Previous Best Practices Award Nominees

These award nominees have shown outstanding professionalism and have contributed an overwhelming wealth of information for federal mail managers and mail centers to share in improving mail management.

2002 Federal Mail Manager of the Year Award Nominees

2002 Federal Mail Center Excellence Nominees

2001 Federal Mail Manager of the Year Award Nominees

2001 Mail Team Award Nominations

2002 Federal Mail Manager of the Year Award Nominees

Nominees for Federal Mail Manager of the Year

Carolyn A. Cook
Department of Defense
U.S. Army Soldier Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM)
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5424

The mission of SBCCOM is to provide support in the research and development of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) defense technology to ensure maximum protection for the United States. Clearly, the September 11 disaster necessitated a new level of mail handling precautions, to include safety and security apprehension for all mail handlers.

Immediately following 9-11, Mrs. Cook quickly educated herself by learning the procedures, equipment, and new requirements that were necessary to effectively scrutinize and protect all mail items. She proactively ensured that personnel processing mail and packages were always geared with latex gloves, laboratory coats, and proactive masks. Mrs. Cook independently contacted our environmental experts to brief all mail personnel on anthrax detection and she personally attended and Anthrax course to gain in-house
knowledge.

Mrs. Cook's determination and desire to ensure a high quality and safe mail service is admirable. Her numerous accomplishments together with her continued dedication to improve and enhance mail service, deem Mrs. Cook a valuable asset to the Mail Management Program, the mission of this Command, and the United States Army.

Douglas W. Jones
Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Mail Services Unit
Washington, DC 20535-0001

Mr. Jones directs policy development for mail management procedures in the FBI and serves as the FBI's expert and sole point of contact for FBI offices world-wide, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), other government agencies, and appropriate companies dealing in mailing services.

An important aspect of Mr. Jones' job is to ensure the safety of not only his employees but also the employees within FBI Head Quarters who are receiving mail, i.e., to ensure that the mail is safe from explosives or other material that could pose a danger to FBI employees. In this regard, Mr. Jones initiated and conducted an x-ray machine operation and interpretation training course for all FBI employees engaged in x-ray screening of mail throughout the FBI.

Through his dedication, he has ensured that the FBI's mail system provides excellent service, and in the face of terrorist activities, he has promoted the security and safety of his employees and all FBI employees.

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2002 Federal Mail Center Excellence Nominees

The Federal Mail Center Excellence Award recognizes the Mail Center team that has demonstrated that they have successfully implemented mail related innovations that have improved customer service or reduced costs for the agency. For more information on these awards, contact marcerto.barr@gsa.gov or call on (202) 208-7654.

The Postal and Document Management Section
Health & Human Services
Program Support Center (PSC)
Rockville, MD 20857

The Postal and Document Management Section (PDMS) is a component of the Program Support Center (PSC) within the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). It is responsible for planning, coordinating, and operating a central mail and messenger service for HHS organizations headquartered in the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia. The total number of mail-receiving locations served by the PSC is 111. The geographic area encompassed includes Washington, DC and the Maryland cities of Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Hyattsville. The Section also provides support for mail communications managed at the ten HHS regional offices that are strategically located throughout the country.

National Finance Center (NFC)
Department of Agriculture
New Orleans, LA 70160

The NFC services the payroll system and/or administrative system for over 130 federal agencies. NFC also services all federal and military employees who participate in the Thrift Savings Plan. Because each mailing is import, NFC implemented effective performance measurement tools that track each mailing through the printing process. To further increase its ability to accomplish piece tracking and automatic regeneration of mutilated mail, NFC is in the process of installing Streamweaver software to compliment their updated inserting machines.

NFC is also in the process of bar coding each mail piece. In addition, each mailing is presorted and certified for the lowest postal rates utilizing state-of-the-art software such as Fast Forward, Forward Track, and Manifesting. NFC is currently saving approximately $1,276,488 yearly on presorted mail and this figure is expected to increase. In addition, because of its documented presorting ability, NFC realized a $1,800,000 savings for a 16-month period of time.

