July 2022 ISSUE NUMBER 06
The Wave
News and Updates for Team BlueCrest In this issue: 04 National Postal Forum 2022 Read the recap from NPF and get the scoop on the postal industry. 06 More Chips, Less Dip How BlueCrest engineers took on the intergalactic microchip shortage. 16 Thought Leadership How Digital Inkjet Printing Unlocks Productivity and Labor Efficiency across the Print and Finishing Work Cell 18 ANZ International Update by Jason George
Dear Team,
Dennis P. LeStrange President & CEO, BlueCrest
This quarter’s edition of The Wave is packed full of greats stories from all over the BlueCrest network. In this issue, I encourage you to check out the NPF Recap on page four for insight on the status of the postal industry. We also have a heroic, life-saving story from our Baltimore office on page six, and you will also find team highlights from Service, Engineering, and Australia-New Zealand. This quarterly update truly exemplifies the diversity of our incredible team at BlueCrest. Many of you know we are in the final stages of our integration with Fluence Automation. Since the Fluence acquisition, the integration team has been busy behind the scenes making sure that our merger goes as smoothly as possible. This required an immense effort from team members all across the company. We’ve had to coordinate across functions to align critical business processes, merge them together, and maintain critical internal and external communication—all while maintaining business as usual. It has truly been a complete display of collaboration. There are several stories in this newsletter, that epitomize the ICARE key behaviors. I’d like to draw special attention to pages ten and eleven where we’ve included the stories behind each of our ICARE quarterly applause winners. All across our company, team members display our key behaviors—Innovation, Collaboration, Accountability, Resourcefulness, and Enthusiasm—to rise above challenges. Want a great example? Check out how our Engineers helped us overcome the microchip supply chain issue on page five. Talk about resourcefulness, innovation, and collaboration! The company is in great shape heading into the second half of the year. We’ve made incredible year-over-year progress in written business, and I expect us to continue to grow and build on our success. Remember—none of this is possible without you. So, as we enter the summer months, please schedule time away from work, where you can spend time with your friends, family, and loved ones. To really enjoy a vacation and recharge, you must “be where you are,” please keep that thought front of mind. As you travel and take time off, stay safe and enjoy! Sincerely,
Dennis P. LeStrange, President & CEO, BlueCrest '
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The Wave | July 2022
Events Calendar of Activities
Customer Events Package Fulfillment and Logistics Expo July 13-14, Cincinnati Closed to the public, PXNA focuses on the future technologies, systems and services needed in the package and parcel journey. packagefulfillmentlogisticsanddeliveryexpo.com
PRINTING United Oct 19-21, Las Vegas, NV The most dynamic and comprehensive printing event in the world. Bringing together the entire printing industry under one roof www.printingunited.com
Parcel & Post Expo October 18-20, Frankfurt The leading global event for the world’s parcel delivery, e-commerce logistics, and postal industries. www.parcelandpostexpo.com
Internal Events All-Employee Meetings May 19, 2022, Sept 7, 2022, Dec 7, 2022,
9:00 AM ET*Recording Available 9:00 AM ET 9:00 AM ET
Ask the Experts Window Book - “YourScore” July 6, 2022
Topic TBD
August 5, 2022
Topic TBD
Sept 9, 2022
12:00 PM ET 12:00 PM ET 12:00 PM ET
KPI DASHBOARD through July 2022
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BlueCrest Spotlights
National Postal Forum Facing the Future Together by David Bush
The industry had high expectations for the 2022 National Postal Forum. In 2019 and 2020, NPF had to cancel in-person attendance due to the pandemic, instead relying on a virtual platform. This year, a noticeable excitement permeated the air as attendees descended on Phoenix, Arizona for the first gathering in years. With the theme of this year’s NPF being “Facing the Future Together,” customers, vendors, and postal industry personnel were prepared to maximize their time together. Reflecting this theme, BlueCrest positioned all three of its company booths next to each other—with the BCC Software and WindowBook booths standing adjacent to BlueCrest’s, which now presented the recently acquired Fluence Automation products as part of the BlueCrest brand. The proximity of the three booths led to a great time of collaboration between teams and customers. Attendees enjoyed a keynote address to kick-off the postal forum from USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. During his presentation, DeJoy highlighted the continued focus Above: Postmaster General DeJoy with Dennis LeStrange and Carl to transform the postal service under his leadership. He Amacker | Below: BlueCrest making waves at NPF. stressed that the USPS is in a better financial condition than it was a year ago, but that changes would continue to be made including the need to “reinvent the delivery network.” After the keynote address, the show floor opened for traffic. The BlueCrest booth stayed buzzing for the entire show, thanks in part to all the excitement generated by the mixed mail stacker. Many customers and prospects were eager to see how BlueCrest handles mixed mail on its new range of sorting equipment. Also, in the booth drawing a lot of attention was the OneSort Workstation Solution with Sort Engine 360, as well as a digital kiosk showcasing BlueCrest’s software solutions. New this year to the Postal Forum was the inclusion of an additional day, Thursday, for people specifically in the Vote-by-Mail segment of our industry. Multiple BlueCrest team members attended and got involved with the one-day Election Mail Workshop. The BlueCrest team really appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with many clients in-person for the first time in a few years. Overall, National Postal Forum 2022 was a smashing success—and, echoing the theme of the show, we truly excited to face the future—together.
