With all of the changes taking place today in our industry; don’t forget, Decertification Lives On!

December 31, 2008

That is the date that the USPS is requiring the replacement of all rotary meters with digital postage meters, since they are proven to be less susceptible to tampering and fraudulent misuse than rotary letterpress technology. If you have a Hasler machine with a Model Number that starts with a WJ (i.e.: WJ60, WJ65, WJ95 etc) you have equipment that is already compliant. For a list of the meters from Hasler that will be decertified please go to Hasler Meter Decertification Schedule or contact San Diego Postal and Shipping Equipment and we would be happy to provide you with information, no matter what manufacturer you presently have.With the other changes that are happening now, it might be prudent to consider making the change to a digital compliant meter sooner rather than later.

Why Change Now?

Shape Based Pricing is a compelling reason to upgrade now, before the December 31, 2008 deadline. The older equipment will not upgrade to the automatically determine shape based pricing that will be required by the USPS on May 14, 2007, this could mean expensive manual sorting, potential for returned and postage due mail could increase. For details on the coming change see our article on Shaped Based Pricing in this edition of our letter.Equipment will not get any less expensive as time goes on. With transportation costs, raw materials costs and labor costs on the rise, it is a safe bet that the equipment will be more expensive as we get closer to the deadline.Older equipment is less reliable. As equipment ages, so does the dependability and the ability to obtain replacement parts is significantly impacted. Often we must remove parts from other older equipment in order to repair equipment still in use. This does not lower the cost of parts, it takes labor to remove them from the machine and it takes longer to get them into the field.The new equipment has many enhanced features that make them less expensive to operate and reduce the amount of time that it takes to run the mail. Features like automatic date advance, increased speed, no more messy ink changes, clear printing of indicia, job memories that allow for presetting common jobs all improve the efficiency of the mail operation in your business.

What Should I Replace My Equipment With?

If you have a meter that will be decertified we suggest contacting your San Diego Postal Account Representative sales@sdpostal.com no matter what manufacturer you presently use. They are skilled at asking the right questions to determine the capabilities you will want to consider when replacing your old equipment. The needs that you had when you originally acquired your equipment may have changed, so it is important to meet with an expert in order to determine the correct fit. Remember, you will be living with that equipment for some time after your decision. You will want equipment that is reliable, and an organization that can service your equipment for the long term.

- Gordon Glazer CMDSM, CMDSS, MQC is a nationally recognized speaker and industry expert and is President and Owner of San Diego Postal & Shipping Equipment the oldest and largest independent dealer of mailing equipment servicing San Diego County mail centers reliably since 1986