The Wave Newsletter - Edition 10 - July 2023

Dennis P. LeStrange President & CEO,

Dear Team,

First, I'd like to announce the launch of our new and improved BLUECRESTINC.COM web site featured on pages 4-5. This project took a tremendous effort over the course of many months, involving many teams, and the outcome is fantastic. We'll now have more modern, userfriendly website that aligns with our brand, allows better visitor tracking, provides marketing insights, integrates our marketing channels, all while driving revenue. Congratulations to the Marketing team on this significant milestone.

As usual, we have our dedicated ICARE awards page. Congratulations to the team members who won in Q1, and please remember to recognize your colleagues for the upcoming All-Employee meeting on September 7.

Additionally, you'll find stories from across the company including service updates, new applications for field service, new case studies, equipment sales records, inserting speed records, highlights from our social media campaigns, and a team member spotlight with Nick Tonna.

Lastly, I'd like to draw your special attention to the RELATIONSHIPS AT BLUECREST video on page 13. When I think about BlueCrest and our world class service, our state-of-the-art products, and our relentless pursuit of innovation, I'm reminded of the people who make it happen on a daily basis. This video highlights the personal relationships team members have built at BlueCrest—and its those relationships that make work fun, help us grow, and—ultimately—enable us to succeed as a team.

As I have repeatedly said, when we work as a team, we always win!

Onward,

Dennis P. LeStrange, President & CEO, BlueCrest

July'23

MESSAGE FROM DENNIS

BlueCrest

Customer Events

Parcel Forum

Sept 11-13, Nashville, TN

Enlightening and educating professionals in the small-package supply chain industry.

https://www.parcelforum.com/

Parcel+Post Expo

October 24-26, Amsterdam

Parcel+Post Expo is the leading event for the world's parcel delivery, e-commerce, logistics, and postal industries.

https://www.parcelandpostexpo.com/

Printing United

October 18-20, Atlanta, GA

PRINTING United Expo is the most dynamic and comprehensive printing event in the world. Bringing together the entire printing industry in one place to experience over a million square feet of equipment, solutions, and the latest trends

https://www.printingunited.com/

KPI DASHBOARD through May 2023

Internal Events

Ask

ANNOUNCING BLUECREST WEBSITE ReLaunch

WHY A NEW WEB SITE?

Our goal.

Our goal behind the web site redesign was to create a more modern, user-friendly website that aligns with our brand, allows better visitor tracking, provides marketing insights, integrates our marketing channels, all while working together to drive revenue. We built this site on our new marking platform, Hubspot, which unlocks so many new possibilities for our team—and our entire business.

How does this impact BlueCrest?

• We'll enjoy more organic growth alongside new customer acquisition.

• We can engage, cross-sell and upsell through custom drip campaigns.

• We have integrated Fluence and BCC Software into our site offering.

• We can build microsites and landing pages internally much more quickly. This eliminates the need for expensive vendors.

• Visitors will enjoy a more modern and whimsical branding that compliments our business casual tone. We're the approachable, consultative partners, and it shows on the site.

• We'll be empowered with robust content marketing capabilities across our new blogs, integrated social media, and newsletter tools.

A PROJECT THAT DEFINES ICARE

Collaboration, innovation, and resourcefulness across so many departments. Marketing, HR, Legal, Engineering - the

goes

Thank you to all who helped!

BLUECREST SOCIAL MEDIA Highlights FOLLOW. LIKE. SHARE.

If you haven't seen everything BlueCrest is doing on social media, you're missing out! Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook, and don't be afraid to take part in the great conversation. From product updates to team member stories to hot job advertisements, we're always looking for content!

Reach out to JUSTIN O'DONNELL

if you have an idea for a social media post.

Did you know?

With 11,200 followers, BlueCrest has ADDED over 5,000 LinkedIn followers over the last year, almost doubling our reach! Let's keep sharing!

BLUECREST SERVICE UPDATES

by Allison Zito

Training Center Update

Did you know: Service has its own full scale training center in the Danbury facility where we train clients and new Service team members on how to service and maintain our products. This is a busy year for the training center! Through Q3 we have 240 Field reps and 41 clients scheduled to complete instructor-led courses, including hands-on training with the products.

