UK envelope manufacturer Heritage Envelopes Ltd, based in Blackburn, Lancashire produces approximately 2.5 billion envelopes every year. Just over 2 years ago they introduced to the mailing industry the new format for packaging envelopes which doesn’t use conventional cardboard boxes. Instead, it is ‘boxless’ and the envelopes are packed tightly between two disposable and recyclable end panels and a narrow film band.
Volumes distributed to customers are expected to break through the ¾ billion envelope milestone by the end of 2017. Although the company cannot disclose which of their customers having converted to PackMail are now enjoying the benefits, they estimate they have delivered approx. 240 million envelopes to customers known to be using Pitney Bowes inserting machines, 290 million to Bowe Fusion users, and 140 to mailing companies thought to be using Kern and other inserting machine brands.
The company said that this year they will continue to explore new markets for PackMail and are convinced that the demand for PackMail will rise. Although the company manufactures envelopes for several market sectors, by far the largest demand comes from mail inserting companies, for which PackMail is fast approaching 1/5th of the company’s entire production volume. In an industry which has declined in recent years despite now seeing renewed interest in Direct Mail, the mailing industry looks for continual improvement to reduce costs and increase efficiency without compromising on quality or service. PackMail, which uses the Autoflat envelopes offers great opportunities for the mailing industry to reduce waste packaging, reduce manual handling and release valuable storage space as well as for some, increased output from their inserting machines, all of which helps mailing companies reduce their own operational costs – meaning tangible savings.