Case Study Presort Mail Services Leader Expands OCR Across Three Facilities
How ParaScript’s address recognition technology helps United Business Mail capture automation rate discounts and improve deliverability across 250 million annual mail pieces.
The Challenge
United Business Mail (UBM) processes over 250 million pieces of mail annually for hundreds of customers. To deliver on its core promise of postage savings and faster delivery, the company needed reliable OCR for handwritten addresses, with cost-effective pricing.
The Solution
UBM extended its long-running ParaScript deployment from Minneapolis and Phoenix to a new Los Angeles facility. ParaScript’s AddressScript software runs on UBM’s Bell + Howell PTI High-Speed MLOCR equipment, reading cursive, handprint and machine print in any combination. Usage-based pay-as-you-go pricing significantly reduced the upfront investment in the new facility.
“Implementing ParaScript’s technology was an easy decision. Our primary objectives are saving customers postage dollars, improving deliverability and seeing a quick return on technology investment. ParaScript’s OCR delivers on all three.”
-Bill Boyce, Vice President of Sales
The Benefits
- Automation rate discounts captured by barcoding mail before USPS handoff
- Improved deliverability through accurate address capture on every piece
- Lower upfront cost via ParaScript’s pay-as-you-go pricing model
- Proven across three facilities with nearly a decade in Minneapolis, over five years in Phoenix and now Los Angeles
$250M
mail pieces processed annually
3
facilities running ParaScript OCR
10
years of deployment
The Challenge in Detail
UBM processes over 250 million pieces of first class and standard mail annually for hundreds of customers across the country. Beyond presort services, the company also runs complete mailroom and metering operations, helping customers reduce overhead costs.
UBM had used ParaScript as its sole OCR for handwritten addresses at its Minneapolis facility for nearly ten years and its Phoenix facility for over five, with consistent success across both sites. When the company opened a new facility in Los Angeles, extending the same technology to letters and flats was the natural move, but the cost needed to make sense.
The ParaScript Solution
AddressScript automatically locates and captures address block information on envelopes, mailing labels and flat images, reading cursive, handprint and machine print in any combination. The software runs on UBM’s Bell + Howell PTI High-Speed MLOCR equipment, fitting seamlessly in UBM’s existing mail processing workflow. Once an address is captured and validated, the system applies a barcode before the mail enters the USPS plant, securing the automation rate discount and improving deliverability.
What made the Los Angeles deployment attractive to UBM, besides the proven results at their other facilities, was the pay-as-you-go pricing model. UBM pays based on actual usage, which lowered the initial investment at the new site while letting the technology scale easily as volume ramps up.
-Bill Boyce, Vice President of Sales
The Key Benefits
Automation Rate Discounts Captured: UBM applies barcodes to handwritten mail before USPS handoff, qualifying pieces for postage discounts and passing savings to their customers.
Reduced Processing Labor: AddressScript automates address capture, cutting the time, cost and manual handling traditionally required to process handwritten pieces.
Improved Deliverability: Accurate address capture means more pieces reaching their destination on the first attempt, reducing returns and customer overhead.
Lower Upfront Investment: Pay-as-you-go pricing significantly reduced the startup cost of the new Los Angeles facility, with technology costs scaling over time alongside actual usage.
Universal Address Recognition: Cursive, handprint and machine print are handled in any combination, allowing all processing to follow a single, unified workflow.
Proven Long-Term Reliability: Nearly a decade of deployment across sites gave UBM confidence to extend the same technology to Los Angeles.
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