SA company offers first true hybrid mail system

13 Dec 2006

A South African company has developed an innovative new mailing system aimed at cutting the time it takes to deliver bills to consumers each month – in the process, industries like retail, banking and insurance could see a significant improvement in their cash flow from the resultant earlier payment of accounts. Called ‘hybrid’ mail, the system from Lithotech Afric Mail – a division of the Lithotech Group and leading service provider for high-volume mail production solutions in South Africa – sends the data electronically to the nearest relevant centre where it is printed, packaged and posted to the consumers in that region.

This specialised mailing system, which has successfully been implemented in only a few countries overseas, has the ability to add significant value to a number of industries which bill consumers directly every month. Hennie Mentz, Managing Director of Lithotech Afric Mail says that instead of the mailing taking place in, say Cape Town, and being moved around the country physically, the ‘hybrid’ mail system allows mailing to take place from the closest major centre.

“Research into consumer payment behaviour has revealed that many consumers don’t pay all their bills each month, but rather choose to pay only a few – and if they receive a statement late, that bill may well move to the bottom of pile or be budgeted for in the following month. So it is definitely in the companies’ interest to get those bills through the door as quickly as possible,” says Mentz.

According to Mentz, another key benefit of the ‘hybrid’ mail system is a disaster recovery triangle (DRT). Lithotech has a national presence with full print-to-post plants in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban making up the points of the triangle. “What this means is that if one centre experiences a workflow problem, such as a power cut or a strike, the information can be instantly moved to another region and mailed with little or no time lost.”

Mentz says that, while other companies had made attempts to introduce ‘hybrid’ mail, the logistics and complexity of the offering meant that Lithotech was well ahead of the pack. “Historically hybrid mail variations produced and delivered services using only generic, plain stationery. Our tailored system customises printed stock in the three DRT centres and mails simultaneously from these sites.”

“The SA Post Office recognised the concept’s lucrative potential and recently announced its own ‘hybrid’ mail offering. However, at the moment their offering is not a true ‘hybrid’ service, but rather a print-to-post service conducted from only one distribution centre.

“As a South African company, Lithotech is proud to be playing a leading role in the international mail solutions community, evolving the ‘hybrid’ mail service. We don’t believe in a plain vanilla delivery, but more a customised service offering, constantly monitoring mailing advancements such as e-billing while using a consultative process to evaluate whether other services, like ‘hybrid’ mail, are actually beneficial to a client’s business. ‘Hybrid’ mail has an important role to play in complementing our existing national mailing service, offering a leading-edge mailing solution to SA businesses by minimising both lead-time and financial risk,” concludes Mentz.