We add new classes regularly to keep up with our products as they evolve and come to market. We recently added an Advanced HPI class, new Hunkeler UW8 Unwinder, Auto Gapping Folder and Evolution Inserter courses to name a few. Continuous improvement in our training approach and content enable us to strive for an experienced Service team, able to keep our products up and running efficiently, ultimately keeping our customers happy and satisfied.

Anybody interested in taking a course, consult with your manager for details and scheduling.

Enhancing the Service Experience

The Global Product Support site is our comprehensive library of product support content – user guides, service guides, articles, technical bulletins. The site is accessible to all BlueCrest employees and supports our company mission to provide superior service and drive customer satisfaction. New and updated content is posted regularly; the site was recently enhanced with an optimized search feature for faster and more targeted results.

The site also includes an interactive “Doc Revision” request feature where users can submit updates or edits to existing guides, helping to keep content up to date. Since the beginning of the year we have received over 25 submissions from the Field, enabling us to keep up with product updates and changes.

Users can also subscribe to and new content email that alerts any time new or updated content is posted to the site.

These features enable us to connect more with our Service team in the field and enhance their experience and based on feedback.

Launched! Field Quality Issue Reporting App

Service recently launched a new reporting app to help track part and machine quality issues in the field. The app gives a direct line from the Field to the Quality team and Engineering.

Using this app will help us collect data to make engineering or manufacturing fixes or enhancements to improve the quality and integrity of our products. Submissions are tracked, reviewed regularly and reported to the Quality Team for resolution.

All BlueCrest employees can use this app to report and submit quality issues.

Click here to review an article with steps on how to access and use the app. Watch a short video at the end to see how the app works.

Product Life Cycle Announcement

Waaay back on January 1, 2012, we announced the end of manufacture of the Y209 (Flexible Dual Accumulator) Effective immediately, we will no longer provide upgrades, enhancements, or remanufacturing on the Y209, Flexible Dual Accumulator modules. The Y209 accumulator has been superseded by the Y20K Modular Dual Accumulator.

We will no longer be accepting requests for upgrades or custom quotes to these modules. Functionality of the replacement PCNs is consistent with previous design.

BlueCrest will continue to provide ongoing service and support for installed units.

If you have any questions, please contact Eddy Edel or your local regional Product Management group.

FLEXIBLE DUAL ACCUMULATOR MODULES END OF PRODUCT LIFE ANNOUNCEMENT

BLUECREST ICARE AWARDS by Mimi Wood

David Cossentine

David earned an external nomination from a client who raved about his work contributing to the ongoing business partnership with the county. "Thank you, Dave, for keeping our equipment in amazing condition. Dave's expertise makes him the very best salesman of BlueCrest products simply by the way he does his job." Thank you, David!

Scott Johnson

Scott is the lead SE on the "Mortgage Connect" conquest engagement project, which started as an inserter, filebase implementation, work station, and virtual server. The project has since evolved into a more complex and ambiguous endeavor. Scott skillfully transformed a legacy B&H direct scan application, originally promised by sales, into a filebase product. This solution now supports tasks beyond the scope of the inserter and includes multi-input applications commissioned for him. Scott has shown exceptional dedication by thoroughly studying and understanding the Statement of Work (SOW), engaging in internal and external communication, and successfully implementing the project. He has worked outside regular hours, utilizing personal time and collaborating with local service and myself in the factory to ensure its success. This integrated solution and system configuration will undoubtedly impress our cautious client and lay the foundation for positive future engagements.

Kelsey Danuszar

Kelsey regularly ventures outside her normal duties to support our organization in innovative ways. Recently, she crafted harnesses for our team due to long lead times from the harness supplier. We needed these to make our Q4 revenue numbers, and she did it. Thank you Kelsey for going above and beyond!

