belt moves at a much slower speed (100 feet per minute) then the Postal Service's Bulk Mail Centers (350 feet per minute). Diana then provided information regarding the machine being tested at Swiss Colony. The price tag is between $50,000 and $75,000 and has a depth of field of 18 inches. The machine centers the bar code when it is applied but placement is dependent upon the information it receives from the reader. Currently Swiss Colony does not use the bar code for internal reasons but that may change. Parcel Reclassification was the next subject discussed and Dave Shinnebarger gave the presentation. The purpose of Parcel Reclassification is to strengthen the product and introduce new parcel products. Parcel Reclassification will make the product more market based, incent customers to produce a more efficient mail stream, increase volumes and contribution. The timetable is for an April or May Rate Commission filing. The FASTNET product was then discussed. It is a local originating and destinating parcel service and differs from Express Mail by offering no guarantee. Mr. Meszaros then introduce Phil Parizino who provided an update on the Parcel Work Group meeting. Phil recapped the Swiss Colony machine, talked about the minimum and maximum sizes the current USPS parcel sorting equipment will allow, the future of bar codes within the USPS and ended by announcing the Parcel Shippers Association meeting in New Orleans in March. Ed Meszaros closed the meeting at 4:30 p.m. MAILERS TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY/TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE December 13, 1995 MEETING MINUTES Industry Chair - Joe Lubenow Postal Chair - Becky Brentlinger Piex Report - Rick Graff : Regarding the three projects the PIEX group discussed in September, the following progress was reported on two that are moving forward: * PEPS (Publisher's Electronic Payment System) - Still in the test state -a 3 month test by 2 printers on the weight computation. * Debit System for CTAS - Is very close to fruition. The difference with this system (both systems will be available) is that mailings deposited before 7:00 PM Pacific Time, will be accepted and processed, and we will debit the customer's bank account the next day. A pilot test is tentatively scheduled to roll out in April of 1996. The test will be for existing CTAS users only at this time, and will last approximately 90 days. Containers & Transportation Report - Rick Kropski: The group of 23 attendees met and discussed the following three items: * Plastic Pallet Redesign: There was a demonstration of the new plastic pallets, whose flexibility have been greatly minimized. These will rollout in the beginning of January of 1996 in three different locations in the country. The plans are to order about two and a half million of these over time. * DSAS Performance Review: Maurice Curtice gave a presentation on how the system is doing, and Clarence Banks followed up on a survey of major mailers. Generally, the perception of the drop ship appointment system is very good and it is basically working well. The no-shows are down to 10%, the cancellations are at 8%, and late arrivals are at 16%. Receivables are closing out within a 24 hour period up to 86%. There are 200 mailers on the system, and 50% are using the phones and 50% are using the computer system. There will be a mailers performance report coming out in January for those of us who are on the system. These are some action items identified: How to fix a slowdown Computer logdowns and lockouts Frequent shutdowns Consistent receiving hours system-wide Many SCFs have only one drop-ship dock Specific problem sites(6 BMC's and 16 SCF's) * 8125's(PVDS System): There was an appeal made by the USPS about 6 months ago regarding the 8125 form. This form seems to be a little inept but is a revenue requirement. This product is under Chuck Delany, and there has been some work done internally to identify the pros and cons. There will be some field work done with identified mailers. * Letters and Trays and Tray Palletization: Ralph Walker joined the group. There were two basic problems identified : Under reclass, all letters must be in trays, and the existing tray may not be the best. There is research underway to prototype various types of box trays. Palletization as it exists today sometimes results in crushing of the bottom 2 layers causing automation and unloading problems. A possible solution would be a cardboard layer with a egg crate design, creating a table-like effect. Ralph will take this up with Ralph Modem's group. Bar-coding Parcels, Packages and Containers : A presentation will be made at the next meeting on the tracking and packing of parcels. Flats Report - Dick Funck: At the previous meeting, the Flats group voted to disband after this one last meeting to primarily focus on the polywrap tests. Polywrap : Sherl Johnson discussed the results of the recent tests and the considerable number of new participants who are now certified for receiving discounts for polywrap packages. There is a draft list of participants who are certified and information on products. One of the accomplishments from the recent round of tests was to come up with a poly blend that fits a broad section of pieces for magazines and catalogues . Dick worked with a vendor and Readers' Digest to come up with 2 different poly blends. The first used polyethylene, and was tested on pieces from 3 to 16 ounces (standard 8x10 pieces). It was wrapped horizontally, which works almost perfectly, and should be approved by the end of January. The other vendor used