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Customer Barcode (CBC) and Delivery Point Suffix (DPS) information

We want to make sure you and your customers get the most out of the improvements we are making this year to our barcoded, machineable letter products and have recently sent you a letter (PDF 50KB) alerting you to these changes.

We hope we have answered most of your questions below, and we have provided details of further sources of information to help you ensure your mailings meet the product specifications.

If you do need any further assistance, our technical team can be contacted on 020 7371 6957 and will be happy to help.

  1. What is a Customer Barcode (CBC)

    A CBC is essentially a postcode and a property name or number put into a barcode format. For every letter or number there are four bars – this is why it is also known as a ‘four-state’ barcode.

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  2. What is the information in a Customer Barcode (CBC)?

    Using the address on this mock mailpiece as an example.

    Mock mailpiece



    The barcode comprises of the following information in barcode font form:

    • an open bracket which is the ‘start bar’
    • the outward Postcode
    • the inward Postcode
    • a Delivery Point Suffix
    • a checksum character
    • a close bracket which is the ‘stop bar’

     

    Barcode requirements Barcode information in plain text Barcode information
    Start bar ( Start bar barcode information
    Outward Postcode PH21 Outward postcode barcode information
    Inward Postcode 1NL Inward postcode barcode information
    Delivery Point Suffix 1A Delivery point suffix barcode information
    Checksum character* H Checksum character barcode information
    Stop bar ) Stop bar barcode information
    Full barcode Full barcode

     

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  3. What is a Delivery Point Suffix (DPS)?

     

    • A DPS forms a necessary part of a Customer Barcode, as shown above.
    • A DPS always consists of one alpha and one numeric character.
    • An accurate DPS is a premise number or name ‘translated’ into a numerica and an alpha reference unique to that property (when included with the Outward and Inward Postcode).
    • A default DPS is where one of the following five combinations is simply used to ensure that the barcode is the correct length - 9U, 9W, 9X, 9Y or 9Z. These default codes do not enable us to fully machine sort this mail.

     

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  4. Why is a barcode so important?

    The barcode is read by our sorting machines and, providing the barcode print is good quality and the information is correct, enables the machine to sort the letter to the correct Delivery Office and Delivery walk. If an accurate DPS is used, this enables us to not only sort the mail to the correct Delivery walk but allows us to undertake an additional sort, called walk sequencing, which ensures the mail is sorted to exactly the order in which the delivery is made.

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  5. What are the current requirements for Delivery Point Suffix?

    The requirements are as follows: when a customer is using a CBC product they have to ensure that, as a minimum, the barcoded items have either 90% or 95% accurate DPS within the code.

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  6. Where have customers been made aware of this?

    This has been a requirement for many years and is detailed in the product literature (Mailsort User Guide) which forms part of customers’ terms and conditions.

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  7. Did customers receive any formal communications?

    Yes, customers who chose to receive communications via mailsorttechnical.com received a number of emails in 2008 and again in January of this year. These emails reminded customers of the need to meet the product specifications and highlighted which products were affected. In 2008, customers were advised that although it was a mandatory requirement to meet the minimum levels for accurate DPS, we would not surcharge postings where some or all the barcodes used default DPS. We explained that as soon as we needed accurate DPS data included in barcodes we would write to advise customers of the date this would apply from.

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  8. What currently happens with our mail if we have used default DPS information?

    Any barcoded letter (CBC) which has a default DPS in the code cannot be fully machine sorted i.e. to walk sequencing level. As a result, depending on the quality and design of the envelope we may have to run the mail through the machines and read the address information to apply a full and accurate barcode. However, if the mail cannot be re-processed then it has to be manually sorted into delivery order. Both these options are costly in times of resource and quality of service.

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  9. What is the change?

    The change is that we are now asking customers to ensure that they meet the CBC product requirement of including accurate DPS information in the barcode. Previously, we permitted customers to use default DPS information. The specific requirement is that a minimum of 90% or 95% (depending on the product used) DPS accuracy must be achieved.

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  10. Why make this change now?

    Accurate address information on mail items is a very important enabler of Royal Mail’s Transformation and Modernisation strategy. The use of accurate Delivery Point Suffixes enables more effective use of our processing technology, both now and increasingly in the future, which directly contributes to the achievement of our Quality of Service targets.

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  11. When will customers have to meet this requirement?

    This has been a mandatory requirement of the product for several years. From the 31st October 2011 we need customers to ensure that any CBC mailing meets the minimum accurate DPS requirement.

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  12. Will I still qualify for CBC discounts if I don’t have accurate DPS information?

    If your mailing does not meet the minimum standard required for accurate DPS from 31st October 2011 then there will be a surcharge of 0.5p per item. This is to reflect the additional cost of processing these items from delivery in the correct sequence. This level of surcharge will be increased from April 2012 if default or in-accurate DPS codes are used more than the contracted maximum allows. However, if this does happen we’ll contact you then to provide you with details and what other options you have.