Guillaume Lacalmontie

In late 2022, Guillaume led the mechanical design of Amazon's latest project, the ADTA, within a tight time frame of 6 weeks. He went above and beyond by working overtime and efficiently managing his engineering team. Despite having a planned holiday trip to France at the end of December 2022, Guillaume recognized the importance of completing the design before the break to avoid a 3-week delay in material orders. To achieve this, he voluntarily dedicated over 15-hour days for more than a week. His personal commitment, along with effective team management, led to a highly successful customer design review in mid-December. The procurement team was then able to work during the last weeks of December to meet our ambitious schedule for a first article system in Q1. Guillaume has consistently demonstrated this exceptional level of dedication in all our projects. While we have many dedicated individuals on our staff, Guillaume's efforts were particularly significant due to the impact of a successful project launch on our future business with Amazon.

Miguel Morales

Mike's enthusiasm and innovative ideas have been invaluable to our organization. He is incredibly responsive, always asking, "How can I help?" Whenever challenges arise, Mike consistently comes up with solutions that go above and beyond, showcasing his resourcefulness and collaborative nature. Even when we think we have a better idea, he surprises us with his already completed work or alternative suggestions that prove to be right. Mike takes full accountability and ownership, ensuring things are done perfectly. The Danbury facility would not be the same without his masterful eye and passion for his work

Congratulations to our ICARE Applause Winners from Q1 2022! They were drawn from the ICARE High-Five winners. Who will be next?

Recognize a colleague or team today!

Kristoffer Vandervoet

Kris is an invaluable asset to both Sales and Service. During the Ricoh/PSPC project, Kris played a crucial role in quickly providing solutions and collaborating with Ricoh to meet PSPC's requirements. Kris adeptly incorporated key options into the equipment configuration, which proved beneficial as the project progressed.

Throughout the project, Kris skillfully addressed unforeseen challenges and found suitable solutions, which was instrumental in reaching the finish line. BlueCrest's ability to adapt and find solutions impressed Ricoh, who expressed gratitude for our team's contributions led by Kris. During our Lessons Learned session with Ricoh, they acknowledged that the project's success relied heavily on Kris's leadership.

We sincerely thank Kris for their expertise, dedication, meticulous follow-up, and remarkable presence in front of our customers.

Ralf Willie

Ralf Wille plays a highly involved and fully committed role in managing one of our key accounts. His dedication goes beyond the expected, as he consistently rethinks processes, revises them, and introduces new ways of working that greatly benefit both BlueCrest and our customer in their day-to-day tasks. Ralf's proactive approach to improving workflows and implementing innovative solutions not only supports our organization but also enhances the overall experience for our valued customer.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ralf for his unwavering commitment and tireless efforts in driving operational excellence. His dedication shines through in every task he undertakes, making a significant impact on the success of our key account.

Process Improvement Team

Lana and Kamar delivered a Vendor Invoice Automation solution using Microsoft Technology. Their development of this solution vs. a 3rd party vendor or application resulted in a cost avoidance of $140,000 to the company. The system launched March 10th. They created a 2nd instance of the solution, allowing the AP team to process twice the number of invoices per hour, compared with the capability at launch.

Prior to the implementation of the Vendor Invoice Automation solution, the AP Team had a backlog of 600 invoices. The backlog has been eliminated.

To date, 2,000 invoices have been processed through the automation system. The anticipated success rate of 75% for automated invoice processing has been surpassed, and currently stands at 95% of all invoices received. Great work, Lana and Kamar!

Lana Underwood Kamar Wilks

BLUECREST NEWS

TrustFlow unlocks new efficiency, integrity, and flexibility with BlueCrest Evolution Inserting System

From the article:

As a forward-thinking operation, TrustFlow regularly evaluates their equipment and processes to determine areas of strategic investment. TrustFlow saw an opportunity for innovation with their inserting equipment to identify ways to minimize existing manual processes that can be time-consuming and costly.

RELATIONSHIPS AT BLUECREST. by the Culture Team

Telling the BlueCrest Story

This year, BlueCrest is focused on three core initiatives. One of those initiatives — Culture — focuses on storytelling. Specifically, telling the story of BlueCrest and what it means to work here. Yes, BlueCrest has a long history of satisfying and supporting our customers in the mailing industry. We invest in growth and our team members. We have an impressive global footprint with a diverse employee base and product offering.

But our biggest story? It's our people.

The long-term team member relationships as well as the new ones that blossom everyday in all areas of our work community make BlueCrest great.

