Mail presort and commingle service bureaus have an opportunity to expand their service offerings and increase profitability by adding flat mail processing. As rates rise, mailers are chasing all possible postage discounts, including those for flat mail. Presort mailers typically pay little attention to flat mail because of its traditionally low volume compared to letter mail. “Presort” is a bit of a misnomer. What presort bureaus do that most mail and print service providers cannot is commingle mail, including flats, from many organizations. Comingling qualifies mail for density postage discounts rarely attainable by individual mailers. Presort/commingle services using Tritek’s M Sorter can process flat mail pieces up to 3/4″ thick (the thickest mail piece designated by the USPS as a “flat”) with a 12″ by 17″ imaging/OCR read area, providing greater savings potential compared to letters. The sorters used by most presort services process letters and cards only. Flat processing is an excellent avenue for increasing business with existing clients and carving out a niche in the competitive landscape. Most letter sorters cannot be configured to process flats. The beauty of Tritek's M Sorter is that it processes all types of mail and sorts them automatically into bins or stackers. A Tritek M sorter allows service providers to process a variety of mail types and sizes. By expanding into flat mail processing, presort service bureaus can market directly to organizations such as non-profits and financial services that are working to reduce mailing costs. This strategy enables services to gain market share and diversify their revenue streams as their customers' mailing practices evolve. New Revenue (and New Customers) With Flats Sorting Mailers often overlook flat mail processing because they have low volumes, making it difficult to qualify for presorting discounts. New qualification rules from the USPS, which took effect with the postal rate case on July 13, 2025, make discounts even further out of reach. Now, the Domestic Mail Manual specifies that at least 50 mail pieces must be sent to a single 5-digit ZIP Code for flats to qualify at the 5-digit presort rate. Before the latest rule change, the minimum was only 10 pieces. By commingling flat mail from multiple organizations, presort bureaus can build volumes to qualify for USPS discounts. Small and mid-sized mailers can enjoy postage discounts that were once only available only to high-volume mailers. Tritek’s M Sorter is the ideal solution for presort/commingle service providers: Processes flat mail pieces up to ¾” thick 12” x 17” OCR imaging area for a flexible read and sort of postal addresses Sorting to either bins or stackers Process both letters and flats, eliminating the investment in two machines Compact and configurable footprint without sacrificing throughput Format Audit: Redesign Reduces Postage Mailers currently sending small parcels containing low-value goods could send those items as Marketing Mail flats, instead. Reconfiguring small parcels as machinable flats significantly reduces postage costs and can be processed easily on Tritek’s M Sorter. Free promotional T-shirts or socks typically sent as a parcels, for instance, can easily go as ¾-inch (or thinner) flats. Colleges and universities often send these items to prospective students. A flat enters the mail stream at low Marketing Mail postage rates. By implementing the M sorter and advising clients on mail optimization and design, presort service providers can offer an additional value proposition. Floor Space Optimization Presort services are reevaluating the value of large-scale legacy sorters. There are several reasons, with space constraints often at the top of the list. The lack of production floor real estate frequently limits service providers. They may need room to accommodate bindery equipment, a collator, or a wide-format printer. Not only is M Sorter's footprint smaller than legacy technology, it can also replace two pieces of equipment: a letter and a flat sorter. Companies can make more space for new revenue-creating technology. Parts, Service, and Retirement All mechanical devices with moving parts need scheduled maintenance and servicing. However, legacy sorters demand more attention simply because of their age and complexity. Often, manufacturers plan older systems for retirement. Parts for discontinued machines become scarce, driving up the cost. Technicians with the expertise and talent to maintain legacy systems are also retiring. The Tritek M sorter features current technology and uses a modular design, making maintenance and service easy to access. By the way, Tritek has never retired a piece of equipment. We continue to service and support machines purchased by our customers over twenty-five years ago. Adaptability = Profitability As mailing organizations reevaluate their mailing strategies, presort service bureaus that can adapt quickly with versatile, scalable, and space-efficient technology are in high demand. The M Sorter enables presort bureaus to expand their capabilities, including flats processing, which enhances revenues for the service bureau and reduces postage for mailers. Versatility from Tritek The dual-function M Sorter is just one offering on Tritek's expanding menu of mail systems, which also includes biohazard screening, digital email delivery, returned mail processing, inbound mail, presorted mail, and parcel processing. Tritek’s clients include mail service providers, print providers, presort bureaus, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions, financial services companies, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, and fulfillment services.