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The Wave | July 2022
Team Highlight: Engineering More Chips, Less Dip! by Steve Varga Engineers love food – but more on that later. John Shriver (Team Lead)
During the age of supply chain challenges, in particular a shortage of complex electronic parts commonly referred to as “chips”, it has driven our teams to get creative in keeping the factory supplied with circuit boards that use these chips. So, what is a Chip? In this case it is the brain of the circuit board, technically known as the Micro Controller Unit (MCU) or Microprocessor. These are made from silicon (derived for common sand) using long and very complex processes. Ultimately, these MCU’s when coupled with embedded software (or Firmware) is what gives each circuit board its intelligence. Because COVID created supply gaps in the manufacturing of these chips, along with many other things we buy as part of the global supply chain, the electrical
Ben Pardee
Gary Comstock
Jim Hulburt
engineering team had to rapidly perform a complex redesign of the circuit board used in sortation stacker modules. This redesign will allow different ‘package types’ of the chip we use to be placed on one common circuit board layout. Simply put, this redesign makes the circuit board adaptable to utilize different chips that are more available in the supply chain. Think of it as allowing a square peg to fit in a round hole. The project is named Apollo 13 after the famous engineering effort to save the astronauts of that mission from death in space by quickly creating an air-scrubber system using only parts available on the rocket. Without this they would not have had enough clean air to breath on their way back to Earth. Your Apollo 13 team of engineers is managed by Jason Harbert, Director of
Caption: A view of the circuit board and “chip” pad redesign.
Electrical Engineering and is made up of Josh Schriver (lead), Ben Pardee, Gary Comstock, and Jim Hulbert. The mission-critical goal was to have the redesign complete and fully tested in early May which was a monumental task under any circumstance. SUCCESS! The team met the challenge giving BlueCrest another option to keep production of our systems moving forward if shortages of this part continue to be problematic. A textbook example of BlueCrest’s ICARE values! Now more about the love of food and the connection to those electrical engineers – so, we know we have these things called ‘chips’ but there are other electrical components that have food references… components called toroids are typically referred to as ‘donuts’, while ‘DIP’ is actually an acronym for an older chip type known as a Dual Inline Package. Finally, all the small inexpensive parts found on a circuit board are often called the ‘popcorn’ parts. Moral of the story – keep electrical engineers fed well and they can work miracles!
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BlueCrest Spotlights
Left to Right: Albie Pereira, JP Thorpe, Rick Becerra, Marcis Vilcans (Latvia Post CEO), Viesturs Kagis (RECK), Edmunds Cerins (RECK), David Chastain, Marc Dunnard.
National Postal Forum Latvia Post visit to Danbury by Marc Dunnard
On the 21st of April, the CEO of Latvia Post and representatives from our Latvian partner RECK visited Danbury. Dennis and the senior leadership team all took time out to welcome the visitors, who devoted a full day of their schedule to spending time with us. There were very positive discussions on the current European mail marketplace and what is driving decision’s around future technology within the national posts. A highlight of the visit was a factory tour conducted by David Chastain, which left the visitors extremely impressed with our organization and our extensive capabilities. Latvia Post already has an installation of a BlueCrest TrueSort parcel sorter and we hope to work more with them in the coming years as they develop their future strategy. A huge thanks to all the Danbury team who supported and or took part in the visit, especially Kimberly Stokes for pulling everything together.
HEROIC MOMENTS - Always be ready. Last month, we experienced a medical emergency with one of our own at our Baltimore, MD office. A member of our production factory team experienced an event that caused him to collapse and stop breathing on the factory floor. The team around him reacted swiftly and effectively to provide CPR to restore his breathing and immediately called for emergency services. He was kept stable until paramedics arrived, who eventually took him to a local emergency room for care.
