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By Louise Pilar Yeabower, Project Management Division
PrinCE, short for the Printing and Check Enclosing system, is an integral component of the Financial Management Service’s (FMS) payment systems. PrinCE brings tomorrow’s technology to today’s government paper and electronic disbursements. Our overall objective is an enhanced, more efficient check printing and enclosing technology for printing and mailing Treasury checks and related payment information.
Background
FMS’s first efforts to modernize were directed at replacing its mechanical impact printers with high speed IBM Laser printers. This new technology gave FMS increased printing speed, a printing image quality improvement of up to 600 dots per inch and inspection technology in order to ensure the payments were 100% accurate. Upgrading the printers allowed FMS to respond to an unexpected high volume of Tax Rebate checks and to continue to qualify FMS for postal discounts. By using the 600 dpi printing speed, we have less items in question from the Federal Reserve and are better able to reduce claims and possible fraudulent checks. At the end of each print run, the PrinCE application produces a Post Print Verification (PPV) report. FMS is able to ensure that all check payments sent to the printers have been successfully printed and accounted for.
The next modernization effort was improving enclosing systems. FMS was using FL Smithe mechanical Check Wrappers (CWS), which basically “wraps” a check with paper, forming the envelope around the check. (The CWS system also has the ability to place card style inserts along with the checks.)
With the integration of Gunther inserters to the check wrapping operation, FMS was now in a position to not only print benefit letters, but to match the letters with the corresponding checks through new two-dimensional barcodes on the Gunthers with 100% accuracy. Between the two systems, FMS was wrapping single checks, inserting letters, or matching checks with letters. Customers such as the Department of Labor and the Veterans Administration had been sending out the benefit letters separately from the FMS issued check payments. Now FMS was able to provide this service to the agencies and ensure the recipients would receive both items in the same envelope.
Current Modernization
Our current modernization project is to replace FMS’s aged CWS systems and slow speed Gunther inserters with high speed intelligent KERN inserting systems. Our focus is not only to replace the wrappers with modern state of the art technology, but to also add intelligence and robust flexibility to our enclosing operations.
PrinCE has evolved into a multi-component system on the FMS isolated encrypted networks located at each Regional Financial Center (RFC). High powered servers contain applications and resources necessary for printing FMS checks and documents. Data is sent from the FMS mainframe payment subsystems to the print servers, merged into the PrinCE application software, and checks or documents are printed. High speed camera technology on the print train is used to verify the accuracy of each printed item, analyzing it for print quality, and ensuring that payment data integrity has been maintained.
Once the continuous form checks or documents are printed, they are transported to the KERN Inserter area. The new KERN 3000 single channel inserters are capable of enclosing single checks and code 2 vendor payments at a speed of 24,000 mail pieces per hour. The new KERN 3500 dual channel inserters are capable of enclosing single checks with matching letters or letters only at a rate of 22,000 mail pieces per hour. Both systems are able to add glossy magazine style inserts, automatically remove entitlement holds, and add variable printing to the front and back of the envelopes, while maintaining their speeds. At the end of each enclosing run, the KERN system produces a reconciliation report stating the disposition of every mail piece.
New Features
Inserts
In addition to the card style inserts, the KERN systems can process and insert glossy magazine style inserts. With the added intelligence, we can now target specific customers to receive special inserts based on zip codes, and other specific criteria. This type of technology easily lends itself to specialized Treasury programs such as Go Direct®. FMS is now in a position where they can easily support targeted marketing options by customer agencies. PrinCE has tested this feature and is negotiating a glossy insert mailing in the very near future for the Go Direct® project office.
Automated Entitlement Holds
Entitlement holds are check payments that need to be withheld. FMS receives a holds listing from agencies, instructing us to intercept the payment. In our previous operations enclosing area, FMS personnel spent many hours manually pulling the “holds” from the trays where the checks were staged for mailing. With the new KERN inserters, the hold payments are automatically collected on the KERN and accumulated into a separate bin. All of the valid checks or letters continue down the inserter belts, inserted into an envelope, sealed and are placed into the mailing trays.
