A privately held, family-owned homeowners insurance company, serving approximately 300,000 policy holders in the state of Florida had entrusted its printing and mailing operations to an outside supplier. It relied on this vendor to print and mail thousands of documents (checks, claims and policies) each month. This vendor fell short of the company’s expectations in several areas. Utilizing cut sheet method of printing the method posed several challenges such as, purchasing and storing expensive pre-printed stock and checks. Also, the process was slower than more sophisticated equipment like Ink Jets; causing backlogs. This technique was also costly; often double the price per sheet than continuous printing (supported by Ink Jets. The ability to print checks and claims together was another issue resulting in checks being printed and mailed separately from related policy or claims information. This meant that customers would receive checks and correspondence at different times; not to mention extra spending on postage to accommodate additional mailings.

Finally, the technology’s limited composition capabilities (i.e. black and white print and no design options) frustrated the company’s marketing efforts—customer correspondence was often rigid by design, difficult to read, and not visually appealing. Static templates and preprinted stocks eliminated the possibility of on the fly, customized marketing campaigns. Taking all of this into consideration, the company sought the services of a new provider with greater expertise and more sophisticated technology.

In 2016, Exela was selected to manage the printing of claims, policies, and checks, as well as notices and letters out of its Charlotte facility. One of the first initiatives was to upgrade to high-speed, full color ink jet printers; capable of handling millions of sheets on a monthly basis. A single, connected role of paper took the place of thousands of individual sheets. The checks were produced in-line with the rest of the associated documents and packaged and mailed together. The new machines presented a more financially sound solution for the company. It was no longer required to pre-print paper stock. The new 4-color printers also offered an expansive menu of design options, allowing the company to produce more readable and appealing marketing communications. Exela utilized a 2-D barcode that was placed on each piece of correspondence enabling each sheet to be tracked all the way through production and into the mail.

Entrusting all of its printing and mail operations to Exela was beneficial in several ways.

• Cost Savings: Utilizing new Ink Jet equipment, the company avoided costs associated with storing high volumes of paper and check stock, and print costs per sheet were significantly lower. In addition, postage was greatly reduced by the ability to combine documents and checks into a single package.
• Time Savings: Inkjet printers are capable of achieving much greater speeds on a daily, monthly and annual basis; with higher utilization rates and productivity. Redundancies were eliminated by combining packages right off of the printer.
• Enhanced Marketing: The new equipment offered an expansive menu of design options for more targeted and impactful full color marketing; and greater flexibility to accommodate customized print requests

As the company expands its customer base, and the volume of claims grows exponentially, Exela’s has the facilities, equipment and resources need to accommodate the company’s evolving requirements.

The nation’s leading provider of dental insurance is a long-time customer of Exela. Serving more than 78 million Americans, their business requires printing, inserting, and mailing more than 8000 patient applications, Explanation of Benefit (EOB) statements, and checks on a weekly basis. The company decided its traditional way of doing things, with high costs and delays, needed to change. They were relying on an inefficient cut sheet method of check printing which involved feeding individual, unattached sheets of paper into the printer. Stacks of pre-printed checks were purchased and merged into the print-stream and electronically overlaid on each sheet of paper. Purchasing checks and storing reams of paper translated into unnecessary costs for the company. Excessive processing delays were another concern, as the cut sheet method was limited to a print speed of approximately 130 pages per minute. Consequently, it was taking longer to produce, insert, and mail checks to the customer.

The company had been utilizing a variety of Exela services over the past 15 years. It turned to Exela for strategic guidance as it sought to continuously improve business-critical processes. So when Exela introduced a more efficient and cost-effective approach, the company eagerly accepted the recommendation. By switching to inkjet technology, the company gained process efficiencies and measurable savings in both time and money. Unlike cut sheet printing, inkjet technology accommodates continuous batch printing with a single role of paper fed through the printer. Additionally, inkjet printer technology eliminates the need for multiple pre-printed checks.

Overall, the company benefited with technology that enabled their transition to more advanced and efficient print methods—leading to cost savings, faster turnaround times, and improved productivity.

Specifically:

• Inkjet printers are 5X faster than the company’s previous method.
• Turnaround time for weekly printing and processing decreased by 1 ½ days.
• Check costs decreased from approximately $16/1000 to $6.90/1000.
• Increased savings on paper and check stock.
• Increased savings on paper storage and associated inventory management.
• Improved productivity while decreasing the number of machine-operators needed.