We asked some of our team members to talk about the relationships they've built at BlueCrest. Please watch below.

Got a relationship story?

We'd love to share more videos like this highlighting relationships that have impacted you during your time here at BlueCrest.

We're looking for simple "selfie" videos, which you can film on your iPhone. Ask yourself the following two questions:

1. How did your working relationship originate?

2. How did this relationship help you at BlueCrest?

If interested in participating, please reach out to Christopher O'Brien, Kate Sheeran, or Justin O'Donnell.

Let's build relationships.

BLUECREST UK NEWS

by David Jefferies

WOW: TWO MORE INSERTING RECORDS AT COMMUNISIS!

We have previously reported world class mail inserting production records at Communisis sites in Leeds and Liverpool. Now, two teams in the Leeds site have blown away previous production benchmarks with over half a million envelopes inserted on the Epic machine in a 24-hour period. The Leeds site has 4 flagship Epic machines of which 3 have now achieved individual records.

The machines (one of which is nicknamed ‘The Beast’ due to its unique, customized dual input configuration) delivered flawless enclosing of a roll-fed government application into DL sized envelopes. The recordbreaking efforts began in April when Production Manager, Glen Place was closely monitoring the data as part of his daily routine. Whilst looking from every angle to optimize performance, he saw the opportunity to beat existing mail enclosing records. With no special preparation of materials and with the usual operators allocated, he decided, together with the team, to have a go at breaking all previous production records.

After the first shift they were on target, after the second shift they were just ahead, and by the time the watch stopped at 24 hours of production, a new record had been set – 505,379 on Epic 4 (‘The Beast’).

This tremendous performance was then challenged with a second attempt to beat the previous record and was repeated on Epic 3 in May, with 546,783 envelopes being filled and processed, again in 24 hours across three shifts. Full details of both production records are below.

Operations Director, Maggie Redmond commented,

“These production records are witness to our wellmaintained equipment and motivated, well-trained operators. Together with an Outcome Based Service contract from BlueCrest, their engineers as part of our team and our amazing Epic inserters, we continue to deliver impressive results. Congratulations and thanks to all involved. This is a true demonstration of the work ethic, flexibility, and dedication of the team to achieve excellence.”

THE TEAMS THAT DID IT – CONGRATULATIONS!

RECORD 1:

Mail packs produced: 505,379 (DL)

Date: 13th – 14th April 2023, Time: 13:30pm – 13:30pm

Machine: Epic 4 “The Beast”

Early shift team: (Team Leader) – Scott Radcliffe, (Operator) – Kevin Noble, (Floor Operative) – Glen Gales | Late shift team: (Team Leader) – Steve Askew, (Operator) – Paul Brannan, (Floor Operative) – Gary Schlesinger | Night shift team: (Team Leader) – Liam Gales, (Operator) – Roy Halliday, (Floor Operative) – Colin Gales

RECORD 2:

Mail packs produced: 546,783 (DL)

Date: 17th – 18th May 2023, Time: 19:00pm – 19:00pm

Machine: Epic 3

Early shift team: (Team Leader) – Ryan McDonagh, (Operator) – Liam Gales, (Floor Operative) – Colin Gales | Late shift team: (Team Leader) – Ryan McDonagh & Scott Radcliffe, (Operator) – Lee Waite, (Floor Operative) –Glen Gales | Night shift team: (Team Leader) – Scott Radcliffe, (Operator) – Nikki Askin, (Floor Operative) – Gary Schlesinger

BlueCrest on-site service support team: Luke Kenyon, John Kendrick, Andy Tanner, Tony Diplock, Dave Ackerley, Antony Roscamp.

MEETING NICK TONNA

Give us a little history of your background.

I have been in trade compliance for over twenty years where I have run global trade compliance teams providing coverage for supply chain security programs and hazmat safety for all modes of transport. I ran the BlueCrest Brexit project in Europe identifying the risks and cost implications this brought to the European business and minimized the impact on our customers. I have a strong knowledge of governmental requirements and audits. I also provide security scanning to identify any potential threats to our business with embargoes and denied parties.

What is your role here at BlueCrest?