Variable Printing
A new feature for FMS is the ability to print black or color variable print on the front and back of our envelopes. The majority of our envelopes will be preprinted, but we will have the ability to add targeted messages to the backs of envelopes when needed, and also the check delivery date on the front of envelopes as well. We will also be able to use the print feature when we have unique specialty jobs, thus reducing the inventory footprint.
Increased Accountability
Prior to the KERN inserting systems, FMS was not able to produce a post inserting verification report. The CWS systems did not have the intelligence to account for every single mail piece. With the addition of the intelligent KERN inserters, a reconciliation balancing report is produced at the end of each job, which adds individual mail piece accountability, a new process for FMS. Each mail piece has a status of good, a hold, or a PPV (printing error). The good mail pieces are sent to the post office, the holds are processed as returns to the agencies, and the PPVs are sent back to the printing systems to be reprinted. Every single mail piece is accounted for from beginning to end, which enhances our internal controls process.
Current Status
PrinCE is operational at the Austin and San Francisco RFCs with PrinCE application software, which is compliant with the new FMS standards, the Hi Speed 4100 Printers and KERN inserting systems. The Kansas City and Philadelphia RFCs are currently testing and training on the KERN 3000 and the new PrinCE application software. We are continuing our hardware roll out and expect to be in full production at all sites before 2011.
Roll to Roll Pilot
The PrinCE Staff is working on an enhancement known as the Roll to Roll (R2R) Pilot. The R2R pilot is currently scheduled to be conducted at the Philadelphia RFC. When using the CWS or Gunther inserters in our production environment, we are a roll to cut sheet or cut check environment. Initially, the check-stock or white paper is on a large continuous rolled up web. The checks or paper are unwound and fed into the high speed printers. The checks or paper is then cut into the appropriate size and stacked in trays. They are then transported on a cart to the CWS or Gunther for enclosing. With the introduction of the KERN Inserters, we became a Roll to fan-folded check or sheet environment. The checks or letters (after they are printed) are then stacked (in a zig zag pattern) on an autoloader table, still attached to each other. This feature actually provides an increase in security, as a single check can not be removed from the stacks. All items must go over whole (not as individual checks) to the KERN system for inserting.
With the R2R pilot, we are evaluating Roll input to Roll output, which would add the ability to roll the large print jobs back onto a roll. This feature would allow us to process larger jobs in a more streamlined fashion. FMS would retain the fanfold ability for smaller jobs, but use the R2R process for the larger print jobs.
Final RFC Configurations
Once the pilot is concluded, Payment Management at FMS will evaluate this new environment to see if it is a match for our workload and printing processes, select the workload distribution and inserting environment for each site, and complete the rollout of equipment. The PrinCE Hardware and Equipment Peripheral team will finish outfitting the rest of the sites in accordance with management’s direction.
Future
Our future modernization efforts will focus on putting into place an Automated Document Factory (ADF) solution. ADF is a software suite which contains a centralized dashboard, providing a unique view of host to post processing. Dashboards can be displayed on large high definition screens. The information can be accessible to management and operations via controlled personal computer (PC) screens. Indication of job status will be color coded, for example green indicates on time, yellow indicates time to process, and red is an indication that the associated work needs to be completed immediately. This provides FMS opportunity to quickly respond in the event of a disaster, seamlessly switching operations to another facility, and further improves the ability to provide check payments both timely and with integrity. The ADF will allow PrinCE to interface with FMS payment systems by providing accurate, real time quality data regarding check payments. System management benefits from ADF would include; real time tracking of individual mail pieces; job scheduling and monitoring dashboard; streamlined operation; centralized processing for Business Continuity Process (BCP); centralized processing for distributed workflow and work reallocation; diagnostic functionality; and integrity and increased product quality. Functionality and efficiency benefits would include; enhanced automated entitlement holds, automatic reprints, automated sortation and traying; automated post print verification; selective inserts; elimination of manual reconciliation and balancing; and automated inventory control.
The PrinCE project brings new exciting state of the art printing and enclosing technology to FMS, heralding a new era of improved customer support for Federal Program Agencies, FMS business partners and customers.
For more information about PrinCE, contact Louise Pilar Yeabower at 202-874–8266.
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