Does your company handle mail? Of course it does. Nearly every organization relies on postal mail, both inbound and outbound, to facilitate the business relationships between customers, suppliers, partners, and outside entities like government agencies. If volumes are great enough, your mail center manager uses machines to process the mountains of mail that must pass through their departments every day. They couldn’t do the job without this equipment—the mail sorting machines being the most important. Managing maintenance and staffing costs, along with floor space constraints, can be constant challenges for your mail center operations people. With postal mail volumes now lower now than at a peak time when some mail equipment was purchased, corporations are looking for ways to economize in the mail center. Re-evaluating their lineup of mail handling equipment may be in order. Even though mail volumes may be down, your company must still deal with the material that remains and do so efficiently and at a low cost. If you can't sort outbound mail, your company may be paying what equates to single-piece postage rates. Without automated inbound mail sorting, you must rely on extra labor and time spent reading and sorting inbound mail for internal delivery. This may be the time to right-size your equipment and take advantage of the benefits of a multi-purpose machine.   Inbound vs. Outbound Mail Sorting – Why a Single Machine Optimizes Both Functions Mail handling is a critical driver of communication, compliance, and customer satisfaction. Invoices, contracts, marketing materials, legal notices, and more must move efficiently in and out of the organization. The Tritek M sorter is ideal for this dual function.    Inbound Mail Sorting: Speed, Accuracy, and Distribution Efficiency Incoming mail includes customer payments, insurance claims, medical records, government notices, and legal documents—items where timing and accuracy are critical and often subject to the constraints of governmental compliance. Inefficient inbound mail handling results in delays that affect an organization's cash flow and reputation in the marketplace. It is not just a matter of inconvenience. Checks sit idle, leading to cash flow issues; legal documents miss response deadlines, resulting in compliance penalties; or medical records can fail to reach the specified department on time, affecting patient care. Efficient inbound sorting ensures that mail reaches the right department or recipient quickly, reducing bottlenecks and shortening response or action times. Productivity increases when your staff no longer spends time manually sorting mail, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks. Automated sorting eliminates human error and speeds distribution. Tritek customers can reduce their Inbound mail processing time from hours to minutes after automating this area of their workflow.   Outbound Mail Sorting: Cost Control and Postal Optimization Outbound mail sorting impacts cost savings and postal compliance. Outbound mail may include invoices, account statements, policy updates, and marketing campaigns. Postage is the “hard cost” of the mailing process, and the level and method of sortation you use to prepare the mail will affect how the Post Office computes your postage costs. Mail presorted by ZIP Code or delivery area qualifies mailers for substantial postage discounts. Without sorting, mailers may pay single-piece retail postage rates—a costly mistake for companies sending thousands of items daily. Another advantage of sorting your outbound mail is the speed at which your mail makes it into the postal delivery network. Presorted mail spends less time inside a USPS processing plant before moving on to the next step in delivery. Quicker delivery speed has a direct impact on cash flow triggered by the bills you send by mail. In compliance-driven industries, such as healthcare and finance, fail-safe sorting ensures mail reaches recipients without delay, reducing the cost of fielding customer service calls and inquiries related to mail still in transit.   A Single Piece of Equipment for Both Functions Traditionally, companies relied on separate systems or manual labor for inbound and outbound sorting. The Tritek M Sorter is a single solution covering both processes, and offering several advantages: Cost Efficiency – A single mail sorter eliminates the need to purchase, maintain, and staff two separate systems. Reduced equipment costs, lower maintenance, and fewer technical support requirements translate into budget savings. Space Optimization – Mail centers often operate in a shrinking piece of real estate. A single piece of equipment frees up space, providing a more efficient and less cumbersome workflow. Extra space offers the possibility of adding new mail and shipping services or accommodating higher volumes of inbound or outbound parcels. Operational Flexibility – A dual-purpose sorter allows mail center managers to switch between inbound and outbound tasks quickly, depending on workflow demands. During peak outbound seasons (such as year-end billing or tax notices), a single piece of hardware handles the outgoing volume increase and can easily pivot to inbound processing when required. Operational Redundancy and Training Simplicity – Tritek customers find that using one machine simplifies employee training and reduces operational complexity. Your staffers will become proficient with a single system, leading to fewer errors and greater processing consistency.   Mailroom Efficiency from Tritek Since 1988, Tritek has engineered, patented, and field-proven production mail automation solutions to enhance productivity and efficiency for mail service providers and in-plant mail centers across the nation. The dual-function M Sorter is just one offering on Tritek's expanding menu of mail systems. Solutions include Biohazard Screening, Digital Email Delivery, Returned Mail Processing, Inbound Mail, Presorted Mail, and Parcel Processing. Clients include mail service providers, print providers, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions, financial services companies, healthcare organizations, insurance companies, and fulfillment services.