NFC is such a large mailer that the local U.S. Post Office (USPS) will be placing a Detached Mail Unit (DMU) at NFC. Beginning Pay Period 06, the DMU will become operational and USPS will station employees at NFC to operate the Mailing Evaluation Readability Lookup Instrument (MERLIN). MERLIN is a state-of the-art verification and acceptance equipment recently installed at NFC by USPS. USPS will then load the mail into one of their trucks and forward it to the airport. The mail will no longer be brought to the local USPS for processing by an NFC employee. This will have a positive impact on their operating budget.

National Processing Center
Document Services Branch Team
Department of Commerce
Census Bureau
Jeffersonville, IN 47132-0001

The Document Services Branch was responsible for planning, directing, and organizing document management, providing creative services, accomplishing print-on-demand services, finishing, and mailing services.

By effectively utilizing print-on-demand technology, as well as a variety of mail processing equipment, experienced personnel, and the implementation of automated mailing techniques, the Document Services Branch ensured a substantial overall cost savings for the critical project of the Census 2000 Recruitment Post Card Mailout, as well as the Census 2000 Wage and Earning Statements Distribution, and Census 2000 W-2 Mailing.

The Document Services Branch provided state-of-the-art mail management services to all its customers. These contributed to quicker mail delivery, even while utilizing all available discounts for the U.S. Census Bureau and other government agencies. Services such as address file standardization, mail file sorting, permit imprint mailings, metered mailings, and postal accountability were used extensively to process the Census 2000 projects at the best possible cost savings to the government. The grand total for the Census 2000 projects were: Total number of items processed 38,989,083, Total cost to print $844,855.99, Total postal cost $5,397.819.78, and Total postal savings $1,996,086.29.

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2001 Federal Mail Manager of the Year Award Nominees

Federal Mail Manager of the Year is awarded for showing a significant contribution to advance industry standards by innovative policy or practice. This individual will have successfully implemented mailing related innovations what will enhance the values of mail, as a strategy to improve customer service or to reduce costs for the organization.

Mail Manager of the Year
Honorable Mention
Anthony LaBriola
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Under the IRS' internal regulations, they were prohibited from updating addresses without the direct consent form taxpayers for at least 2 hundred million addresses.

Mr. LaBriola suggested they use NCOA (National Change of Address) database to update its outgoing taxpayer notices with the most current address and annually update the entire IRS Masterfile. The IRS became the only federal agency to be a limited licensee of the NCOA database.

Nominees for Federal Mail Manager of the Year

Alvin L. Etzler
Forms & Mail Management Branch
Administrative & Customer Services Division
U.S. Census Bureau

During the FY 00 Mr. Etzler managed a postal budget of $175 million, much of which was associated with Census 2000. The Census Bureau mailed out 3 pieces of mail to each household in the U.S. during the month of March 2000. Mr. Etzler managed and coordinated the activities for mailing the 375 million pieces of mail to about 115 million households in the United States and Puerto Rico. He also coordinated the postal activities for the return of 84 million pieces of Business Reply Mail destined for 4 Data Capture Centers. He set up a procedure for collecting and reporting postage costs to Census managers on a monthly basis. Following the mailout and return of the Census 2000 forms, he worked with the USPS/Census Joint Committee to complete evaluations of the Census 2000 postal operations and make recommendation for the next decennial census

James L. Benedik
Chief, Mail & Distribution Branch
Directorate of Information Management
Department of the Army

Due to the efforts of Mr. Benedik, Fort Leavenworth has become the standard for other installations within the Department of Defense to emulate in their conversion to street addressing. DoD has directed military installation to convert mailing addresses to match the U.S. Postal Service mailing requirements. This requires Installation Official Mail Managers to grid their installation, assign street names, assign addresses to all government buildings, ensure that 922 (what's this?) was on-line and instruct mailers to start using proper mailing addresses. This action allows the installation to start using a pre-sort house for all outgoing official mail, which saves approximately $18,000 per year in postage costs. It also allows incoming mail to move much faster since all addresses meet the Postal Service automation standards. Mr. Benedik has saved approximately $92,000 on his yearly budget because of smart mailing practices. He was also able to save on labor due to efficiencies that he has implemented in his operation.

