Collaborative Outsourcing of Warehousing and/or Distribution of Materials
Cost efficiency
Current expenses to warehouse and distribute materials vary widely and depend on location and volume. A survey of six CAs found that their mailing fees last year ranged from $7.15 for a three-ounce envelope to $6.13 per pound, to our proposed rate$3.50 per pound including re-mail of returned items. Depending upon the volume of participation, the $3.50 per pound rate can be reduced further.
Proposed Vendor: Distribution Postal Company
The Info Project has negotiated a contract with Distribution Postal Company for warehousing and distribution. Any HIPNet member can use this vendor at the negotiated rate, no matter what the volume. Each year, INFO & HIPNet can renegotiate the contract. Individual CAs do not have to sign a contract to participate unless they so desire.
Routine requests or bulk mailings
– Each CA will continue to maintain its own mailing list and process its own orders and send them to the vendor for packing and shipping, either daily or weekly, by mail or e-mail. Distribution Postal can also arrange for pick-ups from your location.
– Guaranteed delivery within two weeks.
– Or CAs may choose to use the vendor for bulk mailings only.
What’s included?
Warehousing and mailing services, including storage fees, daily/weekly order processing, postage fees, bulk mail-processing services, and supplies. The negotiated rates are:
Storage & Transport Fees
| Transport materials to Maryland vendor | $.34 per pound |
| Transport materials from printer for future publications | $.34 per pound |
| Annual Inventory Reconciliation | $25.00 per item |
| Monthly Skid Storage | $15.00 per month |
Daily/Weekly Order Processing-Services
Receive, process, package, and ship orders: $1.69 per piece mailed. For example, if you have 5 pieces that must inserted into an envelope, sealed, labeled, and sorted; the cost would be $1.69 (does not include postage costs)
Postage Fees
Rates are up to 14-day Air Economy Worldwide Mail and Parcel rates with Consolidated Return Service. The rates are based on using the combined services of the United States Postal Service and Deutsche Post Global Mail (German Postal Operator).
Letter Class (Letters, Flats, Packets up to 1.5 oz– piece charge and pound charge)
| Piece Charge | $.15 per piece |
| Pound Charge | $3.50 per pound |
Publications and Fulfillment (Letters, Flats, Packets 1.5 oz to 4 lbs)
Pound Charge $3.70 per pound
Bulk Publications and Fulfillment (Flats, Packets, Parcels over 4 lbs.)
Pound Charge $2.95 per pound
Bulk Mail Processing-Services
| Convert Data Files | $75.00 per file |
| US Address Standardization and Presort | $4.50 per thousand |
| INTL Address Standardization and Presort | $8.25 per thousand |
| Output PS Labels | $18.00 per thousand |
| Laser Print Address Carrier Sheet (includes carrier sheet-for polybagging Only) |
$40.00 per thousand |
| Inkjet Address Imaging (Includes Return Address) | $20.00 per thousand |
| Machine Inserting (#10,6×9, or 9×12) | $50.00 per thousand |
| Each Additional Insert | $5.00 per thousand |
| Folding of Additional Insert (If necessary) | $10.00 per thousand |
| Minimum Machine Inserting Fee | $125.00 |
| Minimum Machine Addressing Fee | $125.00 |
Supplies
Recycled materials used free of charge when available. Corrugated boxes provided free of charge for any package weighing more than 4 pounds. IF a CA wants to use its own shipping materials (Kraft envelopes, Tyvek envelopes, boxes), it can store the materials at the vendor’s warehouse. The fee for supplies is dependent upon generic or personalized stock and volume ordered.
Potential Cost Savings
Almost all CAs are paying higher rates for warehousing and mailing than these. CAs who participate will incur some cost savings, particularly for bulk mailing. For bulk mailings, some CAs may realize additional cost savings by having their materials sent directly to the vendor from the printer.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Info Project will routinely track customer satisfaction with the quality of services, probably on a quarterly basis. Before negotiating a contract for 2005-2006 in Spring 2005, INFO will survey participating CAs to determine their level of satisfaction and use this information when negotiating the contract.
Try it out or invite Distribution Postal Company to visit you to answer your questions in person!
Any HIPNet member can ‘try out’ the service at any time throughout the year. The customer services representative, Michaela Finn would be happy to visit you for 30 minutes or even a couple of hours to answer your questions. She travels regularly to NY, Boston and the Chapel Hill area. We also can arrange for a conference call or meeting. Michaela’s number is 410-488-1002 and her email address is mfinn@distpost.com. If you prefer, Heather Johnson from INFO is also available to talk with you. Her direct dial is 410-223-1874 and her email address is hjohnson@jhuccp.org.
Who has used it so far?
– Georgetown IRH is processing a mailing through Distribution Postal Company (DPC).
– Horizons Program/Population Council will begin using Distribution Postal Company’s services for weekly pick-ups of their international mail.
– INFO uses Distribution Postal Company to process daily request and mass mailings averaging 750,000 copies annually in English, French, and Spanish combined.