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We’re happy to report that he has been treated and expects to make a full recovery. The entire team worked together to provide correct care and took necessary actions that saved the life of a member of our BlueCrest team. We want to congratulate and thank the Baltimore team for ensuring that this did not have a dire end. As we reflect on “what if’s”, it is important to always remember that emergency situations can occur at any
time to family, friends, and strangers around us each day. We hope that when this occurs, those around that person know how to respond and are ready and prepared to act quickly when seconds matter. We want to encourage everyone to set personal goals to participate in common sense periodic first aid and emergency preparedness training so that if an emergency arises, you can also be ready to help those in need. - by Rob Stone
The Wave | July 2022
New Team Member Highlight Nick Aiken Product Manager - Inserting A brief history Prior to joining BlueCrest, I worked at Fujifilm North America Corporation for 5 years in various positions, most recently as a Senior Product Manager where I led the product vision, strategy and execution of Fujifilm’s Personalized Photo Products Group in addition to the company’s suite of mobile and web products. Before Fujifilm, I worked at several different companies in product marketing, sales and account management roles.
What brought you to BlueCrest? After meeting with several members of the organization and touring the Danbury facility, I was really impressed with BlueCrest’s products and technology as well as the strategic vision of the company. Through my conversations I could also tell that the employees here are really passionate about what they do and genuinely care about the company and one another.
What opportunities do you see on the horizon for BlueCrest? BlueCrest has already had some early success in the card attaching space and I expect that to continue as the number of card attaching use cases continues to grow. The team has built a best-in-class solution and is continuing to expand our offering and capabilities to meet market and customer needs.
In your own words, how would you describe your experience at BlueCrest so far? So far my experience has been very positive. I have really enjoyed working with and getting to know many different people within the organization.
Tell us one fun fact about yourself! When I was a child I used to model various products for the Caldor catalog – items such as sleeping bags, 10-in-1 tables, etc. – before the retail chain went out of business.
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BlueCrest Spotlights
TrueSort Advanced Sorting out New Innovation for eCommerce and Parcels by David Chastain
If you have not heard, Danbury Engineering and Product Management teams have been working on a new project called TrueSort Advanced. TrueSort Advanced will address the ever-changing worldwide market requirements for fast, deployable automation solutions for parcels & eCommerce. You may be familiar with the name TrueSort as this is our general term for our Parcels and Ecommerce product solutions. Over the last five years, we have learned a lot through both large and small projects in Croatia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Italy, and other parts of the World. One reoccurring theme was the desire for more control of the hardware we configure and sell into the market. Our answer is TrueSort Advanced! Above: TrueSort Advanced being built in Danbury Lower left: The TrueSort Advanced compared to the Saturn V Rocket
Above: Dave Berger, Brian Bowers and Austin Horsley Below: Dave Bush, BlueCrest, Bill Boyce and Mike Smith from UBM, and Michelle Zalewski from ALG
TrueSort Advanced is built on the solid foundation that began with BlueCrest WATCH and SortEngine 360 software applications. This product will be available in standard configurations, much like our main product lines. The TrueSort Advanced design is based around the flexible linear cross-belt technology and will provide one of the widest material spectrums including items that weigh up to 20kg and down to as little as 50g. Our first-class service team will appreciate the simplicity of the mechanics and the robustness of BlueCrest controls and SortEngine 360 software. The TrueSort Advanced will have many options such as sorting into bags, carts, and sliding chutes; or a combination of all three. It will support reading multiple barcodes and will use our BlueCrest Sabre OCR in applications requiring address reading. The first two systems will be built in Danbury this summer and have already been sold to the Isle of Man Post and Oman Post. Isle of Man will be supported out the UK Service team and Oman Post will be supported by our dealer Emerdis. Once fully released in D365, Presales will be able to configure and provide our Sales team and dealers pricing for many standard applications. This will be a welcome shift from
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The Wave | July 2022
“ The TrueSort Advanced will be the largest
product assembled in the Danbury facility. The Saturn V rocket is 111 meters long and our TrueSort Advanced System for Isle of Man is about less than half at 49.8meters.“ David Chastain – VP, Engineering
Fun Facts about the True Sort Advanced the 100% custom parcels systems we have configured in the past and enable BlueCrest to address a wider market with greater agility. If you are in Danbury this summer, you will not be able to miss the systems being built on the main production floor. If you aren’t in the Danbury area, don’t worry, there will be professional marketing videos produced to show our many future clients what we can do as a team when the power of BlueCrest is unleashed.
