Postal Pre-Sort

When creating Print Campaigns in Cheetah Digital, the platform provides optional processes that can streamline the process workflow, reduce execution time, and reduce mailing costs. Two of these processes are related specifically to reducing postage costs -- National Change of Address (see NCOA Processes for more details) and Postal Pre-Sort.

The Postal Pre-Sort process is designed to sort the mail pieces into "delivery sequence order" prior to sending them to the postal processing facility. When you pre-sort your mailing, you're arranging the mail pieces into the order that the mail carrier will use when he or she actually delivers the mail. The U.S. Post Office offers significant postage discounts to mailers who pre-sort their mailings, because the process results in less work for them.

Access

The Postal Pre-Sort screen is accessible by the following method:

  • From the Admin Banner Bar, select Settings > Data Settings > Postal Pre-Sort

Create a New Postal Pre-Sort

To create a new Postal Pre-Sort process:

  1. Above the list of existing Postal Pre-Sorts, click + New.

  2. A New Postal Pre-Sort pop-up window is displayed. In the Name field, enter a name for the new Postal Pre-Sort.

  3. From the Data Source drop-down menu, select the source table.

  4. Click Create. The Workspace is refreshed to show the Postal Pre-Sort detail screen.

  5. Optionally, you can assign one or more tags to your Postal Pre-Sort. To assign a tag, click on the Add tag field in the Edit section of the Tool Ribbon. The system displays a pop-up menu of all the existing tags. You can select one of these tags, or type in a new one and press Enter. You can repeat this process to add more tags. To remove a tag, click the X icon next to the tag label.  

  6. The Processing Options section displays various parameters related to your Postal Pre-Sort. Select the desired parameters:

    • Type: Postal Pre-Sort is selected by default.

    • Process: NCOALink is selected by default; you must run NCOA processing when doing a Postal Pre-Sort.

    • Mail Class: Select a mailing class, either Standard or First Class.

    • NCOA Months: Select the date range for checking the NCOA database for new addresses.

    • Matching: Select the type of NCOA matches you want to accept, either Business, Individual, or both.

    • Printer: Select the print shop vendor.

    • Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) Sequencing: Select if, and when, to reset the Postal Pre-Sort sequence number. You can select to never reset the sequence number, or you can restart the sequence number at each Segment, at each Pallet, or at each Tray.

    • Output Batching: Select if, and when, to split the output file. You can select to put all output records on one output file, or you can split output files by Segment, by Pallet, or by Tray.

    • Postage: Select how you're paying the postage costs. Depending on which Postage option you select, you may need to provide additional information, as follows:

      • Permit: The "Permit Holder Info" section is displayed; enter the requested information about the permit holder.

      • Metering: No additional information is required.

      • Stamps: Enter the postage amount per stamp.

  7.  In the Origin Post Office Info section, enter the postal location of the print shop vendor.

  8. In the Entry Point Post Office Info section,specify the entry point for where your mailing pieces will be handed over to the U.S. Postal Service.

  9. In the Mail Agent Info section,enter the contact information of the print shop vendor.

  10. In the Mail Owner Info section, enter the details about the organization responsible for the mail piece.

  11. The Address Fields section is used to define the Postal Pre-Sort file. For each item (Name, Street Address, City, etc.), select the corresponding field in the source table that will be used to populate this item. For the consumer's Name, you can select either a single Full Name field, or separate First Name and Last Name fields.

Note: The Postal Pre-Sort file requires a set of postal-related fields that typically aren't part of a Recipient table, such as Delivery Point Barcode or DPBC Check Digit. To automatically add these required postal fields to the source table, click Edit > Database > Add Required Data Fields in the Tool Ribbon. All of these new fields can be seen on the Tables screen, and are identified by the prefix Presort.

  1. The Postal Processing FTP Site section is used to define where the Postal Pre-Sort file should be sent. From the FTP Profile drop-down menu, select an FTP Profile. Optionally, in the Folder Path field, enter the filepath on the FTP site where the Postal Pre-Sort file should be saved.

  2. When finished, click Edit > Save in the Tool Ribbon.

Copy a Postal Pre-Sort

To copy an existing item to use as the basis for a new item:

  1. Search for the desired item (see Search for an Item for more details).

  2. Click on the item name. The main item screen is displayed and populated with the details of the selected item.

  3. In the Tool Ribbon, click Edit > Save As. A Save as dialog box is displayed.

  4. Enter a name for the new item.

  5. By default, the new item will be saved in the same folder location as the base item. Optionally, click the magnifying glass icon to browse to and select a different folder location.

  6. Click save a copy. The system creates a copy of the selected item.

View or Edit a Postal Pre-Sort

To view or edit an existing Postal Pre-Sort:

  1. Search for the desired Postal Pre-Sort (see Search for an Item for more details on the available search methods).

  2. Click on the Postal Pre-Sort name. The Postal Pre-Sort screen is displayed and populated with the details of the selected Postal Pre-Sort.

  3. Optionally, to view detailed information about the Postal Pre-Sort, click the Postal Process tab in the Tool Ribbon. The Item Details screen is displayed, showing who created the item, who modified it last, and what the last actions taken on the item were. On this screen, click Related Items in the Function Menu to see other items in the system that reference or utilize this Postal Pre-Sort. When finished, click the Edit tab in the Tool Ribbon to return to the main edit screen.

  4. Optionally, you can assign one or more tags to your Postal Pre-Sort. To assign a tag, click on the Add tag field in the Edit section of the Tool Ribbon. The system displays a pop-up menu of all the existing tags. You can select one of these tags, or type in a new one and press Enter. You can repeat this process to add more tags. To remove a tag, click the "X" icon next to the tag label.  

  5. Optionally, to rename the Postal Pre-Sort, click Edit >  Rename. A Rename Item dialog box is displayed. Enter a new name for the Postal Pre-Sort, then click save new name.

  6. Make any necessary changes to the Postal Pre-Sort.

  7. To save your changes, click Edit > Save in the Tool Ribbon.

Delete a Postal Pre-Sort

To delete an item:

  1. Search for the desired item (see Search for an Item for more details).

  2. Click on the item name. The main item screen is displayed and populated with the details of the selected item.

  3. In the Tool Ribbon, click Edit > Delete. A confirmation dialog box is displayed.

  4. Click delete item to confirm the deletion.

Foldered items are moved to the Recycle Bin. Non-foldered items are permanently deleted.

Assign a Postal Pre-Sort to a Campaign

Print Campaigns can optionally be assigned a Postal Pre-Sort process. To assign a Postal Pre-Sort to a Campaign:

  1. Navigate to the desired Print Campaign (see Campaigns for more details).

  2. In the Tool Ribbon, click Options > Message > Add Postal Processing.

  3. Within the Message section of the Campaign screen, the system adds a new Postal Processing section. From the Pre-Sort Process drop-down menu, select the desired Postal Pre-Sort process.  

  4. In the Tool Ribbon, click Edit > Save.