For many years, Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service has been a Valparaiso staple for providing local businesses with smooth, cost-effective solutions for managing bulk mail. Whether it's promotional flyers, newsletters, invoices, or anything in between, Flanagin’s streamlines distribution while ensuring messages reach a broad audience efficiently.
However, to send out so many mailers at a time, the process requires more than just placing mailers in envelopes and dropping them off at the post office – it includes a team of machines working just as hard as its dedicated team who all do their part to make sure all clients can give their mailers the proper send off they deserve.
All parts of the bulk mail process play a vital role, but the most important step may just happen at the beginning according to Owner Donna Flanagin. This is when her team inquires about where the mailers will need to go to make sure they reach their intended recipients. Once the list is received, that information is uploaded into the computer to verify that all the information is correct.
“The mail process begins with the customer sending us their mailing list or us purchasing them a list,” said Flanagin. “We import all their data into the proper fields, and then we send it through what's called Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS) certification where it's going to look at all the addresses.”
A mailer cannot be successfully sent unless all parts of the address are correct, so reviewing each one for accuracy is vital. Additionally, it’s just as important to nail down the logistics of the mailers. The CASS software helps a ton in this process and is able to let Flanagin or the user know if something is amiss on the mailer list. Finding the corrections can be a tricky endeavor, as it may require extra searching on Flanagin’s end, but the software plays a big role in cleaning up the list and making the process much smoother.
“This is actually a big part of the process – I'd say almost half of the process involves getting all the data organized and in order, cleaning it up, looking for duplicates, and looking to see if they've moved to a new address,” Flanagin said. “Once that’s set, the second step is to sort it. There are all these different things that you're going to pick – the dimensions of the piece, the weight, the class, and so on. The software will then take that data and decide how many pieces of mail are in a mail tray and how big a discount the client can get. It's a wonderful piece of software, but it's truly based on the list.”
Once the list is set, it’s time for action! A room in Flanagin’s office holds many of the machines that work seamlessly together to put the mailers together. One of these machines places the labels – which are made using the information from the list – on the mailer’s envelopes and organizes them into their trays to get them ready for the post office.
“There’s a lot of setup that goes into this to make it all go smoothly, but we do a lot of this in advance. At this point, the machine guides the heat, speed, drop off, and more,” Flanagin said.
At the end of the belt lies the trays that all the mailers will be sorted into, complete with labels of their own that will help the postal workers organize the mailers once they reach their office. Each tray is then packaged and tied together with a zip tie for easy handling, which is done by a separate strapper machine to make sure the zip tie is tight and secure around the packaged tray.
Since each client has a different reason for utilizing bulk mail, Flanigan’s uses different types of mailers for every business. Flanigan’s is prepared for any type of mailer, however, and has a couple of machines to help make sure each piece is neatly and correctly placed inside the mailer. The client sends Flanagin and her team all pieces they need in the mailers, and the machines will fold the papers down to ensure they all fit in their envelopes. A few different machines are able to complete this, which is typically dependent on the type of mailer at hand. A tabbing machine also helps each part of the mailer line up evenly while holding them together to keep the mailers organized in their envelopes throughout the process.
Lastly, if needed, the envelopes can be run through a postage machine, which can add postage to the mailers and also seal the envelopes if needed.
With all parts of the mailers prepared and ready to go, the final step is delivering them to the post office. Once dropped off, they will be on their way to their intended destinations, ensuring they reach recipients as planned. This marks the completion of the process, bringing everything together for a successful mailing all thanks to the efficient process and help from Flanagin's.
For more information on Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service, please visit mybulkmail.com.