1. A construction team had to increase the height of the shipping dock doors to fit this product. 2. Saturn V rocket is 111 meters long and the Isle of Man system is less than half at 49.8meters. 3. The TrueSort Advanced will be the largest product assembled in the Danbury facility. 4. When we ship the Isle of Man system, it will require four- 40’ shipping containers. 5. As large as the Isle of Man system is, it is only 1/8 the size of the Croatia parcel system we previously installed. 6. TrueSort Advanced is equipped with one of the most powerful engines in the market; SortEngine 360
Service Team Highlight Utah / Idaho BBQ Squad by Scott Brown
I am the area Supervisor for the Utah/Idaho area. As a team, we have been very short handed. The whole team has had to make many sacrifices in trying to keep an important “Work-Life Balance” for all. My team often fills in for each other as we all struggle to enjoy time away with our families. Recently, a team member volunteered to work a Saturday so that I could attend a large family BBQ Competition. This picture is of myself and my boys posing for our first place win. Time away with family is sometimes hard to get, and this was a great day for us, made possible by the hard working BlueCrest team in the Utah/Idaho area! I enjoy working for BlueCrest, the team here is amazing always showing their willingness to help anyway they can!
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A vice president of one of our largest clients recently took the time to recognize John in writing, pointing out "what a difference an individual can make", and commending John on his attention to detail, his precision, and the "amazing effort" he puts in to get it right every time.
Cliff has always been a valuable asset to the company. He installed a new system at one of our largest clients that was delivered in December for 2021 revenue. He went above and beyond what is normally expected.
""I can honestly say that John is a key factor in our partnership with Bluecrest, and most certainly a large percentage of the reason why we own 15 inserters and counting.""
He not only worked very long days during the week, but also stayed and worked on Saturday to ensure the client was happy with the latest purchase. He then spent the rest of his Saturday on a long drive back home. Cliff does this with a great attitude and without any expectation of special recognition even though it is definitely deserved
Thank you John!
Thank you Cliff!
One sentence best sums up the value John provides to the client, as well as to Bluecrest...
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Craig has developed a set of utilities that allow the diagnostic monitoring of a clients production network. These utilities have made it possible to rapidly and easily visualize network issues that were traditionally very difficult to capture, document and resolve. It is Craig’s enthusiasm for the subject that has allowed him to develop the skill sets needed to be able to produce these and similar utilities. He has been very generous with the knowledge he has gained and uses it to support his colleagues at every opportunity. This has been to the benefit of both BlueCrest and our clients. Thank you Craig!
Mark was our hero. During a complex software installation our new system was down on Monday. Our site was completely down and in panic. Mark was able to help resolve, figure out what went wrong and make sure there were processes in place so it doesn’t happen again. Mark has been resourceful and a true guide for our clients as they embark on new system. On our daily call today, Huntington told me I should bake him cookies and were over the moon thankful to him.
Thank you Mark!
The Wave | July 2022
Congratulations to our ICARE Applause Winners from Q2 2022! They were drawn from the ICARE High-Five winners. Who will be next?
Recognize a peer now!
We appreciate the way he proactively works to make sure our machines are up and running smoothly. I’ve heard comments from operators, Leads and Team Leads saying Tom is easy to work with and talk to. Not only does Tom listen and react, but he is quick to escalate if he sees there is a need, to minimize impact to production. Today is a great example with three machines down at the same time and the potential for some frustration. Tom’s demeanor and willingness to just work and get things done is so great to see. Tom, we really appreciate all you do for our team, and we think you are awesome!
We wanted to give Marcin a high five for transferring our codes from PVCS to GIT. It allowed transferring the comfort of introducing changes and version control from the 80s to the standards of the 21st century. There have been times when it took longer to make changes to a PVCS than to find and fix a problem! Now it’s a real pleasure to make changes to the OM code. All the developers had their workplace improved by such change. Thanks to Marcin we are able to work more efficiently. Thanks to Marcin’s attitude and approach, Bluecrest’s Polish Software Office became a better place to work!
Kayla exemplifies resourcefulness, working to understand the business issue and collaborating to achieve resolution. She has established new workflows to address issues brought to her, making the process easier to maintain moving forward. She responds quickly: when critical she works to immediately resolve and doesn’t redirect even when the issue may not be within her realm of control. When a longer term solution is needed she remains engaged throughout until the ultimate solution is realized. She leverages her knowledge of the organization to bring in the right person at the right time to keep us on track.
Thank you Tom!
Thank you Marcin!
Thank you Kayla!!
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Product Updates
Have you booked a Virtual Demo? Originally started as a workaround for Covid measures, virtual demos offer us a convenient way to demonstrate BlueCrest capabilities to remote clients. That said, we have begun to accept in-person VIPs into the Danbury HQ for live demos, as well. Both options are now available to you and your clients!