I am Global Trade Compliance Manager. I am currently working to maintain our compliance program and roll out global training so all BlueCrest employees gain some understanding of the impact they have on keeping our company within the legal boundaries of all international legislation whenever we are shipping goods internationally or even when crossing EU borders. I am also setting up specific functional training and a trade compliance committee to avoid and flag any potential trade breaches across all out geographies.

What opportunities do you see for BlueCrest?

From my standpoint, I see a so many opportunities. I see opportunities for business units to come together and share knowledge and experiences to align teams and get BlueCrest running more efficiently using our current resources to the maximum. This will drive a culture of excellence which will deliver the highest level of service to our customers and would create a more cost-effective business model. We need to sell ourselves to our internal customers and make everyone aware of the talent we already possess.

How would you describe the relationships you've built at BlueCrest?

In my role I cover imports and exports across all of our sites so I get to interact with people in the different geographies. This can be a challenge, but it's also very rewarding knowing you can help the company globally. Externally, I get to interact with many different carriers and customs agents. Building good relationships and gaining trusts is vital to having fewer snag points and delays to our goods being delivered.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

I'm an avid watch collector, but I very rarely actually wear one.

USING OUR CURRENT RESOURCES TO THE MAXIMUM. THIS WILL DRIVE A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE WHICH WILL DELIVER THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SERVICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS AND WOULD CREATE A MORE COSTEFFECTIVE BUSINESS MODEL. WE NEED TO SELL OURSELVES

"I SEE A SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES AT BLUECREST. I SEE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS UNITS TO COME TOGETHER AND SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCES TO ALIGN TEAMS AND GET BLUECREST RUNNING MORE EFFICIENTLY

TO OUR INTERNAL CUSTOMERS AND MAKE EVERYONE AWARE OF THE TALENT WE POSSESS."

MARKETING EVENT RECAPS

by David Bush

The Imaging Network Group Recap

The Imaging Network Group celebrated its 32nd annual meeting earlier this year bringing together over 100 industry leaders from over 50 companies to network, share experiences, and discuss opportunities and challenges in our industry.

The conference kicked off with a deep conversation on productivity and managing the process of standardization for customers. The first day started with a very interactive discussion around managing customer demands for individuality in workflow. Other sessions included creating a detailed audit trail for documents within a workflow and driving automation in file handling and “digitization.”

BlueCrest’s own John Kline participated in a round table on industry trends and innovations. John key points on helping customers own they value of what they produce resonated strongly with many in the audience chiming in to echo his key points.

The event wrapped up on Saturday afternoon with a BBQ hosted by BlueCrest and MCS on the beach for all of the attendees and their guests. It was a great opportunity to unwind after three

Above: John Kline and Christian Kropacs from PCI Group

National Postal Forum Recap

The 2023 National Postal Forum was a rousing success; not just for BlueCrest, but for the mailing industry overall. With the focus of the forum being centered around the Delivering for America Plan, industry attendees arrived ready to engage in four days of learning, networking and problem solving.

The forum opened on Sunday with classroom sessions and BlueCrest’s own Kevin Marks leading a session titled “Inkjet’s Role in Rapidly Blurred Lines of First-Class and Marketing Mail.”

The real excitement started Monday morning with the Postmaster General’s opening address. PMG DeJoy stressed his commitment to continual “dramatic change” and emphasized the goal to

recapture much of the volume that has been lost over the past few years. DeJoy’s message of taking the postal service from a last mile delivery company to the “last 150 miles” was a direct reflection on his commitment to the Delivering for America Plan.

On the show floor, BlueCrest was well represented with a very active booth highlighting the Vantage with Mixed Mail Stackers and the Print+ Statement solutions. The BlueCrest booth was filled with customer and prospects throughout the two days. In addition to BlueCrest’s booth, we were fortunate to partner with Postal Center International (PCI) as they hosted our Elevate, small footprint sorter.