polypropylene, that crossed the gamut of sizes and weights, and particularly worked well with the Reader's Digest size with a vertical seam. The poly used today is normally 1 1/4, and the poly types used in the test are 1 1/2 and 1 3/4. There would be an approximate price increase of 20% per 1/4 increment. This needs to be considered when looking at bar-code discounts. As time goes by, these prices may be lowered. There was a concern that the decision of material would be made on the capital costs - comment was made that it is not expensive to turn the books to an alternate seam. The mailer must provide certification showing conformance to the regulations. Quarterly monitorings will be done on the flat sorter machines. Much of this will be done on the honor system. Electronic Postmark - Richard Rothwell: The USPS is not simply transporters of mail, but is also here to enable commerce and to enable the ability to conduct business transactions. As we move into the information age, business needs to be conducted progressively. As business moves into electronic media, the USPS can be there to support that in the same way, and can grow everyone's business. The role is not one of competition, but one of enablement. The USPS does not intend to be an E-Mail provider, but to allow those providers to transact business in open networks the full security that they conduct business in the first class mail stream today. There was concern that it is inconsistent to say that the USPS does not need approval from the PRC for the electronic Postmark because it's not mail, but one could be prosecuted under Federal Regulations for tampering with mail. The USPS position is that one cannot use the USPS for committing fraud, and they are working with the law department to provide these protections for the private sector. The pricing could run from the 30 cent range to $3.00. There will be market testing to determine price at the end of January. There was concern that we would be siphoning off of real mail. The USPS position is that if it does not provide these services - someone else will, and they believe they can do the best job of providing these services. Product rollout is currently targeted for September 1996. Heavy Letter Test Update - Sherl Johnson: There are now 21 different poly manufacturers and over 100 mailers involved in the testing. Some mail shops do not know what polys the mailers are using, so there is concern as to their responsibility. The mail shop , as well as the acceptance units, the manufacturers, and the customer will get copies of each certification letter. Testing will continue through the spring. There will be a Postal Bulletin Notice to announce the next phase of testing and will list the officially approved polys and the approved users of the polys. Please do not send samples in early, as there is no place to store them. Heavy weight letters: Between August and the end of November, there were over 22 million pieces run under the test program. The only adverse mailing involved open windows. Overall there were no adverse effects on mail process operations. Catalogues are not tested in this process, but will fall in another category and are being looked at in the future. Ranges of weights in the test are up to 3.3067, and will be increased up to 3.4. The heavier weight will match the potential break even point where the per piece rate switches to the per pound rate for nonprofit under reclass. Palletization Regulations - Cheryl Beller: A presentation was given on how portions of the new rules will be implemented in the near future and other aspects will be deferred to coincide with the classificationa reform. The 6 month transition period for the elimination of the courtesy pallets will be completed at the time the new rates are available under classification reform. Handouts were provided and are added as an appendix. CIIS (Comprehensive Interactive Information System) - Bob Dvonch: According to Bob, the USPS recognizes that an integrated approach to information systems is needed in order to met customer service requirements as defined in the Customer Perfect program. From a customer viewpoint, if every area of the USPS does an excellent job of meeting its own standards, but the results are below expectations, then that is not a success. A Leadership Committee within the USPS has developed a charter and guiding principles for CIIS. One principle is the "glass pipeline", which implies that any customer, any transaction, and any channel should be open to customer access in real time. Information should be collected only once, shared across the enterprise, consistent, immediately accessible, and actionable. Customer input will be accomplished through participation in work groups expected to be formed in the next months. Handouts are included as an appendix. Performance of Purchased Air Transportation Services - Mike Krop: Performance Measurement will become more demanding with our suppliers. We have now a system which will be the cornerstone for future business endeavors with the transportation industries(rail, air, ocean and highway). Air will take the lead with a new 2 year contract with the air carriers which will initially just include the first call and priority mail. This system rewards the best suppliers and encourages the not so good to become better. Related to service performance, mail will be given to those carriers who perform acceptably - not just in one area but across the nation. In those instance where one carrier is the only one in an area, they will be penalized elsewhere for nonperformance. We started being able