INDIANAPOLIS, IN — This week, the U.S. Postal Service recognized a Huntington, IN publishing company with the Mail Technology Award at the National Postal Forum in Nashville, TN. The award was presented to Our Sunday Visitor by Postmaster General Megan Brennan, and Great Lakes Area Vice President Jakki Krage Strako.

Our Sunday Visitor is one of 12 companies recognized in the Mail Technology category.  The award is a tribute to the company’s innovation, teamwork, communication and customer satisfaction, and its commitment to a successful business relationship with the Postal Service.

In 1912, a bankrupt Huntington publisher offered local parish priest Father John Noll a printing press for a single dollar. From that simple investment, the company has grown to become the largest English language Catholic publisher in the world.

In addition to the more than 1,800 textbooks, parish resources and trade books in print, Our Sunday Visitor is also the largest manufacturer of church offering envelopes in the world printing several hundred million offering envelopes a year.

“We are pleased to recognize and honor Our Sunday Visitor for its innovation, creativity and leadership,” said Jakki Krage Strako, vice president of the Great Lakes Area, who nominated Our Sunday Visitor for the award. “By working closely with the Postal Service to develop strategic business solutions, Our Sunday Visitor has produced winning results, which supports the mailing industry.”

The Mail Technology Award, presented annually at NPF, recognizes Postal Service customers who have implemented innovative mailing solutions. Winning companies embrace new technologies and implement best practices to improve efficiency and productivity in mail operations. The partnership between Our Sunday Visitor and the Postal Service propelled Our Sunday Visitor to the cutting edge of innovative product processing.

Our Sunday Visitor processes more than 9,000 trays of mail each week, and the company discovered that misdirected letter trays were causing delays in the delivery of church offering envelopes. Using a Quality Control process, employees were required to scan the tray label as it came off the production line, and then to scan the pallet placard. If the wrong pallet is scanned, the system alerts the employee and sends an email to the shift leader to ensure the tray is redirected to the correct pallet. As a result, the company saw a 100 percent improvement in misdirected trays significantly reducing Customer Service calls, which allowed for more time to focus on growing the business.

Our Sunday Visitor uses Postal Service programs and technology to fine-tune its operations to offer a best-in-class product at the best cost for its customers.

# # #

Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.

Follow us on twitter.com/USPS and like us at facebook.com/USPS. For more information about the Postal Service, go to usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.