These personalized, interactive, demonstrations allow clients to get up close with the equipment, ask questions, and receive a recording to share with extended team members. Recordings of demos highlighting our key solutions will be available for sales on-demand. Using product demonstration as part of the sales process can help us better engage clients, accelerate pipeline, and show our technology virtually. These have become very popular! Request a Virtual Demo Here
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The Wave | July 2022
Check out the most recent Industry Corner Podcast by BCC Software. Episode 56 - 6/17/2022 On this podcast, Chris recaps the National Postal Forum, a recent Postcom Study Day meeting, and how the industry is bracing for uncomfortable price increases.
Listen here
Organizational Announcements As our company continues to evolve and grow, so do our team members. Please take a moment to read these recent organizational announcements.
Episode 55 - 5/18/2022
> Organizational Announcement Finance
Chris talks this year’s National Postal Forum, USPS market competitive price increases, and we now have a fully seated USPS Board of Governors.
Listen here
May 31, 2022
Ask the Experts Ask the Experts is a regular online webinar and Q&A where BlueCrest gurus share the latest news and information on our products and services.
LinkedIn Social Media Training
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Software Packages
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Postal Industry Update
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Government Contract Vehicles
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BlueCrest News
Articles Seamless Acceptance: Finding and Resolving Undocumented Errors
BlueCrest Featured in PPTI
Read how an automation specialist liked BlueCrest can help operators caluclate how to handle E-Commerce volumes more efficiently.
by Lisa Leslie, Window Book Whether you’re already in USPS Full Seamless or are currently in the Automated Verification phase of Seamless Acceptance, it’s important to know: •What are undocumented errors? •How are undocumented errors assigned? Read now.
•What is the assessment threshold, and how is it calculated? •How much will I be assessed for undocumented errors? •What is the best way to research, dispute, and avoid undocumented assessments? What Are Undocumented Errors? In the simplest terms, an undocumented error occurs when a barcode gathered during sampling is not able to be linked to any eDoc submitted within the last 45 days. How Are Undocumented Errors Assigned? So, if they’re ‘undocumented’, how are these errors assigned? The USPS uses a process called “bookending” to find and reassign the undocumented pieces to the responsible Customer Registration ID (CRID) using undocumented categories.
Read more
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The Wave | July 2022
Retirement of Mike Broad A Farewell To All
BlueCrest News to Stamford (Progress Drive) where I took a position as an electronics bench tech, repairing PC boards for our shipping and weighing systems. I did that job for about 2 – 3 years until the ELSAG program concluded and the inserter division moved from Barry Place in Stamford up to Danbury. I was given the opportunity transfer back to Danbury to be an inserter tech working in the product modification shop.
“After 43 years of working for PB & BC, it is time for me to retire. I can vividly remember my first day of work, on December 5, 1979, when I started here in Danbury as a material handler bringing parts to the copier assembly line, where we produced about 150 copier machines a day.“ I was in my early twenties, just married, and earning a whopping $4.35/hour…Can’t even buy a gallon of gas with that today. Was less than 70 cents in 1979. Back then, the majority of our machine parts came from the “Main Plant” where PB had a huge machining facility and was one of the top employers in Stamford. That was a time when PB was very much into machining and parts manufacturing… even had a plastics injection molding division, right next door. I worked in Danbury for about 2½ years, until PB decided to exit the copier manufacturing business and bring in a new product called ELSAG, which PB contracted with the USPS to build. These were large scale sortation systems the USPS ordered for their mail sorting operations. Being kind of new to the business, I was not considered to be a resource needed to support that program. As a result, I was able to transfer
From that job, I moved into QA as a product inspector for the inserter products. I then moved to TSS as a Product Support Engineer, which was a travel job that required visiting client sites to help field service with new product launches and diagnosing and repairing inserter systems. After several years in that role, I moved into my first leadership role as a Team Leader, for the Systems Integration and Test team. That was a bit of a shocker, as finding myself in a leadership role was a much different job, than what I expected. But working with a bunch of great people and learning how to focus on common goals, communicate, and drive for results turned out to become a very rewarding experience…and oh…I forgot to mention, quite a learning experience too. After 10 or so years in that role, I moved to Product Management, where I assumed responsibility for leading our custom quoting process, and supporting new product launches. This is the current role I am in and will be retiring from. It really has been a fantastic career, with so many opportunities to meet and become friends with people from all over the globe. Very rewarding and it is with true heartfelt feelings that I say farewell to all the great people I’ve met over the years and wish you all well in your futures… Kathy and I have a busy summer ahead, with packing our house and relocating to our new home in Edenton, North Carolina. We will still be back and forth to CT for most of this summer, as we plan to enjoy one more summer on the Long Island Sound, with our boat. So we’ll be around for a few more months.
