This article gives a brief explanation of how presorting mail for Royal Mail in FlexMail works. For a more detailed description, please consult the Royal Mail Users Guide. In this topic:
Postcodes are the key factor in a postal presort. They are used by Royal Mail in the sortation of mail, both mechanically and manually. The postcodes used in the UK are an abbreviated form of the address. They enable a group of properties or addresses to be specifically identified.
A postcode is built up from a number of elements, which give different levels of precision in defining an address. The area with the district forms the first half of the postcode and is known as outward postcode. The outward postcode enables mail to be sent from the Accepting Office to the correct area for delivery. The second half of the postcode is known as inward postcode. It is used to sort the mail at the local area Delivery Office. It has two parts, a numeric character (sector) and two alphabetic characters.
When the FlexMail Address Validation module is licensed, FlexMail will perform a full check of the correctness and existence of the postcode against the PAF file. However, because it is not possible to validate the full postcode without access to the postcode Address File (PAF) of Royal Mail, FlexMail validates the postcode using the following valid formats: AN NAA, ANN NAA, AAN NAA, AANN NAA, ANA NAA, AANA ANN, AAA NAA, BPPO NNN.
Based on the outward portion of the postcode, FlexMail will try to assign a Standard Selection Code (SSC) as defined in the Royal Mail Selection Files to the address. The inward portion of the postcode is only used for the validation of the format. If the outward portion of the postcode is invalid, FlexMail will try to assign a Standard Selection Code by performing post town matching.
FlexMail expects the postcode to be in one single field in the database in order to be able to perform this process properly. It is not important if there are spaces in the postcode, as FlexMail will remove these automatically.
The Royal Mail Selection Files currently contain a sorting plan of 1,525 selections and is applicable to all Advertising Mail, Sustainable Advertising Mail, Advertising Mail with Response, Publishing Mail, Business Mail 1st Class and Business Mail with High Sort options.
Based on the selected level of sorting and the assigned Standard Selection Code the addresses are sorted into one or two levels:
High Sort - Direct selections
These are sorted to local Delivery Office level. There are approximately 1,525 groups of postcodes
identified as Direct selections within the Royal Mail Selection Files.
The selections for the following two product variant options are identical but labelling requirements will differ.
High Sort Residue selections
These are sorted to postcode area level. As their name suggests, they are for mail that cannot
be or, through choice is not, sorted into Direct selections. There are 88 Residue selections in the
Selection Files.
Low Sort selections
These selections are used when you have chosen to use one of our machine-readable Low Sort
products where the mail is sorted according to the Mail Centre. There are 88 Low Sort selections
and they are the same as the High Sort Residue selections above.
FlexMail incorporates a number of features described in the Royal Mail Users Guide that enable you to optimize service and savings. The following features are supported:
FlexMail utilizes the Undersized Directs mechanism to maximize the amount of discount available to you for a mailing.
The Undersized Directs principle is that, should a Residue Selection contain mail for only one Direct Selection and nothing else, then the items can be sent as a Direct Selection and obtain Direct Selection discounts, regardless of the number of items in the selection. This is acceptable because additional information regarding the contents of the bag is provided (in the form of Direct Selection label text) and no additional bags of mail are produced.
In certain cases, it is possible to submit mixed weight & format mailings for Advertising Mail, Sustainable Advertising Mail, Advertising Mail with Response, Publishing Mail, Business Mail 1st Class and Business Mail. Your mailing may contain items that vary in size and shape but please note that mailings which consist of mixed format items will have their price based on the largest format item present in the mailing and, depending on the item size and weight, you may need to bundle these items.
InTo make a mixed weight mailing, you must meet the following conditions:
All items are broadly similar in size and shape (so that they can be securely bundled together) but may vary in weight and thickness; the variation in weight may mean that the items are a mixture of formats.
All items are to be for the same standard of service e.g. 1st Class, 2nd Class and Economy.
Where appropriate, additional documentation (i.e. computer planning report and enhanced line listing) must be provided in addition to the Confirmed Sales Order.
By default, FlexMail orders the output in Standard Selection Code order, with Direct Selections followed by their related Residue Selections. Alternatively, FlexMail can first output all Standard Selections followed by all Residue Selections.
When posting using 1st class, the order in which address selections are made available to Royal Mail is important. Items that will take the longest time to reach their destination should be made available first. In order to do so, you can specify the geographic area where the posting is made while setting up a job in the Presort Wizard. FlexMail will automatically sort the mailing according to Royal Mail's specifications.
Despite the fact that geographic sequencing of post is primarily designed for First Class mailings, there is no reason why it should not be used for other mailings. Geographic sequencing enables mail travelling further to be processed first, therefore improving the overall quality of service. Presenting mail in geographic sequence may also enable you to benefit from enhanced latest posting times
FlexMail generates bundle and labels for the selected containers. The format and layout of the labels depends on your requirements, the sortation method chosen, and the type of container selected.
Besides the labels, a Line Listing and a Computer Planning Report are produced. The Line Listing identifies the number of selections, items, and bags for each Mailsort selection. The Computer Planning Report summarizes the mailing details. Also, after mailsorting your mailing list, additional data fields will be added to the Datasheet.
For a more detailed description of the Presort output, see Presort documents.