I Am A “The” Intelligent Mail Barcode
Posted by Greg Kathol on Tue, Jul 14, 2009
Hey guys, that tray tag is a real tickle, isn't he? "The most important part of the whole mail business"? Oh for pity sake, go back and look at the sample he gave you. There's my predecessor, as big as life, right in his middle. In fact, those bars use up a major part of him! Oh well, when you know you're great, you can afford to be generous. So I'll let him have his "day in the sun".
Let's talk about just me for a while. We used to teach humans how to read us - but now that I've become "Intelligent" I can't be bothered with that anymore. I am after all a fourth generation postal barcode. Could I interest you in a little bit of my Postnet genealogy? Maybe that will help you get to know what I really am all about.
First and foremost, let's understand that Postnet is my old name and it came from: POSTal Numeric Encoding Technique. Although the USPS had been experimenting with barcoded zips on business reply mail for a while, my "GG" (Great Grandpa) wasn't born until sometime in the 1970's. He started out as a lowly 5-digit barcode, containing the basic 5 digit Zip Code only.
Then in 1983, the 9 digit barcode came into being. It contained the Zip Code and the +4 Code. This was my Grandpa and he enabled the sorting of mail to individual carriers, and in some cases into a semblance of delivery sequence. (We're starting to get impressive here now, don't you think?)
My immediate predecessor was born in 1991. He was the 11 digit barcode, containing the Zip Code, the +4 Code, and the delivery point code. He was usually referred to as the DPBC, or Delivery Point Bar Code. This is the predominant barcode in use today and it enables the Postal Service to sort mail into delivery point (address) sequence.
As for me personally, I've had my name changed 3 times. I was first called the "4 State Customer Code", then the "One Code", and finally - they hit on the perfect name for me: Intelligent Mail Barcode!
I now include a host of information, i.e., postnet barcode, planet code, ACS code, mailer ID, Service Type, mail piece identification, NCOA compliance, and other elective information. (see future blogs for definitions)
Oh to be sure - my lineage is certainly royal. There is one thing in this "mail" business that even makes me cringe - and that's MERLIN! Wow, one little twist or one little bend, and he's spitting me right out of the mail stream.
Let me tell you: Perfection is a never-ending exercise.
By Ronnie Barnansky