Tag&Bag System

Situation

The USPS and major mailers were looking for a system to print on-demand labels for mail trays and sacks. Many facilities used pre-printed tags. Pre-printed tags took storage space, required tedious manual picking, and often took weeks to arrive when reordering.

Company

Intermec Corporation, MSI – Mail Systems Inc., EDP System Services. End-user customers included:

  • Blue Cross
  • Carton Hodgson
  • Cushman & Wakefield (Farmer’s Branch, TX)
  • DDD (Indianapolis, IN)
  • Denver Presort (Denver, CO)
  • Fala Sorting Services Inc (Melville, NY)
  • GrafTek Press Inc (Woodstock, IL)
  • ISA Direct (Montgomery, IL)
  • LaserOne (Omaha, NE)
  • PSI (Seattle, WA; Omaha, NE; Phoenix, AZ)
  • Salt Lake Presort (Salt Lake City, UT)
  • Texaco (Bellaire, TX)
  • ZipSort (Minneapolis, MN)

Action(s)

We designed and wrote a self-contained system to print these labels when and where needed (on-demand). The system allowed mailers to select the mail class, sort level, and tag types. On-demand tags allow users to print tags quickly and accurately. System was being beta tested in two mailer sites.

Outcome

One mailer had a different tagging system and set that system aside and used Tag&Bag exclusively. Tag&Bag printed USPS ACT tags, tray tags, and sack tags on a variety of bar code printers. System performed lookups for destination USPS facility by mail class, destination, and sort level. Destination lookups also used USPS L-tables and 5-digit city-state file. Wrote manual, data sheet, software, and conversion utility. Conducted negotiations with WindowBook for lookup table updates, and Ascom Hasler for a postage meter interface. The system generated printer sales and recurring media sales.

Benefits

  • On-demand tray tags, sack tags, and ACT TAGs saved time and warehouse space
  • Multiple inputs: keyboard, scanner, or postage meter
  • Application was very small and could run on legacy “throw away” PCs

Product Details

  • Windows PC
  • Bar code scanner – supported laser, CCD, wand
  • Bar code printer – supported Intermec, Zebra, and Monarch
  • System included full documentation and user manual