Above: BlueCrest making waves at NPF 2023 Below: PostMaster General Opening Remarks

INTERNATIONAL UPDATES From Across the Globe

GERMANY: LARGEST ORDER IN HISTORY

NORWAY: IJ 20 / T250 PRINTER INSTALL

FRANCE: FUJIFILM AGREEMENT

5 Sorting systems: 4 Vantage,1 VariSort, service contract

Client: MADSACK Mediengruppe |

CITIPOST GmbH Hannover und LVZ Post

GmbH Leipzig

Congratulations to the team in Germany for achieving the largest sale in district history.

Sales: Thomas Rohs & Christine Häfner

Solution Development & Delivery: Dr. Udo

Neisel, Christian Stach

Service: Carsten Conradi

Legal: Thomas Kugler

Management: Wilhelm Kanzler

1 additional IJ 20 (used) printing system sold and upgraded to T250 incl. HDNA + Brilliant Ink, Hunkeler pre & post DP6

Client: Andvord Grafisk AS, Norway

Congratulations to the team in Norway who won against strong competition, with the involvement of HP and Hunkeler.

Sales: Thomas Rohs & Christine Häfner

Solution Development & Delivery: Dr. Udo

Neisel, Christian Stach

Service: Carsten Conradi

Legal: Thomas Kugler

Management: Wilhelm Kanzler

BlueCrest reaches FujiFilm

Fujifilm, the manufacturer and copiers, has decided many countries in Europe. happy to announce an Fujifilm to install, support their product range of printers. The first installation June.

Above: Gael Boudergue, Europe, is pictured at event representing BlueCrest in France.

CELEBRATING PETER SILBER

40 Years! Happy Retirement!

After 40 years of service, BlueCrest threw a retirement party for Peter Silber. Over the years, he traveled over 50.000 km/year, equaling 2 million kms. That's like driving around the earth 50 times. This is something that no one else can repeat in such a short time and deserves a very big THANK YOU.

AGREEMENT

GLOBAL: PARTNER SUMMIT

NEW ZEALAND: TEAM FISHING GET-TOGETHER

reaches agreement with

manufacturer of Xerox printers decided to go direct in Europe. BlueCrest is an agreement with support and maintain of laser cut sheet installation took place in Boudergue, VP Southern at the Fujifilm customer BlueCrest as a partner

Gael Boudergue

Gathering of Global Partners at HQ

On June 12 and 13, we successfully hosted a partner summit in Danbury. Twenty-five people from 13 countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America attended. We presented them with the latest updates on our solutions and gave them the opportunity to spend time on the factory floor with our product and engineering teams. It was the first time for many to see Evolution and our parcel sortation solutions first hand, and the feedback on the factory visit was overwhelmingly positive, with a request that we make this a yearly event!

-

Guido Rietti

Team Building, New Zealand Style

On the weekend of 16-18 in June, the NZ team got together for 3 days. It had been a long time – years in fact – since they had all been in the same room. The purpose of the gathering was to spend a day out on the Hauraki Gulf fishing. This is a prime spot in NZ – it is where they host the America’s Cup when it is in town. The prize for catch of the day went to Adrian Cole (IJ specialist based in Auckland). Overall, the team gathering was a smashing success and an enjoyable time all around.

- Jason George

Engagement TEAM MEMBER MILESTONES

45 years

Steven Madrigal

Second Quarter, 2023

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.

35 years

Yves Pasqual

Scott Johnson

Henry Matos

Yadram Sumair

Carlos Defigueiredo

Albert Viglione

Joseph Boiman

20 years

Bruno Perel

Brandon Clark

Stewart Simmons

30 years

Bora Trang

John Kline

Jeffrey Dobbins

25 years

Dolly Arias

Anthony Marquez

Mark Sneed

Gary Comstock

15 years

David Bush

Peter Blakesley

Hiroki Ishibashi

Larry Bradley

Jeremy Hall

Curtiss Northam

David Rummel

Steven Venier

5 years

Josa Landis

Tyrone Luedke

Abilash Panikulangara

David Riscile

Kevin Sheridan

Chris Anderson

Bradly Armour

Michael Austin

James Leach

Lawrence Noland

Lowell Paulson

John Sasser

10 years

David Cain

Strati Stalev

Adrian Cole

Niels Appelman

Daniel Shaffer

Perry Atwell

Anthony Kobasko

Albert Tarango

by William Carlos Williams