The mail you release today isn't necessarily tied to any one given job. Sometimes it's specific portions of a job. Sometimes it's many jobs. Or portions of many jobs. When you're making entry point decisions, you need to take into consideration all the mail that's ready to go ... and only the mail that's ready to go.

With ENTRYdb, it's easy. Just click to select segments, currently-assigned entry points, trucks, even individual containers ... from one job or many jobs. You can even combine mail of different types – Std(A), Std(B) Bound Printed Matter and Periodicals – into a single run. That's the mail that's really being released, and that's the mail that ENTRYdb will include in its analysis of entry point assignments.

The savings in postage that you earn by drop shipping to a given entry point are offset by the costs associated with shipping to that location. The question is:      Is it worth it?

To answer that question, you first need to know what the postage savings would be if you drop shipped rather than entering at origin. ENTRYdb calculates that for you to the penny.

The other thing you need is to be able to express the shipping costs in real world terms in order to make a meaningful comparison. ENTRYdb enables you to do just that.

• You can specify shipping costs in terms of:

  flat rate per shipment

  rate per mile

  rate per hundredweight (cwt)

  rate per hundredweight per mile.

  
  
• ENTRYdb even calculates the distance for you so that rates based on mileage can be handled with ease.
   
• You can specify multiple cost factors
  (e.g., "$100/shipment plus $4/cwt").
   
• You can add minimums to the costs
  (e.g., "$4/cwt or $500, whichever is greater").
   
• You can establish minimum shipping criteria
  (e.g., "Don't ship anything less than 1,500 lbs. to this entry point",
  or "Don't ship to this entry point unless it saves me at least $200").
   
• You can limit the scope of locations that you're willing to consider shipping to
  (e.g., "Never ship to BMC 123" or "Never ship to any DDU").
   
• You can apply any or all of these factors to:

  All entry points

  All entry points at a given level (e.g., all BMCs, all SCFs)

  Each entry point separately.

  Or you can mix and match
  (e.g., "The rate for these five entry points is $6/cwt. Everywhere else is $4/cwt., except for this one, which is a flat $500 per shipment.").

Sound complicated?     It isn't.     In fact, it's a lot easier to use than it is to describe.

ENTRYdb allows you to specify your costs of shipping and other shipping criteria in terms that accurately reflect the way you do business in the real world.

This enables ENTRYdb to pinpoint the exact costs and benefits of shipping to any entry point, and ensures that entry points are assigned in the manner most beneficial to you.

One of the problems with shipping costs is they're not always the same. You might, for instance, have one set of costs for dense mail such as catalogs, and an entirely different set of costs for less dense mail such as letters in trays.

Once you've prepared a set of cost factors, ENTRYdb allows you to assign it a name and store it for future use. You can have as many different sets as you want. When it's time to assign entry points, just select the costs you want to use and go!

ENTRYdb makes it easy to experiment with the mailing to see what, if any, impact specific changes in "the rules" might have. For instance, you may want to know:

• What would it cost me to just enter all this mail at origin?
  (You don't even have to ask. ENTRYdb always gives you this information.)
   
• What would it cost me to forget about cost optimization and simply enter all this mail at the lowest level for which it qualifies?
  (Couldn't be easier. One click will set this strategy.)
   
• Should I consider shipping loose sacks and trays, or should I limit my shipping to pallets only?
  (Find out if the savings is worth it. One click sets this strategy.)
   
• I'd really like to increase the penetration of this mail down to the SCF level where I can. What SCFs can I reach for a reasonable cost? What's the total cost?
  (Easy to do. Even if it's more economical to enter at the BMC, ENTRYdb will show you the cost of entering at each SCF and allow you to choose those you wish to ship to.)

The results of ENTRYdb's entry point assignment analysis are displayed for your review in three levels of detail:

• overall
• by entry point
• by container

After you’ve determined the optimum entry point assignment plan, one click is all it takes to automatically update the MAILdb database with the new entry points.