The Document Institute are very experienced in many areas of postal and logistics globally, however Hybrid Mail is a specialist area where we have deep experience and passion.
There are two basic models of Hybrid Mail, both keeping documents that are to be printed - and typically mailed - in an electronic format closer to the point of destination:
- Multiple points of creation to a single point of production
- Decentralised --> Centralised
- Single point of creation to multiple points of production
- Centralised --> Decentralised
Companies implement hybrid mail for many reasons, but it all stems back to making savings; whether it be time, money, or both. A solution could involve a combination of both, but fundamentally it is about keeping mail electronic closer to the point of destination.
Multiple points of creation to a single point of production
This model is used by banks and other corporates to increase economies of scale for the production of – what have been – low volume print and mail runs.
Let’s say a business has multiple buildings, each with multiple departments, each producing 50 to 100 customer communications each week. By implementing a Hybrid Mail solution, these pieces of correspondence can be submitted to a central server where they are aggregated together to produce a single larger, production volume run. Not only saving money on the physical production, mailing and postage through bulk discounts, but also a significant time savers for those that previously needed to print, fold, insert, mark for postage, and then lodge to the postal service.
Single point of creation to multiple points of production
This model is being used around the world to assist companies getting their correspondence in the hands of their customers as quickly as possible, but also by postal authorities for significant logistical efficiencies and cost savings.
Particularly in large countries – in population and/or geographic terms – delivering mail on time is often conducted through a symphony of processes, involving people, machines, as well as planes, trains, and automobiles.
Many postal organisations around the world have implemented or are looking at implementing hybrid mail solutions where bulk mail volumes from a single source, are then split for production. These production split files are then sent to various geographic locations closer to the point of final delivery where they are printed and mailed. By removing a substantial amount of cross country physical delivery, this not only saves money and time, but also reduces the carbon footprint involved in delivering the mail too.
This is also significantly relevant across smaller geographies containing a number of smaller countries or states, such as Latin America and Europe. By utilising the best infrastructure in a region for production and postal, multi-national companies can save significant money and time.
If personalised customer communications and mailing is part of your business, make sure you investigate all of your options.
Talk to us, we can help.