I plan and hope to stay in touch with as many folks as I can and will always have an open and welcoming door in North Carolina, should you be passing through some day. Enjoy everything that life has to offer and know that there is more time to enjoy what’s offered, when retired. - Mike
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Thought Leadership Article by Kevin Marks | July 2022
How Digital Inkjet Printing Unlocks Productivity and Labor Efficiency across the Print and Finishing Work Cell
Kevin Marks Vice President, Print BlueCrest
By Kevin Marks, BlueCrest, and Marc Johnson, HP
functionality.
Three years into the headwinds of a global pandemic, many printers are facing challenges not previously imagined. Whether it’s paper or envelope shortages, labor availability, or other rising costs, print shops are increasingly looking for ways to increase productivity and efficiency within and across the print and finishing work cells.
CSG had already invested in BlueCrest inserters and workflow software products. When they were looking at a larger-scale refresh of their printer fleet, they turned to BlueCrest and the IntelliJet® 20 HD Printing System.
Transactional Print and Mail Communications In the transactional space, the rising cost of production drives the need to investigate and invest in more efficient equipment and processes. By switching to production level Inkjet Printing systems such as the BlueCrest IntelliJet, transactional print shops can consolidate and replace the higher operating expense of multiple toner printers. Clients report significant savings in supplies, maintenance, and leasing expenses. Additionally, transactional printers are beginning to find ways to grow their capabilities to include new applications and services. For instance, a shop that only prints billing statements is very busy on certain days of the month. How can they improve the utilization of the print and mail systems for the non-peak periods? Successful companies are growing their revenues and improving their operating margins by application expansion, including cross-selling messaging on the statement, new customer acquisition mailings, and even mail finishing insert production.
Case Study: CSG CSG is a national communication solutions provider with roots in the cable billing industry. Nearing the end of the reasonable-use life cycle of their printing systems, CSG looked to innovate and remain on the cutting edge. Their seven first-generation inkjet printers—some in place for more than a decade in their Florida and Nebraska operating centers—had served CSG well. However, CSG was concerned about their rising maintenance costs and operating expenses, their ability to handle growing workloads and more stringent service level agreements, and other limitations in print quality, job-type flexibility, and overall
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As a result, CSG saw their best efficiency improvements since they initially moved to inkjet over ten years ago. The IntelliJet printers delivered a 20% increase in throughput with a substantial improvement in reliability and uptime. BlueCrest Client Care Services is responsible for maintaining and supporting all aspects of the production process including print, inserting, and production workflow software.
Direct Mail: Acquisition, Reactivation, Retention In the direct mail production space, the tremendous growth of personalized content across the document is accelerating the migration from pre-printed offset shell/toner overprint to full digital color inkjet production. By eliminating the old multi-step process, direct mail operations can drive more sellable output per shift. And that growth of personalization is not limited to only the document. It now extends to include highly variable content imaging onto the mail envelope as well. All of the content of each piece, both inside and outside, can now be fully customized. The result is a more tailored, valuable document that delivers more value for the client. The benefit for the direct mail producer is that these highly customized materials can now be produced, with full accuracy, without additional system processing time. Our direct mailer clients report that they can often charge a high unit sale price for this new type of document production.
Case Study: ANRO ANRO Inc. is a full-service communications partner specializing in turnkey and cost-effective solutions for corporate printing, direct mail, online print management solutions, fulfillment, marketing, graphic design, digital communication services, and more. Utilizing the 30” web presses from HP, alongside enhanced finishing The Wave | July 2022
Marc Johnson Sr. Global Market Development Manager HP
“ Any single investment in hardware and supporting technology can improve the cost basis for print and mail providers. The magic happens when investments are made in reliable, costeffective inkjet solutions paired with smart finishing and inserting plus well-designed workflow automation. CSG, ANRO, and Formost mediaOne are three companies that cracked the code to build an efficient system that makes them leaders in our industry.” Pat McGrew, Managing Director, McGrewGroup, Inc.
capabilities, database expertise, and in-house mailing operations, ANRO Inc. increased its capacity to produce 100% full-color variability on high-volume mailings, transactional, and publishing applications.
consider all of the critical elements of the document production process: postal and compliance software, color inkjet production, mail insertion, and sortation. And each stage can be controlled, measured, and managed through BlueCrest workflow software.
“We do it all at reduced turnaround times and effective price points. Our customers no longer have to sort a large mailing list geographically or version the mailers for product-based targeting. With this technology, we can print 100% variable letters in one run, optimizing postage savings and relevance to your market,” said Paul DeSantis, Chief Information Officer VP of Strategy at ANRO. “Coupled with our near-line automated finishing, we can do all of that with fewer touchpoints, fewer handoffs, and ultimately faster with less labor.”
