A UK-based mail company says every size of business can save both time and money by automating tedious postal tasks; thus freeing up staff to focus on more productive duties than stuffing envelopes.

There’s a machine for everyone, says Neopost (www.neopost.co.uk) – from desktop to floor-standing, allowing more efficient management of business and promotional mailings.

The company has calculated costs and lists reasons why a business might switch from hand-folding to a machine inserter:

• It costs more than 5p to fill an envelope by hand. If you were sending 3,000 letters and invoices a month, this process could take more than 30 working hours. If staff are being paid the UK minimum wage of £5.73 per hour, envelope stuffing would cost the business more than £170 a month just for filling and sealing envelopes.
• The average person can fold, insert and seal up to 100 envelopes per hour. A folder inserter processes mail 13 times faster – 1,350 envelopes per hour.
• Folding A4-size documents into DL or C5 envelopes saves on postal costs by qualifying for the less expensive letter tariff‚ saving 22p on each first class item mailed. Using a franking machine saves 25p per item. If an average mailshot is 1,000 items, that’s a saving of £250 (based upon the first class stamp price of a ‘large letter’ costing 61p. By folding the contents and inserting into a smaller ‘letter’ envelope, this cost is reduced to 39p).
• By inserting extra promotional items into regular mail, you can increase the value of your business communications. A letter folding machine achieves a crisp, precise fold and can collate and assemble all documents before folding them. The recipient then opens the envelope and all the documents are presented together, in the right order. The folding and inserting equipment will also guarantee the address is positioned correctly in the window of the envelope. This is crucial when you are accessing Royal Mail postal discount programmes, as the address must be machine readable and positioned according to Royal Mail specifications.