Multi-angle review of the application of digital printing at Deutsche Post

Deutsche Post undertakes a large number of correspondence transactions. In 2004, Deutsche Post's printing and communications business department printed, processed and sent billions of letters. Digital printing technology has penetrated into the postal sector. This article describes the status of digital printing applications at Deutsche Post.

Three days before the election, the work of the German Post was too busy. Receiving the letter application form, printing the text data and sending it immediately, the company calls this production a “one-time action”, that is, the work related to the seasonal event, for example, printing selection information, tax return or annual fee settlement Single wait. In addition, there is "centralized communication", which deals with personalized daily letters and bulk transaction prints from PCs. The work of the letter department is also diverse. In total, billions of letters were sent in 2004 — a total of seven production plants processing, printing, processing, and shipping.

Outsourcing

In 1994, establishing the initial Printcom business scope at the Bonn headquarters should mark the entry of Deutsche Post in the field of electronic data transmission and began to think about the question of “how to use electronic data in mail communications”. The target groups for this service are: telecommunications service providers, insurance companies, banks, financial service providers, as well as administrative agencies, townships, federals, and states. In short, all these units expect their printing costs to be quite high, with the outside Service providers can save time, effort and expenses.

The AOK of Bavaria cooperates with Deutsche Post in the handling of all daily correspondence between 250 establishments. Deutsche Post receives data at the agreed time and assembles the data into the best postage for printing; it is printed at the printing company of the establishment and is usually sent on the same day. The project manager who introduced AOK e-post said: "For us, this means a lot of time is saved. Before we had to prepare all these letters for prepress, print them out through our network printer, and load envelopes by hand; Now click 3 to send a communication."

Quality Control

In order to meet the customer's requirements, Deutsche Post invested a huge amount of money. The business manager said: "We guarantee 100% supply and delivery or production of our products." He continued to explain: "If the password of the credit card is not sent to or delivered to the wrong recipient, the loss is considerable." In this regard, companies have raised quality and error management to a higher level: Each side of a printed job contains so-called service data lines at the edges.

Use this digital code to identify and prevent double delivery or misplaced envelopes. In addition, video readings are also used. Because most of the data involved here are highly sensitive data, the security rules are correspondingly strict. The production center employs only a fixed number of employees, who are employed according to postal regulations and customer-specific rules. This means that the entire production involves postal secrets and data protection rules. The entrance check prevents unauthorized persons from entering, while the production site uses indoor video surveillance equipment.

Full service

The production facilities in Hamburg, Ravengen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Leipzig are closely networked to each other. When a problem arises, there is a backup device immediately. Of course, people try their best to arrange the job at the factory near the customer.

If the customer needs Deutsche Post to provide a full range of services, he can receive a full range of services from the production preparation phase, including IT technical consulting, design and layout, as well as the optimization of postage stamping and print data archiving. Customers can send print data in standard format around the clock. These data are converted to variable print data on the spot.

Bulk printing mainly uses reel digital paper printing, such as using Xerox, Océ or IBM systems. Most prints are still black and white, but spot colors are also being used more and more. Full-color printing is mainly used for advertising mail printing.

Postpress processing is also diversified. In addition to folding, letter folded, folding, single folding, folding and other foldings and automatic loading of envelopes, you can also select up to 8 insertions. For example, advertising for mobile phone accounts, information leaflets for payroll tax cards, or remittance slips for tickets, usually these are personalized content such as account numbers, recipients, corresponding handling numbers, and payments due—so inserts must not Wrong. Of course, in this case, invoices and forms can be posted together by punching lines. It is also possible to fit double envelopes, just as mailings require. Deutsche Post also offers sealed emails such as sealed PINs or TANs (Personal Passwords or Transaction Codes).

Postal and postage

Within the scope of the business of the printing and correspondence services of Deutsche Post, stamps, postmarkers or the use of so-called electronic postage stamps can be selected to complete the delivery.

Upon request, the German postal mail service directly receives the print data, prints it at the computer center, and posts it online. These digital copies are made available online to all those who have access, such as call centers or customer executive centers and field staff.

The Layangen Production Center is the largest printing and mail service plant in Deutsche Post. Most jobs are digitally printed on webs. The German postal service is divided into one-time operations, centralized communications and bulk transaction printing. The envelope packaging system is controlled via a touch screen.

Machine-readable labels

Publishers and mail-order companies send about 2.2 billion postal items each year in Germany. The correct customer address is their important capital. Therefore, the use of Deutsche Post’s automatic address update service is increasingly used. Since January 1, 2005, such address update service must use a special yellow address label. This so-called Cheshire label is constructed according to a strict model and must be machine-readable for electronic follow-up processing. At the 2005 Cebit Expo, PSI exhibited a high-speed continuous-paper laser printer that meets the postal requirements for print quality, while also offering press-in-the-middle solutions to publishers, mail-order companies, and print service providers.

For electronically recognized Cheshire tags, precise print positioning and clean handwriting are required. A large 38mm x 85mm label is usually printed on a continuous print of size 305mm x 375mm (length x width). The PP4050 high-speed continuous-paper laser printer meets all requirements, printing 1,500 sheets per hour, which equals 46,000 labels. The more efficient PP4060 laser printer prints 1800 sheets or 57,000 labels per hour.

Both of these high-speed continuous-paper laser printers have been used for medium-press Cheshire label printing. The machine is characterized by high flexibility, quality and economy, suitable for a variety of applications, such as industrial, logistics, banking, service providers, fast print shops or mail order companies, the line printers and central large printers in these departments. Fill the gap between.

Continuous paper laser printer printing

PSI Lasers at Cebit 2005 demonstrated a versatile, complete solution for continuous form printing and post-processing. In only one process, a continuous form is printed by a continuous paper laser printer, output from the edge vias, and then separated. The PP4060, 35CD unwinder, modular S2051 tape combiner, and M3010 separator combined line are designed for medium-volume printing companies, printing 300,000 pages per month, for example, billing, delivery documents, or The mail is ready to be sent.

At the Cebit show, three manufacturers showed how to handle three pages of mail. The 35CD unwinder feeds continuous printing paper to the PP4060 printer, which is a duplex printer that prints 63 pages per minute. The S2051 tape combiner receives the printed form online and divides it into two strips by cutting in the middle, and then double-feeds the strips. The M3010 separator then cuts off the guide hole edge and separates the two paper tapes laterally into a single page. Finally, the single-page finished product is removed from the receipt table.

In addition, post-processing solutions such as folder, enveloper and postmark machines are also available. These machines can be combined with a continuous paper laser printer.