Advertising Distributors of America

Mail Commingling

Any mailer with First Class or Standard Class mail can commingle. We analyze and sort the prepared mail we receive to determine which is to be commingled. Multiple streams of prepared and presorted mail are commingled into one stream to achieve better postal qualifications. The result is lower postage costs for individual mailers who may not otherwise qualify for the deeper discounts and faster delivery times.

What mail can be commingled?

> Various formats in different shapes

and sizes

> Metered, stamped or indicia mail

> Profit and non-profit mail

Commingling Options

> MLOCR 11-digit barcode spraying

(carrier route level)

> Fast-Forward

> Daily pickups from your facility

First Class Mail

> Inserted mail is analyzed and sorted

to determine which mail can

be commingled.

> Commingled mail is delivered to our

Post Office.  USPS postal verification

substations and MERLIN mail

piece verification equipment are

located on-site.

Standard Class Mail

> Prepared mail, already sorted to a zip

code and NDC level, is analyzed.

> Fully qualified mail is consolidated with

other mailers for drop shipping.

> Mail that does not qualify for a full NDC

drop is commingled to increase NDC

and SCF penetration on all volumes

and makes it even more efficient.

> Additional standard mail volume, which

we receive or pick up from other major

mailers, is added to our mail for

greater efficiency.

Postage Payments

All mail is balanced and documented with postage payment and delivered to the Post Office on site or, in the case of standard mail, delivered directly to the NDC.  Postal verifications are sent to clients by fax, email or posted on our secure Internet website.

TrackMyMail

Track your mail through the postal system using PLANET™ code technology – a small code bar that is printed on your mailings that lets you track mail to its final destination.  The system generates status reports so you know when your mail is delivered or delayed.

List Cleansing/List Management

ADA also provides List Cleansing through its utilization of NCOA (National Change of Address) software technology, which corrects and updates addresses on your list, as well as printing a barcode that results in delivery that is significantly faster than standard post office delivery. If a list is more than 6 months old, then up to 10% of the people on that list will have likely moved. NCOA finds and updates these names for maximum list penetration.

ADA will then CASS certify the list. This process means that special software will standardize addresses in a postal approved format, add ZIP plus 4, and sort the list in a manner that results in meaningful postal discount rates.

Finally, ADA will then de-dupe the list, removing duplicate names. These are just a few of the ways that ADA ensures you will attain peak results from your personalized mailing vehicles.

Additionally, ADA enjoys close associations with a number of the leading list brokers in a variety of DM formats, and with our unique insights into what works in the DM battlefield, can provide an objective voice in what brokers and lists might work well in support of your program objectives. This key service has been an important element added to our corporate menu, and provided for you under our one-stop-shop ADA umbrella.

Our mail preparation and production capabilities cover the complete range of formats – from postcards

to complex mailing forms, folds and special affixing.

We produce a wide range of mail formats, bindery and affixing options to accommodate new creative formats and well-established response mechanisms. Our inserting equipment utilizes controls to assure the accuracy of each mailing – number of components as well as number of pieces.

Bindery

ADA’s bindery can accommodate a substantial range of inline and offline production, which includes standard folds and trims, as well as highly specialized folds and trims and complicated creative formats – slit and nest, right angle booklet folds.  Forms are trimmed down in either single or double fold formats.

Inserting Accuracy

Inserting is the final stage for envelope mail where all components come together and final Q.C. takes place before envelopes are sealed and mail is put on pallets.  ADA equipment can insert standard and jumbo formats, and have both friction and stream feeders.  Roll-fed forms are folded inline and ready for insertion.  Sheet-fed forms are folded offline and controls are in place to fold single or multiple page documents accurately and quickly.

Palletization is a system that allows for inserted mail to be weighed, to ensure all mail packages are produced. Once completed, mail packages are ready to ship out.

Data Processing

ADA’s data processing division is the technological heartbeat of the company. Here, all list functions (merge purge, NCOA, CASS, and so forth) are matriculated within our direct mail cycle so as to ensure the very highest list qualification prior to any mailings. Given that our clients mail literally hundreds of millions of pieces of mail with us, it is imperative that ADA is positioned at the pinnacle of software technologies. To that end, we are pleased to say that is exactly the case, and we look forward to sharing those capabilities with you as our client.