Working with a franking machine: can’t it be easier?
Do you process your company mail in your own mail room? If you do, there’s a good chance that you make use of a franking machine. That makes the work a lot easier. Aren’t you using one yet? Then we’d like to explain how it operates... and how things can be more efficient with less waste of time and money.
Using a franking machine makes mail processing a lot simpler. You can hire or purchase a franking machine via a certified distributor. According to the volume of mail you expect to process each week, you purchase a monthly franking credit. And then you can get to work!
Franking machine: operation?
First you enter the type of mail item. Is it a letter or a package? Is the letter intended for a domestic or foreign recipient? Is the mail item registered? Next, the franking machine weighs the mail item and the device itself determines the correct rate. So there’s no need to look it up yourself. Then you frank the mail item with the date on which you send it. Finally you deliver the franked mail to your mail distributor or have it collected.
Every month you receive a summary of all frankings you have done with the franking machine, per category. This allows you to rapidly switch and adapt your operation where necessary. It’s all been good news until now, but handling franking yourself also has several disadvantages.
Like a high cost
Working with a franking machine still costs you a lot. The price tag is still too high. Just to purchase, hire and maintain the franking machine. But that’s not all, because you also pay for ink cartridges, labels, envelopes, etc. And you miss financial benefits: a franking machine does not offer any volume discounts. On the contrary, it only offers standard rates which also regularly increase.
And lots and lots of time
Moreover, operating a franking machine demands time, a lot of time. After all, you still have to make use of employees to handle all the mail items with the machine. And what happens if the machine malfunctions due to a technical problem? Then you can’t process and send any mail at all, and important company mail is delayed.
Mistake is easily made
On top of all that, a human error can easily happen. For example, when an employees doesn’t correctly close down the franking machine. If someone else then uses the machine and doesn’t adjust the settings, they could possibly frank the mail item with a rate that is too high (or too low, which could mean your mail will be returned).
In other words
Working with a franking machine may initially look like a good choice, but ultimately it’s not. In the end, the machine offers little added value, for a much too high price. There is, however, a much more efficient solution for processing your mail, which moreover costs a lot less: outsourcing your mail processing to EasyPost.
Lower costs, more time, same quality
When you entrust your outgoing mail to EasyPost, you win a whole lot of time. You only need to place your mail ready for collection by our EasyPost chauffeur, at the agreed time and place. After that, we do all the rest: sorting franking, and delivering to bpost. If required, we even print it and put it in an envelop, via EasyPost Connect. Much more efficient that working with your franking machine.
But also quite a lot cheaper. We pick up your mail for an economical collection fee, after which we do not charge processing costs. Moreover, we give an additional discount, since we receive a discount from bpost because we deliver such large volumes of mail. At the same time, you can scrap a lot of expenses, such as all costs for your franking machine.
All you have to pay
That is one monthly invoice. With a detail summary of your daily shipments. And, if desired, a summary per department, so that your internal cost allocation becomes a lot easier.
Ready to shut down your franking machine?
Curious to learn how much benefit your company could enjoy if you outsourced your mail processing to EasyPost? Plan a meeting with no strings attached to run through the benefits. We make a thorough assessment of your current situation to learn how we can optimise your mail streams.
