British Forces Post Office Case Study

Neopost equipment helps BFPO process 36,000 items a day

36,000 letters and parcels a day move through BFPO's head office at Mill Hill, London, serving 125 branches worldwide. This enables everyone in the British Armed Forces to send and receive both personal and official mail, wherever they're based - even on active service in a conflict area.

BFPO (British Forces Post Office) is part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and processes every single piece of mail on the way to its destination. To help cope with this load, BFPO uses Neopost SE 78 and EPS70-30 postal scales and several types of Neopost franking machine, including the new IJ 65.

The Mill Hill head office has 150 sorting staff to deal with the 800 bags a day of incoming mail.

"The Forces operate on a tight budget, which demands an efficient, cost effective and reliable system", says Andy Anderson, technical manager at Mill Hill. "The Neopost equipment definitely fits this description."

Anderson continues, "The latest addition is the Neopost IJ 65 franking machine. It's perfect for our needs, ensuring consistent operation with minimal interruptions. Credifon® remote digital re-crediting means staff can top-up postage immediately by phone, so business continues as normal."

Each different type of mail - personal, official and even classified documents - requires a unique method of sorting and distributing.

Family & friends

Personal mail is weighed and franked using Neopost equipment, including fifty Neopost EPS70-30 postal scales in BFPOs worldwide. A special Neopost electronic chip automatically registers MoD's special postal rates, making the equipment simple to use. Weighed mail is franked - again using Neopost machines - before being bagged for distribution.

Official & classified

Official mail includes anything from highly confidential documents to standard correspondence between MoD establishments and British Embassies. Owing to its confidential nature, a separate sorting office is used.

MoD mail is weighed and stamped using a Neopost 8000 series franking machine to record the delivery date.

British Embassy mail is weighed using Neopost postal scales, then hand stamped with a postage paid impression. MoD couriers transport this mail to a commercial airline or RAF base for distribution.

Excellent back-up assures daily turnaround

"It's imperative BFPO has an efficient, fast-moving system, to ensure turnaround within the day", explains Anderson.

"Neopost have supplied our mailing equipment for the past five years, and we're particularly impressed with their handling of our needs. BFPO is so widespread, we require a very flexible servicing agreement. Neopost regularly services all the equipment and checks its calibration. When required, machines come back to Mill Hill for speedy Neopost attention, to avoid disrupting our routine. Training programmes mean staff are fully qualified to use new equipment, and we have a 24/7 help desk."

The future of BFPO

Despite moves towards the electronic age, security is paramount, so physical mail remains a key part of MoD communications. And BFPO with Neopost will therefore continue to ensure it's sorted, distributed and delivered efficiently.