Priority Envelope News

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Priority Envelope is pleased to announce the pending arrival of a new W & D 627 Blank Fed converting machine. This machine will provide our customers with continued speed of service along with extraordinary envelope folding precision. This machine also provides us with additional double window capability for our clients. Our 3rd machine of this generation is due to arrive mid-August

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October 2, 2014

WASHINGTON, DC—October 2, 2014—The Postal Service Governors have decided to maintain current product and service prices and not seek a market dominant price change at this time.

Because the Postal Service has announced price change proposals in September and October for the past three years, mailing industry representatives and others have been waiting to hear whether a price change would take effect in January 2015.

“The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service have decided not to seek a price change for mail and shipping products and services in January,” said U.S Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer, “in part, because of the uncertainty regarding the exigent price increase. This means that the current pricing of postal products and services will remain in effect through the holiday season and early part of 2015. The Board will continue to evaluate pricing strategies and will communicate about any potential price change filings in early 2015. As always, the postal service will provide customers advance notice of any price changes.”

Partenheimer added that current prices will remain in place and the exigent postage rate increase of 4.3 percent is still slated to expire in the second half of 2015, after it brings in $3.2 billion for the USPS.

Partenheimer also noted that the USPS continues to fight the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) ruling that the exigent rate increase will be cut off at $3.2 billion.

“Among other things, the postal service’s position is that the PRC improperly and artificially truncated the amount of relief to which the postal service was entitled as a result of the Great Recession,” he pointed out.

Partenheimer said he doesn’t know when the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will rule on the postal service’s appeal of the PRC’s order.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe reportedly announced during Wednesday’s Association for Postal Commerce meeting, that March 2015 is the earliest an increase could happen, reported GrayHair Software.

In the meantime, FedEx is raising rates on package delivery in 2015 by 4.9 percent on Jan. 5. On Dec. 29, UPS will use “dimensional weight…to calculate the billable weight of all UPS Ground packages.” USPS hasn’t yet disclosed if it will increase prices on package delivery for FedEx and UPS.

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Envelope Converting Facility

Priority Envelope
We are happy to report that our Iowa facility has installed our second W&D 202. This machine is the fastest running converter in the world and sits alongside our 1st 202 installed earlier this year. Each of our 202’s can run up to 1600 envelopes/minute and print 4 color process flexographic in-line…..

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Priority Envelope is proud to announce the installation of 2 new blank-fed 627 envelope converters at our Minneapolis location. These new machines have nearly doubled our speed and capacity. With speeds up to 900 envelopes per minute, we can now complete your job even faster. Of course, we always put quality first!

announcement about our new machines

Click the image to see the full announcement about our new machines

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Priority Envelope is proud to announce the installation of 2 new web-style 202 envelope converters. These new machines allow us to convert envelopes at speeds up to 1600 per minute. This means we can get your job done even faster without sacrificing the quality of your envelopes!

fast envelope converting

See the full announcement about our new equipment.

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Priority Envelope
Written by Jamie Morgan

Make no mistake, Priority Envelope is certainly a manufacturer of envelopes. But its executives say that what the company really sells is service – a quality, on-time solution to meet its customers’ needs. Envelopes are simply a byproduct of that focus.

Founded in 1996 by owners Paul Siegle and Ryan Wenning, Priority Envelope manufactures custom-made high-volume and web-produced envelopes, litho printed converted envelopes, imprinted envelopes and stock envelopes, and offers an array of specialty services. Priority Envelope’s clients include printers, trade brokers, letter shops and companies with a need for customized envelopes. Eighteen years ago, Priority Envelope started out with two Halm Jet presses, five employees, a 5,000-square-foot building in Minneapolis and one focus – the customer.

“One thing our company has changed as far as the envelope industry is that it was based more on a manufacturing model in the past,” Vice President of Sales and Marketing Scott Johnson says. “Priority had a vision of changing that model from being manufacturing-driven to being sales-driven and selling to customers a quality product with incredibly compressed lead-times.”

That mentality has helped the company grow to what it is today – employing more than 200 people across three growing facilities. It operates its largest facility in Nevada, Iowa, which covers 96,000 square feet. It also runs an 85,000-square-foot plant in Plymouth, Minn., and a 38,000-square-foot facility in Lenexa, Kan. Its sales-driven strategy has led to targeted investments that have helped the company grow 40 percent in the past four years.

“We made a conscious choice as a company to invest in the newest technology available, which gives us better-quality runs, better run speeds and more consistency with the quality of the product,” Wenning says. “We also wanted to increase capacity so we could make the delivery dates customers are looking for. Delivery dates are extremely important in this industry and that remains a focus for us – making sure we hit the delivery dates our customers need to meet their direct mail requirements.”

Only the Best

The last three years have seen the company make some big investments. In 2011, Priority Envelope increased capacity at its Iowa facility and invested $5 million in state-of-the-art equipment and printing capabilities. In 2012, the company turned its focus to Kansas and added a four-color process jet machine and converter to the facility. In 2013, Priority continues to invest in the future by significantly increasing capacity and capabilities with new equipment purchases and facility modifications. Total budgeted capital expenditures for the year exceed $10 million.

