STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI), a global technology company that provides innovative products and solutions to power commerce, today announced the winners of its 2017 Brilliance Awards: Bring Citymail Sweden AB, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office, Mele Printing and Mississippi Department of Revenue.
The annual awards honor leading print and mail organizations – innovators, early adopters and creative problem solvers – who are finding new ways to streamline workflow, respond to market changes, increase competitiveness and blend physical and digital technologies to obtain the greatest value from their customer communications. Pitney Bowes presents awards in four categories: Operational Excellence, Industry-Leading Compliance, Higher-Value Communications and Omni-Channel Customer Engagement.
Each honoree was formally recognized today during the 2017 Pitney Bowes Innovation Summit at the company’s Global Technology Center in Danbury, Connecticut.
“We are thrilled to recognize this year’s Brilliance Award winners, which include both private companies and public institutions who are committed to innovation and to transforming their print and mail operations,” said Jason Dies, President, Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies. “From adopting new inkjet printing technologies to produce full-color mailings for less, to deploying Relia-Vote solutions that securely and accurately automate vote-by-mail ballot operations, this year’s winners are at the forefront of the convergence of physical and digital technology and communications. They are creating deeper engagement and better experiences for all of their audiences.”
2017 Brilliance Award Winners
Operational Excellence: Bring Citymail Sweden AB, Stockholm, Sweden
Bring Citymail Sweden AB, a private postal organization owned by Posten Norge, was recognized in the Operational Excellence category for lowering operational costs and improving measures of control, while consistently providing quality customer service. A focus on innovation and operational excellence including the implementation of a unique Pitney Bowes sortation solution has helped the organization grow nearly 20 percent in a challenging market. Bring leverages multiple Pitney Bowes Vantage sorters at various sites, all connected to a shared network working against the same address database.
“Creativity and innovation are at the forefront of everything that Pitney Bowes does. Now more than ever, today’s high-performing organizations are focusing on productivity, decreasing expenses and increasing quality and value for their customers. With Pitney Bowes as a partner, we’ve achieved operational excellence, giving us a competitive advantage and enabling us to grow our business,” said Håkan Malmros, COO, Bring Citymail Sweden AB.
Industry-Leading Compliance: Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office, Tampa, Florida
With more than 830,000 registered voters, the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office serves the fourth most populous county in Florida. Nearly a third of all voters voting in the last several elections have opted to vote by mail, subsequently increasing the volume of ballots and instructions needed to be assembled and mailed. In the Industry-Leading Compliance category, the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office was recognized for its use of a Pitney Bowes Relia-Vote solution to manage the increased demand for mailed ballots, while also complying with state mandated deadlines and other regulations.
“Relia-Vote’s processing time is critical for us because we have a limited time frame between when our ballots can be printed and mailed out in compliance with state law,” said Craig Latimer, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. “Pitney Bowes’ technology ensures that our voters get everything they need to vote and that every voter’s ballot is mailed out accurately and on time. As the first elections office in Florida to earn the Governor’s Sterling Award for performance excellence, this partnership enhances our ability to serve as a strong role model for other offices.”
Higher-Value Communications: Mele Printing, Covington, Louisiana
Established in 1985, Mele Printing is a nationally recognized leader among commercial printers. They are responsible for direct and transactional mail as well as fulfillment, running more than one million statements a month. The company was recognized in the Higher-Value Communications category for its broad range of print capabilities, including dynamic personalization, advanced inkjet color and variable data printing. They earned this award for the quality of their full-color communications following a successful installation of the Pitney Bowes AcceleJet printing and finishing system. The AcceleJet printing and finishing system has also allowed Mele Printing to achieve world-class productivity, while significantly increasing quality and lowering costs.
“Pitney Bowes has helped us create higher-value communications. We’ve significantly improved the ways we serve our customers by offering them more versatility and diversity in the types of projects we can do,” said Mallery Mele, CEO and President, Mele Printing. “And while our existing customers love the quality of the color output, it is also helping us be more competitive and win new business. The AcceleJet has positioned us a key player in the print and mail industry.”
Omni-Channel Engagement: Mississippi Department of Revenue, Jackson, Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Revenue is the primary agency for collecting tax revenues that support state and local governments in Mississippi. The Department earned its recognition in the Omni-Channel Customer Engagement category after implementing a suite of Pitney Bowes software solutions and the Rival productivity inserting system. Implementation of these solutions provided a chain of custody for all taxpayer mailings, ensuring compliance with a new state law that requires proof of mailing. With the help of Pitney Bowes, the Department is able to account for each printed page and mail piece, while also designing a unique connection for taxpayers and their representatives (lawyers, CPAs, etc.) to access the date the mail piece was delivered to the postal service. Among other things, that date is used to determine whether a taxpayer’s appeal is timely.
“Pitney Bowes’ software enables us to provide more information and a better experience for our taxpayers, while also offering them the highest quality of service,” explained Jennifer Wentworth, Associate Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Revenue. “We can now ensure all mail leaves our office and is delivered to USPS, providing transparency to taxpayers related to their correspondence all while saving money on postage costs. This project cost the state $320,000 to implement, but we have recouped those costs and will have an ongoing yearly savings of $180,000 on our postage expenditures. We are thrilled to receive the Brilliance Award and are excited for this project to be used as a model for government departments who want to provide the same level of service, engagement and savings to their constituents.”
The 2017 Brilliance Awards were presented at the Pitney Bowes Innovation Summit at the Pitney Bowes Global Technology Center in Danbury, CT. More than 150 clients and partners from more than 15 countries attended the Summit on May 4.
About Pitney Bowes
Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company powering billions of transactions – physical and digital – in the connected and borderless world of commerce. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on products, solutions, services and data from Pitney Bowes in the areas of customer information management, location intelligence, customer engagement, shipping, mailing, and global ecommerce. And with the innovative Pitney Bowes Commerce Cloud, clients can access the broad range of Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs to drive commerce. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.