Formost mediaOne is an industry leader in integrated and relevant customer communications across all media. They specialize in providing invoice/statement packaging that has the potential to become a revenue-producing resource. Expanding their operations to become a complete White Paper Factory made sense.
Proven Path Forward: “The White Paper Factory” Success in today’s challenging production environment goes to those companies with a hyper-focus on efficiency and waste avoidance. Before Covid and the resultant supply chain challenges, sub-optimization meant reduced profitability. Fast-forwarding to today, success now can mean the difference between surviving or thriving. To manage through these headwinds, successful print and mail operations are applying lean manufacturing practices to their operation. At BlueCrest we call this “The White Paper Factory” and it is applicable within and across both the print and mail finishing steps of production. The BlueCrest White Paper factory transforms a plain roll of white paper and blank envelopes into colorful, powerful, and personalized customer communications. The BlueCrest process eliminates the traditional costs and complexity of managing both preprinted forms and envelopes. Substituting automation for manual operation assures defect-free production and a streamlining of the entire print and mail production process. And when coupled with BlueCrest Postal Optimization Tools, operations can better manage their total postal spend. Only BlueCrest provides the end-to-end integrated solutions that
“We were already buying rolls of paper for the offset presses, so continuous feed of the 20” web press from HP was a big deal. The T series is adaptable, and we’ve customized it to our needs with an EMT finishing line with dynamic perforations, MICR capabilities, in-line hole punching, and sheeting,” said Alex Calpito, Director of Operations for Formost mediaOne. “The T-series enables Formost to offer a true White Paper imaging solution going from 22” wide, 50” diameter mill rolls to finished product at 400 feet per minute. At almost 1,800 two-sided full-color letter-size impressions per minute, the press brings Formost mediaOne’s overall imaging capacity to over 100 million impressions per month. Print runs that used to take two weeks between offset and laser are now being completed entirely in two days,” said Calpito.
Conclusion While Print and Mail operations face significant headwinds, businesses can successfully navigate through these challenges. Businesses that pivot to color inkjet printing and leverage White Paper Factory methodologies are rewarded with growth and secured client relationships. This thought leadership piece is a joint collaboration between BlueCrest and HP, two industry leaders in the customer communication space. This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.
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View from the District (ANZ) by Jason George | July 2022
The Power of Clarity In Q2 2021 we commenced our first Clarity install in ANZ. This was on the back of a lot of prep and expert guidance from John Dyer. Leading up to this I was actively involved in both the premise and execution of the outcome-based initiative; why we were doing it and what we were trying to achieve. In my experience justifying onsite relevance is not easy and it is often put under the microscope. When a site is running well, or more to the point, when SLAs are being met by our customers it is in no small part due to an on-site BC team providing outstanding service support both proactively (PM’s) and ensuring that break-downs are turned around quickly. In other words, when sites are running well it is not always apparent that it is the result of a high performing BC onsite team. When a new BC system replaces 2-3 older systems the conversation always turns to support bodies. If a site is running well it is not always easy to pinpoint and report on where and how BC is making the difference – certainly not via prod data. QBRs are important and I’m fortunate enough to have a talented lead in Siamak Farahani who pulls the prod data together and produces quarterly reports that are both meaningful and targeted. QBRs are a snapshot in time and they do a good job in providing a birds eye view of the operation yesterday. It is a great way to connect and stay in touch with customers as well as being an excellent platform to discuss EOL, EOSS assets and steer conversations towards investing in new BC technology.