William E. Miller
Property Management Division
Mail Services
Department of Veterans Affairs

William Miller implemented effective Performance Measures through performing weekly mail analysis and developing reports to management on postage meter usage and weekly postage used. By sending out weekly mail samples the timeliness and accuracy of the mail process has improved greatly.

In doing this he was able to change the way the mail center does it overall business. He provided cost analysis to management that supported his request for new electronic scanners and bar code machines that track incoming express mail. This hardware reduced delivery time by 40% and enabled the Mail Center to deliver express mail more accurately. His improvements have also directed billing back to several HQ organizations, resulting in altered express mail procedures for several departments and employees being able to use express mail labels that allow them to better track express mail cost.

Mr. Miller routinely utilizes information technology by using the Internet to submit broadcast messages to HQ organizations informing them of changes in Mail Center policies and/or procedures.

Mr. Miller facilitated a committee made up of Office of Administration personnel. They saved the Department of Veteran Affairs over $200,000.00 by reducing FedEx fees. Mr. Miller has reduced operational cost and maintained customer service by working with the VA organization in utilizing the United States Postal Service for general mailing requirements.

Bonnie A. Lutz
81st Communication Squadron
Department of Defense

As Official Mail Manager for Keesler AFB, Ms. Lutz has been able to reduce the postal budget from $170.K to $130K, a savings of over 26%. These savings were realized through various mail techniques which included developing an interactive, multimedia Services Guide, an Activity Distribution Office Newsletter, and purchasing new equipment for all areas of mail services. This new equipment will allow accountable mail to be handled electronically with signature pads instead of paper, cutting processing time in half and allowing easier access to signature information. Mrs. Lutz also took the initiative to locate a pre-sorting company to handle all of Keesler AFB official outgoing mail, realizing a $5K saving in a 4-month period over previous year expenditures.

David W. Proper
Transportation Administrative Service Center
U.S. Department of Transportation

Mr. Proper has distinguished himself as an innovator within DOT by establishing a presorting program. He worked with the United States Postal Service and DOT's mail equipment vendor to institute Delivery Confirmation for managing Priority mail delivery. This allows DOT to further reduce expenditures on costly alternate carrier and overnight delivery companies. The initiative to obtain the cheapest postage rate for distributing DOT publications to DOT's large mailing lists has saved DOT over $1 million dollars in postage expense since FY 99.

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2001 Mail Team Excellence Award Nominations

The Federal Mail Center Excellence Award is awarded to the Mail Center Team that has demonstrated that they have successfully implemented mail related innovations that have improved customer service or reduced costs for the agency. The following "Leading Practices" are excerpts from the nomination packages received for "Federal Mail Center Excellence" nominees:

Federal Mail Center Excellence Nominations for 2001

DAPS Bulk Mail Distribution Team
DAPS - Lackland AFB
Defense Logistics Agency
1531 Connally Street, Building 6629
San Antonio, TX 78236-5514

Willie Calhoun - Manager
Warren Tinseth - Operator

Bulk mailings are labor intensive, and DAPS at Lackland was not obtaining all of the postage discounts that were available.

On mailings of 100 or more mail pieces, DAPS has been able to save the government on labor. On mailings of 200 or more pieces, DAPS as realized additional savings on postage.

By purchasing CASS and PAVE certified software, equipment to insert letter and flat mail, and addressing equipment, and by realizing the cost savings from bar coding the mail pieces in accordance with the DMM, the Lackland AFB DAPS facility was able to realize a labor savings of $71,148.81 and postage savings of $95,153.85 over a five month period.


Carolyn A. Cook
Corporate Information Office
Commander
U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command
5183 Blackhawk Road
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD 2101-5424

Mrs. Cook has launched an endeavor to eliminate junk mail deliveries and downsize bulk mailings. By working with contract support and government personnel, Mrs. Cook has been able to drastically scale back incoming vendor mail, thus reducing sorting and delivery costs. She has also designed a standard Federal Express justification on Form Flow for customers to access via PC, eliminating the need for employees to leave their office and pickup forms/labels at the mail center. She also allows customers to fax their forms to the mail center so address labels can be processed in advance for shipments. She designed a database to track names of customers, shipment dates, shipment costs etc. which aided the mail center personnel in providing quarterly costs to the Command budget office and program offices for tracking project costs.

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