to move mail directly from one market to another with just 24 markets and now are up to 200 markets . On January 10, CEOs of all major air carriers will be briefed on this new measurement system. Service performance is defined in terms of on time delivery. This is figured on averages. The system of fines did not appear to work, as airlines budgeted for those penalties. Planet Code : A handout was provided and a presentation will be given at the next MTAC meeting. Addressing and ZIP+4 MTAC Subcommittee Three Digit ZIP Code Realignment Susan Hawes opened the meeting with a discussion of proposed three digit area realignments planned for July 1, 1996. Headquarters has received proposed realignment plans from three district offices: Santa Ana CA, Northern Virginia, and Suncoast (Tampa) FL. The realignments have yet to be approved and may not be implemented this year. At the March MTAC meeting, a list of specific ZIP Codes which will be impacted by the proposed changes will be available to members. This list will also indicate if the entire ZIP Code is changing, if a portion is changing, or if a ZIP Code is being split into two new ZIP Codes. The following three digits are being considered for change which affect delivery addresses: Santa Ana--926, 927 and 928, affecting 250,000 addresses. Northern Virginia--221 and 201, affecting 250,000 addresses. Tampa--335, 337, 338, 339, 342 and 346, affecting 500,000 addresses. In early spring, customers whose ZIP Codes will change will receive a generic notification piece indicating the change will occur on July 1, 1996. In June, they will receive a notification telling them of the specific ZIP Code which will be assigned to their addresses. The changes will be reflected in the June monthly AIS product release and in the July quarterly release. AMS Update Paul Bakshi continued with an update on two AIS products, Line of Travel (LOT) and Locatable Address Conversion System (LACS). LOT provides information on the order in which ZIP+4 codes are delivered by letter carriers and an indicator which is used to arrange addresses assigned the particular ZIP+4 code in ascending or descending order. Available since July 1995, there are 4 customers currently subscribing to LOT. Product subscriptions are available for either monthly or quarterly fulfillment at a cost of $800 for the national file. Each fulfillment option provides a complete replacement file. The LACS file contains information on addresses which have been converted from rural route and box numbers to city-style addresses due to Emergency 911 Response system implementation. Currently, the Postal Service believes there have been approximately 6 million addresses converted. The LACS file contains information on 2.3 million of those address conversions. Licensed LACS service providers can update mailer records with the new city style addresses. Address Management has identified the ZIP Codes where we believe conversions have occurred in the past and will be asking those offices to supply the missing city-style address information to the NCSC. Current estimates indicate there are approximately 5 million rural route and box number addresses which have yet to be converted. Improvements in Address Management systems software have made the gathering of LACS data more efficient and the number of records being added to LACS has increased to an average 30,000 addresses per month. Paul also described a process developed to ensure the Address Management System database is completely up-to-date. The process was implemented in 3 pilot sites, Chicago, Washington DC and New York City. Chicago has registered a double digit increase in the quality of the data. Similar improvements are expected from the other sites through the spring and summer. In FY 96, the 100% Quality process will be implemented nationwide. Michael Murphy discussed the proposal to obtain an address update using ACS and restrict the activity so that only electronic notices would be created. Mike referenced the work done by an ad hoc committee under the Third-Class MTAC Subcommittee. CFS software changes are targeted for summer 1996. Mike also referenced the results of a test of address quality. At the last MTAC meeting, Mike asked for volunteers to help with on addresses with apartment or suite numbers. By surveying selected ZIP Codes, mailers were asked to identify the number of addresses in multi-unit buildings and the number of those which had apartment or suite numbers as a part of the address record. The results, by ZIP Code, indicate a range of complete addresses - from 91% containing needed secondary numbers to a low of 63.6%. The average was 77%. Please see attached chart. In addition, data was gathered from NCOA licensees concerning the addresses they processed. These results represent 2810 address lists and 3 billion addresses. The address matching which occurs during NCOA processing can also identify the number of records which contain apartment or suite numbers when they are needed to uniquely identify the delivery address. The results below reflect the number of lists with the ranged percentage of addresses having the needed apartment or suite numbers. % of Addresses with Secondary Numbers Number of lists 0-10% 34 11-20% 9 21-30% 37 31-40% 44 41-50% 99 51-60% 195 61-70% 412 71-80% 827 81-90% 889 91-100% 264 85% of the lists had less than 40% of the apartment or suite addresses missing necessary secondary information. 