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  13. Is there an alternative option for me?

    If you cannot or do not wish to use the required % of accurate DPS codes with your CBC mail, you can post using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) products, which are priced at a very similar level to CBC. Please note, however, that what you can print on your envelopes (such as branding or sales messages) and address format requirements are more flexible under CBC than with OCR, and therefore CBC remains our recommended machinable letter format for all business and direct mail.

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  14. When will this affect me?

    We will begin checking your CBC mailings from June 2011 onwards in order to provide you with feedback on your current DPS data quality levels and to offer advice on how all your CBC mailings can become fully compliant through the use of full and accurate DPS.

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  15. What products are affected by this change?

     

    • Advertising Mail™ 70
    • Advertising Mail™ 120
    • Mailsort® 70 CBC
    • Mailsort® 120 CBC
    • Mailsort® 700 CBC
    • Sustainable® Entry Level with any of the above Mailsort products
    • Sustainable® Intermediate Level with any of the above Mailsort products
    • mailmedia® Plus
    • Mailsort® Light
    • Cleanmail® CBC
    • Cleanmail® Plus CBC

     

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  16. What is the minimum accurate DPS level I must meet?

     

    Product Minimum accurate DPS %
    Mailsort® 70 CBC 90%
    Mailsort® 120 CBC 90%
    Mailsort® 700 CBC 90%
    Advertising Mail™ 70 90%
    Advertising Mail™ 120 90%
    Sustainable® Entry Level with: MS70, 120 or 700 CBC 90%
    Sustainable® Intermediate Level with: MS70, 120 or 700 CBC 95%
    Cleanmail® CBC 90%
    Cleanmail® Plus CBC 95%

     

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  17. Where do I get DPS information from?

    You have three options on how to obtain and check your DPS information, depending on the option chosen there may be additional costs.

    1. If you have purchased a PAF® (Postcode Address File®) licence, this allows you to use the file to obtain and check accurate address information and obtain accurate Delivery Point Suffix information when required. This activity is covered within the cost of the PAF® licence option chosen.
    2. If you buy a raw data PAF® product from us you will get the DPS included as a field within PAF® raw data. Software is necessary to process this data.
    3. If you buy a product from a Solutions Provider (i.e. a company that has purchased raw PAF® data and then developed a product for resale), then you will need to understand exactly what fields are within the product as supplied and if the DPS data has been included. Solutions Providers will provide PAF® in products depending on what the product is being used for and they may make an additional charge for DPS data.

     

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  18. What are the possible Address Management costs of getting an accurate DPS?

     

    1. If you have a licence and clean your data against PAF® or PIF™ then there are no additional PAF® licence usage costs incurred.
    2. If you have a licence and clean a clients data before producing a mailing but do not return the cleansed data list there are no additional PAF® licence usage costs incurred.
    3. If you have a licence and take a client’s address database, cleanse and update it using PAF® and return the cleansed database to your client, this is known in the Royal Mail PAF® licence as Bureau Services. There is a separate fee chargeable for this type of use. It is based on the number of address records processed by your company over a 12 month period and the fee is chargeable annually.

      The charging is based on the number of address recorded processed by a company over a 12 month period and is annually renewable (as are other PAF® licence and data supply fees).

      If you ask your mailing house or data processor to reference PAF® to obtain a valid DPS code the extra work involved may be chargeable. However, please consult with them directly on this as they may also be able to assist with other value added services directly linked to address accuracy.

     

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  19. Where can I go to find more information?

     

    Query Website Link
    Barcode font www.mailsorttechnical.com Royal Mail's Mailsort Technical - Barcode font
    Cleanmail® www.royalmail.com/cleanmail Royal Mail Cleanmail
    Clear Prospects® www.royalmail.com/clearprospects www.royalmail.com/clearprospects
    Customer Service – Royal Mail www.royalmail.com/customerservice Royal Mail Customer Service
    Data products www.royalmail.com/data www.royalmail.com/data
    Direct Marketing Association (UK) (DMA) www.dma.org.uk (new window) www.dma.org.uk (new window)
    Postcode Address File www.royalmail.com/amu Royal Mail Postcode Address File
    Product literature www.mailsorttechnical.com Royal Mail's Mailsort Technical - Mailsort User Guide
    Returns Management www.royalmail.com/returnsmanagement Royal Mail Returns Management
    Royal Mail www.royalmail.com www.royalmail.com
    Royal Mail products www.royalmail.com/shop www.royalmail.com/shop
    Software suppliers www.mailsorttechnical.com Royal Mail's Mailsort Technical - Software Suppliers
    Solutions Providers www.royalmail.com/amu Royal Mail Address Management - Suppliers Directory

     

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