| The producers of direct mail require accurate and timely information about their operations. They need to track the progress of all the tasks required to complete a successful direct mailing. These tasks span the entire operation, from data processing, to printing, to preparation and inserting, and the delivery to postal facilities. All of these tasks require information in order to measure quantity
of production, time to produce, and costs of the operations performed. All of these things are measured and tracked by OAK’s STATS system. The STATS system has proven to provide the information that is vital in determining real time or actual costs and therefore profit or losses on direct mailing jobs. This information is available as the job progresses so modifications or adjustments can be made to correct any problems or to change strategies to increase efficiencies or production rates.
The STATS system is the core application of the production monitoring system. The STATS system monitors “real time” production rates while keeping track of all the tasks performed and the various “down times”. The system can monitor all phases of production automatically and keep track of auxiliary functions such as employees as well as postage and materials. The STATS system is a combination of software, hardware and firmware monitoring the entire production environment in real time.
The process begins with the high-speed laser printers (both cut sheet and continuous roll), which personalize the various printed items such as direct mail advertisements, offers or statements. The STATS system monitors and records the data from these printers for both the images and feet of printed material produced, along with the stoppages and downtime information. The output from the
printers is then passed through the bindery equipment where it is prepared for the inserters by cutting, stacking, folding, and possibly adding stickers. The bindery also includes equipment for high-speed digital image color printing via inkjet or videojet printing on paper, envelopes, postcards or plastic cards. Any one or all of these processes may be required for the production piece, but all of them are monitored and recorded by the STATS system. The final stage before delivery to
the postal facility is the inserting stage, which receives the material from the bindery and inserts it into an envelope, seals and applies postage to the final product. Again all the processes are monitored and recorded by the STATS system, even the postage used can be recorded. The final tallies from this stage are submitted in report form to the postal facility as a manifest instead of the older less accurate ‘weight’ method still used by non-STATS users. All the monitoring and data
collection is available throughout the production process on the company network for whoever has the need to know. |
