Marketing services provider Prisma scales business with reduced supply chain costs.

Overview

Prisma, a marketing logistics and print production company, has been helping enterprise companies produce and distribute marketing materials at scale for over 40 years. Identified as one of the top 100 printing companies in the US, the company offers a wide range of solutions, from large format printing to direct mail and inventory management.

With its marketing mail distribution business growing, Prisma was notified with less than 24 hours’ notice from its previous transportation provider that it would no longer provide mail transportation services. Prisma needed an alternative solution fast. In addition, Prisma sought to reduce unpredictable costs and fees from the provider. Prisma collaborated with Pitney Bowes Presort Services to develop a solution that met its needs.

Business challenge

When Prisma moved its revenue-producing logistics operations in-house, rather than using drop shipping, it was able to expand overall production. This created a greater need for mail distribution services. To fulfill this need, Prisma initially partnered with a national freight company to ship 5,000 pallets of marketing mail each month. "There was a lot of pain and a lot of growth to get our previous transportation provider to understand how the mailing operations work with distribution to USPS® facilities around the country,” says Jim Beaudoin, Director of Logistics and Mail Services at Prisma.

However, with only 24 hours' notice, Prisma had to find a new transportation provider. The freight company told Prisma that it decided to cut ties with a select group of its customers, including Prisma.

Prisma conducted a search to find a transportation provider that could meet its mail delivery schedules and cost requirements. In the end, Pitney Bowes offered the best solution.

Solution

Already familiar with Pitney Bowes, Beaudoin reached out to Presort Services and found a team that was ready to develop a solution customized to Prisma’s requirements. Together, they collaborated on a co-transportation partnership.

With the co-transportation program, Prisma prepares the marketing mail to meet the requirements of USPS processing. Pitney Bowes then picks up trailer loads of marketing mail multiple times each week and ships it with other mail to a Presort Services Operating Center. This process puts Prisma’s mail into the USPS mail stream quickly and efficiently.

This streamlined solution meant that Prisma could rely on Pitney Bowes to deliver a high volume of marketing mail to USPS Sectional Center Facilities (SCF) at a reduced freight cost from Prisma’s previous provider. “They were able to save me from having to increase prices to my customers during a period of significant logistical challenges,” Beaudoin adds.

Benefits

By partnering with Pitney Bowes on a co-transportation solution, Prisma no longer worries about unreliable pricing. With Prisma’s previous provider, Beaudoin’s team often dealt with unpredictable hidden fees. “It was a constant battle,” he explains. “We would have hundreds of statements per month that we would have to reconcile. There are no billing mistakes anymore. I hired two people just to audit my bills. Now working with Pitney Bowes, I have none of that. The move to Pitney Bowes was seamless,” Beaudoin says. “We do not have any issues at all, and the partnership is still developing.”

In fact, Pitney Bowes was able to provide Prisma with a solution that kept Prisma customers from feeling any strain. “The clients don’t really know about the hiccup because we just have the secret sauce back here,” says Steve Bloomquist, Mailing Manager at Prisma.

Since partnering with Pitney Bowes, Prisma has seen increased production volume that Pitney Bowes is able to accommodate without the hidden fees or shipping limitations that Prisma experienced previously. Prisma can confidently scale without worrying about losing reliable transportation.

Beaudoin has high praise for Prisma’s collaboration with Pitney Bowes. “I have worked in a number of other areas, and I have had challenges in the past, but this team is probably the best team I have ever worked with,” Beaudoin shares. “I could not ask for a better partnership. “They really saved the day for us. This partnership has grown tremendously in the past eight months.”