If your business sends out a reasonable amount of mail on a regular basis, then having your own franking machine can save you both time and money, and give your mail a very professional look. Franking machines are, of course, not new in large multinational companies, but today even quite small businesses can benefit from franking their own mail. But just what franking machines are available, and what facilities do they provide?
There is a long list of machines that are approved by the Royal Mail, and they come with a wide range of options to meet many different needs. That said, there are five main suppliers of low volume franking machines that are suitable for use in small or medium sized businesses.
Mailcoms Limited. Based in Staffordshire, Mailcoms Limited offers machines that can handle anywhere from 50 to 1,000 letters a day and their most popular lower volume machines are the Mailbase and the Mailbase Lite. Both are ‘pass through’ machines recommended for a volume of up to 100 letters a day, with a speed of 30 letters per minute for the Mailbase Lite and 40 letters per minute for the Mailbase. Service and support cover costs between about £175 and £200 a year, and includes postage top-ups and Royal Mail rate changes. Ink cartridges will cover approximately 5,000 frankings and work out at about 1.2p per print.
Neopost Limited. Based in Romford, Neopost Limited offer the Neopost IS240 and IS280, which are both manual stamp and remove machines, and can handle up to 50 letters a day at a speed of 20 letters per minute. Support and maintenance varies from about £175 a year for the IS240 and £265 for the IS280, but postage top-ups are charged at a rate of around £60 a year, and Royal Mail rate changes also come in at about £70 each. Cartridges will frank up to 2,500 letters at a cost of about 3.4p per print.
Neopost also offer IS330 and IS350 ‘pass through’ machines capable of handling up to 100 letter a day, at a speed of 30 letters per minute. Maintenance costs for these machines are much higher, at approximately £550 per year and, while rate changes are included in this price, postage top-ups are still charged at approximately £60 each year. Print cartridges can cope with some 6,000 prints, at a cost of 2p per print.
Pitney Bowes Limited. With its UK base in Hatfield, Pitnes Bowes is the world’s largest supplier of franking machines and supplies two lower volume machines.
The DM50/DM55 is a ‘manual stamp and remove’ machine for up to 50 letter a day, at a top speed of 20 letter a minute. It comes with an extended warranty costing just £30, and postage top-ups are charged at approximately £5.50 per re-credit, while Royal Mail rate changes are charged at £120 a year. Cartridges are designed to handle up to 1,280 prints, at a cost of about 4.9p per print.
The DM160i is a ‘pass through’ machine with a capacity of 100 letters a day, at a maximum rate of 40 letters per minute. Service cover, which includes rate changes, costs approximately £350 per year, and top-ups are charged at a rate of £13 per re-credit. Cartridges handle up to 5,000 prints, at a cost of about 1.8p per print.
Francotype Postalia Limited. Based in Dartford, and more commonly referred to as FP Mailing, Francotype Postalia Limited offer two low volume solutions.
The Mymail ‘manual stamp and remove’ machine is designed to handle up to 30 letters daily, at a maximum throughput of 18 letters each minute. A service agreement, that includes the cost of Royal Mail rate changes, will cost around £190 each year, and the first 12 top-ups each year are also included in the agreement. Thereafter, top-ups cost £11 each. Cartridges can handle up to 4,000 prints and work out at about 3.8p per print.
The Mymail ‘pass through’ franking machine handles up to 100 letter each day, and can cope with up to 30 letters a minute. In this case the service agreement, which again covers rate changes and the first 12 top-ups each year, costs £300 a year. Additional top-ups are again charged at a rate of £11 each. Cartridges can cope with up to 4,000 prints but, in this case, these work out at approximately 2.7p each.
Frama UK Limited. With its UK base in Hoddesdon, Frama UK offers three machines, all of which are ‘pass through’ franking machines.
The Matrix F2 and Matrix F2 lite are designed to handle 50 letters daily, at a maximum rate of 21 letters per minute, and come with a service agreement that includes the cost of Royal Mail rate changes. In both cases however top-ups are charged at a rate of £30 for six months. A service agreement for the Matrix F2 costs £250 per year, while an agreement for the F2 lite comes in at about £200. The cartridge for the F2 handles up to 4,000 prints, at an approximate cost of 2.1p each, while the F2 Lite provides 2,500 prints, at about 3.4p per print.
The Matrix F4 Lite is designed to handle 300 letters a day, at up to 60 letters each minute, and its service agreement costs some £400 a year. The cost of top-ups and rate changes are the same as those for the Matrix F2 and Matrix F2 Lite machines. The F4 Lite cartridge will produce up to 10,000 prints at a cost of around 1.2p per print.
As can be seen, there is a wide range of choice available, and here of course we have listed only the most popular machines. Actual costs will also vary from time to time, and according to the particular agreement you choose to enter into. In many cases, for example, it is not necessary to have a service agreement, in which case such things as included rate changes will then be charged separately.
The secret to choosing a machine is to look at your needs and then to find a machine that most closely matches them. Do your homework though and, in particular, work out the overall cost of each machine. Franking can save you a great deal in postage charges, but be careful that you do not eat too deeply into these savings with annual charges for your franking machine.