70% of the lists had less than 30% of their multi-unit addresses missing secondary numbers. Mike concluded that the missing apartment number problems may not be as severe as had been believed. He asked for additional information from mailers who believe these results may not be reflective of reality. Michael provided an update on the status of licensing the Address Element Correction process. The licensing agreement is being reviewed and the first commercial service provider should be in business after the first of the year. Other DSF licensees who are interested may also participate. He indicated that a new version of AEC software will be available in March. Mike began the update on the Multiline Forwarding System (MFS) by reviewing the existing options to meet the move update requirement under Classification Reform. These include the use of the "Address Correction Requested" or "Forwarding and Address Correction Requested" endorsements, use of Address Change Service and use of National Change of Address processing services. He described how MFS applies both the new address information and the barcode for the new address to the envelope. The Postal Service team has successfully completed the proof of concept test by matching images to the change of address file in a very secure way within the 30 millisecond requirement. The current project plan calls for initial deployment during the summer of 1996. Vendors of MLOCR equipment will be certified concerning the interface with the secure file and users of the system will be licensed. Licensing fees will be charged. While originally developed to met the need of presort bureaus, MFS may provide an avenue for other types of MLOCR users and others to meet the requirement. Three Digit Presort Scheme Bob Sheehan spoke to the members about the development of the three digit scheme. This is a revised list from that which appeared in the last Federal Register. Currently, the Postal Service is proposing a total of 113 three digit zone combinations for mailers to use when preparing their mailings. Bob indicated that he has asked the area offices to go back and look for additional opportunities which may expand the number of combinations. He welcomes the opportunity to simplify both mailer and postal operating environments, reduce handlings and improve processing speeds. He is also developing an optional three digit scheme for flat sized mail. He reiterated that the combination schemes are liable to change over the next couple of years as new equipment is deployed and existing equipment is re-deployed. Bob also indicated that the area offices will be developing five digit schemes at a later date. He agreed with one member who asked about new uses for existing equipment, by indicating that field managers are being creative in finding different types of bundles to sort on bundle sorters, which can cause some changes in the types of mail being processed by that equipment. Addressing Workgroup Bob O'Brien provided an update from the Addressing Workgroup. While Michael Murphy had covered some of the topics earlier in the meeting, Bob raised the issues of the quality of AEC matches. He reported that the group found the quality of the matches very high, but users of AEC service should not assume the matches are all correct. Mailers should use the correction code information in conjunction with their knowledge of how their list was developed. Other commercial applications exist to help improve address quality above and beyond AEC processing. Bob also reported that one company is testing electronic transfer of AEC addresses, in the interest of updating addresses as quickly as possible. The group will also pursue the approval of a generic business reply envelope which would allow the necessary information (permit number, etc.) to appear in the address window. This would eliminate the need for mailers to stock many different reply envelopes for different uses or return addresses. The list of ZIP Codes where carrier route rates will not be available after Classification Reform implementation will be included in the next Federal Register notice and will be available electronically on the Rapid Information Bulletin Board System (RIBBS). Finally, Bob reported that the Automated Barcode Evaluator (ABE) will start being deployed after the new year begins. Designed to improve barcode quality, ABE will provide an evaluation of the physical characteristics of the barcode as well as a reverse address look-up to determine if the barcode is correct for the address. Classification Reform Update Joe Lubenow provided an update on Classification Reform. The next Federal Register, containing additional comments and DMM language, should be published approximately December 22. The Postal Service has decided to drop the implementation of requirement for uniform placement of address elements from the implementation plans for Classification Reform. Joe also discussed the use of the terms "Box" and "PO Box" in addresses. He said that it is a good idea to use "PO Box" when mailing to actual postal box holders. Using "PO Box" in those cases will reduce confusion and possible misdelivery if private companies are using internal "Box" addresses which may duplicate actual Postal Service box numbers. Peter Moore reiterated that the ZIP Code lists which had been discussed in conjunction with Classification Reform (three digit scheme and carrier route letter rate availability) are all dynamic lists and mailers will need to be aware of the changes to those lists and the frequency with which they should update their sorting routines. The meeting concluded with the announcement that a draft proposal concerning mailers ability to print adjacent to the optional endorsement line would be made available. 96-031