“Clarity has been a critical tool in helping me navigate and identify where machine time was being lost and which areas require focus. The rationale for purchasing 3 x Epics in 2020/2021 was built on a business case that targeted very specific production outcomes post install. When these were not being achieved an outcome based project was required to identify and isolate key areas that required immediate attention. Weekly outcome based calls leveraging Clarity allowed all parties to identify and own various remedial actions. These areas were addressed and the gains were immediate and sustainable. .” Brent McCullough, COO, IVE Group Australia On our largest ANZ site the customer reduced their hours of production from a 16 hour day to 12 hours. Negotiations were about to commence on a support contract discount – a conversation that was not instigated by me! The introduction of Clarity allowed me to have a different discussion. I worked with Richard Smith in the initial stages and Richard organized a meeting between a UK-based customer who had been on an OB contract for some time and my customer No BC presence on the call. This was a turning point and gave the ANZ customer the confidence to move forward and take a leap of faith with this new BC reporting technology. BC technical lead David Good led the Clarity install on the ground. The clarity project was then handed over to Tim Thorne. Tim is talented BC engineer with a preternatural grasp of data and processes. Tim is not a CSM but that was irrelevant to me. I needed the very best person for the job to drive both Clarity and the OB initiative. The brief was straight forward. Read more
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The Wave | July 2022
(Y250) Hicap Project The purpose of this project was to reduce the alarm count coming from the hi cap on AI5, Hicap Alarms had been consistently and disproportionately high negatively affecting output due to long “time to clear” duration. We wanted to see at what stage the high alarm rate occurred, what stage did the feed belts and Separator fail. In doing this we found that the feed belt had uneven wear on them from the fingers pushing down in the same spot and only covering about one third of the surface area of the feed belt. Changing the belts had an immediate effect but this was not as long lasting or consistent. Marius then made up some new push down fingers with bearings acting as rollers on the end that covered the whole surface area of the feed belts, we noticed that when they were added to the machine along with changing the feed belts we reduced the fail to feed alarm count just as we did when we only changed the belts but this time it was more
consistent and the longevity of the belts usable life was increased. This resulted in reduced rates of fail to feeds over a much greater length of time, below we have shown the Time to clear between January and April this year (mail pack output being close 516,601 and 513,998 respectively). We have seen some issues along the way when the fingers are not adjusted correctly (centered on the belts) but this has all been resolved in setup that the operator is able to address themselves with the correct guidance. The UK ISO project team, lead by Cameron Candlish, is working closely with Steve Varga’s team in order to benefit from the learnings which enabled Danbury to recently achieve their ISO certification, so in true BlueCrest spirit, we are leveraging the knowledge within the organization... Read more
ANZ Team Member Highlight Robert Breton Blazes Path by Jason George
Robert was recruited from AUS customer site Fuji Film. Fuji Film is the largest BC customer in AUS. Second largest in terms of service EMA in APAC. Robert commenced employment in the mailing industry in 1993 as a casual worker loading inserts into swing arm inserters. Robert freely admits that at that stage in his life he was a Uni dropout studying for a Mechanical Engineering degree. Over the next 2 years Robert progressed to operating the mailing machines as well as folders and plastic wrappers. As a stand-out operator complemented by a keen mechanical aptitude Robert obtained full time work as an inserter operator. Armed with a toolbox Robert was tasked with providing mechanical support to the afternoon and night shifts. Robert specialized in running the IntelMail inserters and Buhrs. Robert was introduced to the BC platform in 2005. With the introduction of on-site BC (then PB) support Robert’s mechanical
assist role was somewhat reduced but still in demand on the back shifts - outside of the BC coverage hours. Robert modestly regarded himself as a “pretty decent operator - probably not the fastest as I mostly tended to try for the perfect map rather than huge numbers”. In Robert’s own words; “All the preceding years basically for the one company as mostly an inserter operator with some mechanical knowledge has led rather smoothly into my transition to my current role as a BlueCrest tech.” In my words – Robert’s transition into a BlueCrest engineer is one of the fastest I have seen. Although he has more to learn, Robert has made it possible for me to think outside the square when recruiting. Using this route as a potential recruiting pathway in the current tight labor market is a very good option to have. Robert’s knowledge of the mailing industry and mechanical aptitude is one thing, but it is Robert’s dedication to crafting himself into a highly competent and skilled BlueCrest engineer that sets him apart.
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Engagement Team Member Milestones Second Quarter, 2022 40 years Thomas Rohs Douglas Bernhardt
35 years
30 years William Grady John Spellman David Chastain Kurt Roehrich
Marc Dunnard
Lutz Fink
Kevin Sumlin
Patricia Costantini
Zane Summerfield
25 years
20 years
15 years
Steven Davis
Ryan John
Joseph Cappetta
Randall Hendricks
Tri Nguyen
John Thurmon
Christian Materne
Jean-Benoit Girouard Brett Cotton
Steven Duncan
Ventzislav Tzonkov
Jerome Hanimyan
Richard Seavers
Marc Guistiniani
William Krebs
Florent Coeur-Joly
James Bareford
Jason Ambagis
Nicolas Deparde
James Loedding
Guillaume Mikolajczak
Julio Carrion
Joseph Mille Oscar Westereng Matthew Dickie Christopher Janke Robert Allen Allan Cosgrove
10 years Raymond Andersen Scott Walton Anna May 20
Every quarter, we like to celebrate the many team members who have reached milestone achievements of 5, 10, 15, 20 years—and beyond! Thank you to each one of you for all that you to do make BlueCrest great.
5 years Andrew Lancaster Naoki Wakabayashi Antony Hudson Timothy Thorne Thomas Baglivo
Robbie Sharpe Alessandro Paladini Timothy Vogelin Michael Barrett Laura Stevens Edward Oliver
Thomas Justus Carl Liberg Roger Williams Thomas Harmon
The Wave | July 2022
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