Merlin (Mail Evaluation Readability Instrument) is the automated verification tool used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ensure that bulk mailings meet standard quality levels. Merlin pays particular attention to the design of mail pieces, specifically the addressing placement and barcode on the envelope and the final piece size.
Introduced by the USPS in 2002, Merlin automates the task of manual mail inspection, preventing delays in processing, saving on mail rework costs, lowering USPS transportation and processing costs and increasing delivery rates of high quality mail.
Why Should I care about Mail Quality?
Marketers and direct mailers are constantly striving for high quality with their bulk mailings. High quality mail gets noticed and opened more often and yields better response rates.
The introduction of Merlin by the USPS rewards direct mail marketers for taking care with the quality of their direct mailings. Mailing projects that follow Merlin's guidelines for address placement and barcode readability receive discounts from the USPS.
Poor mail quality can result in: delays in mail processing, delays in delivery, increase in processing costs, increase in postage costs and delays in USPS delivery times.
Specific attention needs to be paid to barcode placement and quality when dealing with Merlin. The United States Postal Service guidelines require that barcodes are placed with: * an eighth of an inch minimum clearance around the entire address * 1/25 inch minimum clearance above and below the barcode * the barcode needs to be at least ½ inch from the edge of the envelope * the barcode must be at least 5/8 inch from the bottom of the piece
Barcode quality errors that cause Merlin to reject a mailing piece include: * bar is too short or tall * bar is too narrow or wide * extra ink is present * bar tilt * baseline shift * pattern skew * bar pitch is too close or far * bar space is too close or far * connected bars * the barcode will not decode
Avoiding penalties requires that 90% of letter samples pass Merlin's quality test.
How Do I Pass the 'Merlin Test'?
Ensuring that bulk mailings will pass Merlin requires proper addressing equipment. Barcodes and addresses printed on ink jet systems can contain skewed patterns, extraneous amounts of ink, and/or void areas (an area without ink). These errors can result in an envelope failing Merlin's test.
Laser printing is an ideal solution for producing high quality, Merlin compatible envelopes and postcards. PSI Engineering's Laser Mail DPT prints crisp, clear, addresses and barcode information onto letters and mailings. PSI customers have had a greater than 99% Merlin success rate when printing typical envelopes on the Laser Mail system.
Along with being Merlin compatible, bulk mail response rates are greater with laser printing, making the Laser Mail DPT a highly effective system for all aspects of a direct mail campaign.
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