Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
What's the deal with machineable mail?
Our automated processing machines are, in a way, the engines of our company.
We rely on them to keep mail flowing through our postal network at high speeds.
And in a country as big as Canada, where mail travels substantial distances, speed is central to delivery efficiency.
When you design mailings that can be processed by our machines, we can enhance your postal experience through efficient service and better price points.
So you could say it's a bit of a trade-off. And as we modernize our company through streamlining and major infrastructure upgrades, we'll give you even more reasons to 'go machineable.'
Although our requirements for machineable mail are very detailed, they're not hard to follow. Here's a brief overview, in four steps:
(1) First things first-Make your mail 'machineable.' This means that your mail item must be the right size, constructed from a suitable material, and prepared in such a way that it can pass through our high-speed sorting equipment.
For example, an item that is too big, too small, too heavy or too light won't hold up to machine processing. For this reason, we've set out minimum and maximum size and weight restrictions.
These fall into two categories: Standard or Short and Long and Oversize.
If an item opens, tears or gets stuck as it passes through the machine, it will jam.
In such a case, all the mail would stop moving as a technician identifies and solves the problem. So, mail is not machineable unless it is constructed well enough to withstand such processing.
For example, Standard or Short and Long pieces should be strong enough to stay in tact, but flexible enough to bend easily around a 140 mm circular surface.
Our mail specifications also explain how items should be sealed, and what type of envelope enclosures are acceptable.
(2) Second-make your mail items machine 'readable.'
Our sorting machines do more than just move mail. They also 'read' the addresses on mail items, verifying them against our national address database and sorting them accordingly, all at a high speed.
In our specifications, we've set out a selection of font, type-sizing and spacing recommendations to ensure address readability.
We also specify where to place addressing information (an area we call the Address Zone), and which areas should be left clear so that our automated equipment can find the addressing information and apply a barcode (we call these Quiet Zones).
The Machineable Mail Advisor design templates will show you exactly where these zones are located.
(3) mail preparation goes beyond mail piece design; it's also about how mail is introduced to a postal facility.
To allow optimal processing, we ask customers to put their machineable mail in containers (like Lettertainers and flats tubs) and to use shipping units (such as monotainers and pallets) for transporting containers.
When placing mail in containers, ensure that each item's address and postal indicia face the same direction.
Some service options also require you to sort and group your mailing prior to putting it in containers.
(4) Before you bring your machineable mail to us, you must prepare an Order (otherwise known as a Statement of Mailing) using Canada Post's Electronic Shipping Tools.
With this Order, your machineable mail will be accepted at any of our approved facilities across the country.
These sites are equipped to transfer your mailing from your vehicle into our machines without delay, so we can keep your mail moving.
And that's what machineable mail is really all about.