Packaging Systems, LLC

Contract Packaging, Assembly, and Distribution

Packaging Systems LLC Imagine needing to assemble, package, and mail, in a matter of days, some 15,000 packages to Post Offices around the country. Endicia helped Packaging Systems, LLC (PSLLC) accomplish that.

A division of PPC, PSLLC is an innovative fulfillment house that provides packaging, display, filling, and distribution services to customers in the food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household products industries. Its clients include powerhouses in each of those fields. PSLLC is OTC certified, as well as FDA, DEA, DMD, and DOD approved.

Background.  PSLLC is a turnkey operation, known for its ability to handle, from start to finish, the needs of its customers, including their shipping deadlines. The needs often require particular care and rapid turnaround. True to its ongoing motto, "We make it happen," PSLLC commits itself to achieving the performance standards of its clients; moreover, it is technologically and otherwise able to perform contract packaging and assembly, direct distribution, point of purchase displays, packaging, shrink wrapping, blistering, cartoning, labeling, and assembly. PSLLC derives its business from word-of-mouth and display houses, which use PSLLC for taking the raw product, putting it into displays, and then shipping it.

Located just minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport, UPS, FedEx, the Post Office Distribution Center, Port Elizabeth, the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), and all major trucking terminals, PSLLC is ideally situated to receive materials and ship products to their final destinations. With over 200,000 square feet of space and up to 400 employees, it keeps 12 assembly lines busy at all times, using multiple work shifts, temperature-controlled areas, and ongoing employee training to maximize efficiency. As a result, PSLLC ships thousands of parcels daily to business and distribution centers nationwide. It utilizes all freight express companies and, when requested by clients or when shipping to consumers, the U.S. Postal Service.

Packaging Systems LLC

Endicia's Role  In November 2005, PSLLC faced a monumental challenge: to receive raw CDs and an address list in the thousands from a Southern California music company, somehow easily validate the addresses and put 30 of the CDs into each counter display, and then ship the displays to Post Offices nationwide. Some Post Offices were to receive three displays, others two, and still others one. In all, roughly 15,000 packages would have to ship in days via Priority Mail. Furthermore, PSLLC needed to print two-part Doc-Tab labels, with one part being the main shipping label, and the other part containing shipment information retained for record keeping. Therein laid the major challenge: how to ship speedily and accurately such a large order by a method heretofore not used by PSLLC – the U.S. Postal Service. Fortunately for PSLLC, it learned about Endicia just in the knick of time.

Critical to the success of this project was the guidance provided by the Endicia customer support team. PSLLC needed help – and fast – addressing key challenges. First, what type of printers would enable PSLLC to print so many labels in such a short period of time? Second, what application could PSLLC use to display tracking information on the tab portion of the Doc-Tab labels? Third, how would the problem of bad ship-to addresses be dealt with promptly and efficiently?

PSLLC employed four Zebra LP 2844 printers to process the shipping labels. These printers proved ideal for several reasons: (1) they could run hours on end without a hitch; (2) they could print, in a matter of seconds, Doc-Tab labels, which PSLLC used to print tracking information on the tab portion; and (3) being thermal, they required no ink or toner and eliminated the smearing, smudging, and misfeeds associated with laser and inkjet printers.

Packaging Systems LLC

In order to process the large list of shipments in batch, PSLLC used Endicia Professional. This allowed PSLLC to import its list of addresses and shipment information for print-staging, namely: address verification, weight & mail class assignment, and list printing.

Endicia Professional automatically performed address verification on the entire list to obtain the correct ZIP+4 (9-digit) ZIP Codes and correct other common addressing errors (e.g., spelling corrections, formatting, and abbreviations), thus contributing to successful mail piece delivery. At the end of the address verification step, addresses that did not validate were highlighted in yellow. PSLLC was then able to proceed on two fronts – moving forward by: (1) batch printing those labels in which the ship-to addresses validated; and (2) exporting the ship-to addresses that did not validate to send to the client for review and correction.

Endicia's mapping of variable fields to rubber-stamps placed anywhere on the mailpiece addressed the need to map tracking information and have it show on the tab portion of PSLLC's Doc-Tab labels. This also allowed for the mapping of other shipping information, such as postage fees, mailing date, etc.

Comments Allan Cohen of PSLLC:

"Endicia came through, particularly its technical support, in time of crisis; they helped us use the service to validate thousands of addresses quickly and efficiently, print tracking information on the tab portions of our doc tab labels, and print in mere days the nearly 15,000 labels needed for the mailing itself."

The Future  PSLLC plans to continue providing "one-stop-shop services." It intends to maintain its excellence in the areas of packaging, displays, filling, and distribution and to keep on servicing its customers every step of the way.

To learn more about Packaging Systems, LLC, visit www.psllc.com.



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