In early January, the Iowa plant received the first of two new W&D 202 high-speed envelope converters. This model is considered the fastest true web machine in the world and boasts print capabilities of up to four colors outside and one color inside with a running speed of up to 1,600 envelopes per minute. For its Minnesota plant, Priority Envelope expanded the facility by 18,000 square feet and invested in two new W&D 627 blank-fed converters. The first arrived in January. The company has also invested in infrastructure at the Minnesota and Iowa plants and installed new energy-efficient vacuum systems.

These investments follow Priority Envelope’s long-time commitment to purchase only the best equipment available to the industry. Siegle recalls the company’s earliest days, when it invested in what it thought to be reliable, gently used equipment, only to experience technical issues.

“Back in 1996 when Ryan and I started this whole process, we wanted to deliver consistent quality to clients,” Siegle says. “We bought two presses: one new, one used and one didn’t run very well. We made a commitment from that time on that when we purchase technology it will be new so that we can hit the ground running. We have lived by that commitment for 18 years.”

Priority Envelope’s pledge to buy the best equipment has helped it live up to its claim that the company is not just selling envelopes, but premium service levels. From top to bottom, selling a service is engrained into the company’s culture and Priority Envelope equips its employees with the proper resources to sell and deliver that service.

“It’s in the DNA of the company,” Johnson says. “From the time the phone call comes in to when we turn around the prices to when the product is delivered, it’s all about service. Our customer-service people, our plant supervisors – everyone is on board with it. We have really tremendous people that work really hard and we value them every single day. They’re dedicated. They’re focused. We give them the latest and greatest equipment that’s out there to help them succeed.”

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Our 2nd high speed blank fed W & D converter installation in 2014 is complete and producing envelopes as we continue to make investments in improving service levels for our valued customers.  This equipment is state of the art and designed to maintain tight specifications to enhance the new generation of high speed inserting equipment.

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By Eric Yoder

February 18 at 3:22 pm

Mail customers are generally willing to accept lower levels of service such as ending six-day mail delivery to keep the U.S. Postal Service operating — and especially so if they are aware that the agency does not draw on tax revenue — a study by the USPS inspector general has found.

In a study involving focus groups, two-thirds of the participants did not know that the agency is self-funding, a finding that reflected results of an earlier Web-based survey. Once the funding arrangement was explained — “a revelation that was met with surprise within every group,” the report, released Tuesday, says — participants “lowered their service level expectations.”

At that point, “the common thought was that the Postal Service must operate like a business; it must find a way to be profitable,” it says. In particular, “the vast majority of focus group participants viewed six-day delivery as a luxury that could be reduced if the Postal Service needs to cut costs to remain financially viable” and most “said they would actually require even fewer than five days per week.”

Similarly, participants were generally willing to give up door-to-door delivery and get their mail at cluster boxes “if the boxes were relatively convenient, saved the Postal Service money, and ensured security.”

“Educating citizens on the self-funded nature of the Postal Service and the challenges it faces could help garner citizens’ support for cost-saving initiatives,” the report says, adding that “there was a consensus that the Postal Service must carry on,” with almost all participants saying they would be negatively affected if it ceased to exist.

The focus groups involved 101 persons and were designed to be representative of the general population in characteristics, such as age, gender, access to the Internet, and rural, urban or suburban residence.

The participants expressed some differences of opinions about the financially strapped Postal Service that have contributed to long-running struggles to move a postal restructuring plan through Congress. For example, participants in rural areas put higher value on a post office as a community asset, while urban participants placed a higher importance on the convenience of accessing postal services. Even on the issue of ending six-day delivery where there was broad agreement, there were disagreements regarding the number of delivery days needed and which days to eliminate.

A Senate committee recently approved a bill that among other steps would allow the Postal Service to eliminate Saturday mail delivery if mail volume drops below 140 billion pieces annually — which has been projected to happen in 2017 or 2018. In contrast, a bill cleared by a House committee last year would allow five-day mail delivery to begin immediately after enactment.

The focus groups also touched on several other ideas that have been raised in postal restructuring proposals, including reaching for new revenue by offering governmental or other new products or services at post offices. The participants were open to the idea but generally did not envision themselves using such services, the report said. They also “found it difficult to imagine digital services and accordingly did not think it appropriate for the Postal Service to provide them.”

The study further found concerns, especially among those in rural areas, about proposals to have mail handled at retail establishments such as a grocery stores or pharmacies rather than at traditional post offices.

Eric Yoder is a veteran Washington journalist who has written about government, business, law, sports and other topics. He has reported (and researched) for The Washington Post since 2000, concentrating on federal employee issues, the budget and other government policies. He also is the award-winning author of three books of short mysteries for children.

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W&D has another team from Germany in our Minnesota facility and is setting up our 1st of 2 new 627 blank fed envelope converters….we are ready for the training to begin next week!!

Envelope Manufacturing Machine

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Our new machine is ready and training has commenced.  The W&D 202 envelope converter runs at speeds up to 1600 per minute and will print 4 colors.  The machine is best of breed in the world.

Envelope Manufacturing Facility