July 24, 2006

The Mailers Technical Advisory Committee is meeting again next week, August 1 – 3, at USPS^® headquarters in Washington, DC. These are the quarterly meetings whereby industry and USPS representatives work together on various workgroups, striving to improve overall mail deliverability and reduce mailing costs. This quarter’s meetings also bring a few new initiatives to the table.

The first new workgroup is 104, List Certification. This workgroup will explore one of the best practices in data quality as identified by a previous workgroup, number 97. The premise that this workgroup will work from is that a certified list is actually a list of certified addresses. In other words, each address would somehow carry with it a certified “stamp” indicating that the best practices and technologies in data quality had been applied using the most recent data. The aggregation of these addresses into a mailing list would imply that the list as a whole was certified. One of the benefits of this approach would be a significant step toward risk-based mail verification and ultimately improved delivery. I am the industry co-chair for this workgroup and my postal co-chairs are Charles Hunt and Jim Wilson.

Another new workgroup focused on addresses is workgroup 105, Efficient Dissemination of Addressing Related Information in Emergencies / Disasters. As the name implies, this group will examine a method for dealing with the impact disasters and emergencies have on addresses for mail delivery. The efforts of this workgroup will be crucial as we enter the peak of the hurricane season. The co-chairs for this workgroup are Steve Lopez and Jeff Stangle from industry and Darron Holland and Ed Wanta from the USPS.

Accurate business decisions can only be made from accurate data, and that’s why workgroup 106 will be another important workgroup to watch. Its specific title is “Improve and integrate data sources that facilitate optimal mail preparation and induction”. Much of the data used today for mail preparation comes from numerous sources, some of which can contradict each other. Moreover, some of the systems providing this data are over 10 years old! When we consider the impact postal reform, FSS, and a pending rate case will have on our industry, it sure seems appropriate to form this workgroup. The co-chairs for this workgroup are Brian Euclide from industry and Bob Galaher from the USPS.

To learn more about these various workgroups, check out their specific issue statement at http://ribbs.usps.gov/mits/search.cfm. Also, stay tuned for more information on the workgroup’s efforts as Business Objects will be participating in all three groups.