Engineering Innovation launches parcel system for mid-sized mailers

Indiana-based company Engineering Innovation has unveiled a new parcel-processing machine it says will help small-to-medium-sized organizations make the most of the US Postal Service Priority Mail service. The EZ-Parcels System was unveiled at a relatively quiet MailCom mail communications industry convention in Washington DC last week.

The system can handle packages up to 20 inches wide and 14 inches deep, with a simultaneous weighing, dimensioning and scanning with optical character recognition (OCR) technology, before postage and barcoding information is applied.

Depending on the operator’s work rate, the system can process 1,200 to 1,300 parcels per hour on average according to Engineering Innovation.

Ranging from $40,000 up to $100,000 for the full system, it uses software to assess the packages and determine the best possible discounts and postage for qualifying mailers, and can integrate with the USPS Confirm service to allow tracking.

The machine expands on the existing EZ-Flats system launched in 2007 by the company founded by ex-Pitney Bowes engineers.

Chief operating officer Don Caddy told Post&Parcel that the new system was a response to the significant growth being seen in the US parcels segment at the moment.

In particular, he said the system would help mailers and pre-sorting companies make the most of worksharing discounts offered by the US Postal Service for Priority Mail parcels.

“The Postal Service has a really good product for parcels,” Caddy said. “It’s really like a two-day service, and we feel it’s a good opportunity for companies to save money for their parcels.”

The rise of internet-based commerce has seen the parcels segment bucking overall trends for declining mail volumes in the US, but cost-cutting is still the watchword even in this segment, and came as a key theme at MailCom.

Lafayette-based Engineering Innovation says that with machines like the EZ-Parcels system, companies could cut costs by carrying out their parcel processing in-house, saving more more than $2 for a four-pound package thanks for USPS discounts for pre-processed mail.

Caddy said: “As mail volumes are decreasing, parcel volumes are increasing – yet to process parcels there are manual mail work stations and then there are really high-end machines for the high-volume operations. Before the EZ-Parcels system, there was nothing really in the middle.”