Custom Presentation Instrument Production via Decision Rules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for processing mass mailings face inefficiencies due to excess space and weight going unused, and lack of control over relevant information delivery, leading to irrelevant mailings and increased waste, particularly in direct marketing efforts where companies struggle to tailor presentations to specific customers without third-party integration.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allow external customers to define decision rules for preparing and packaging presentation instruments, such as credit cards, by sending control signals to production and mail processing equipment, enabling customization based on customer-specific criteria, including stock selection, embossing, data encoding, graphics, and weight allocation, to optimize mailings and reduce waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If companies include additional information from other vendors in mailings to spread costs, then cost distribution is improved, but excess white space and weight space remain unused
Solution Approach 1:
The mailing system is designed to accommodate multiple types of information from different vendors simultaneously, transforming a single-purpose mailing into a multi-functional communication vehicle that serves multiple clients' marketing needs while optimizing space utilization
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines primary information, additional vendor information, and promotional materials into a single integrated mailing package, merging multiple separate communications into one unified delivery that maximizes the use of available space and weight capacity
2Ease of manufacture
If a large amount of direct mailings are sent to spread costs, then cost recovery is improved, but recipients disregard all mailings as irrelevant and waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mailing system tailors the content composition to each recipient's local characteristics and preferences, selecting which vendor information to include based on recipient-specific criteria, thereby ensuring relevance to each individual recipient rather than sending uniform generic mailings
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the content of mailings based on recipient responses, purchase history, and other variable factors, making the mailing composition flexible and adaptive rather than static and uniform, thereby maintaining recipient engagement
3Device complexity
If companies send standardized mailings on standard schedules, then system simplicity is maintained, but control over relevant information delivery to specific customers is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The mailing system segments the customer base into distinct groups based on criteria such as purchase history, demographics, and behavior patterns, allowing different information combinations to be targeted to different segments while maintaining overall system structure
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that track recipient responses and usage patterns, using this information to refine and adjust future mailing content and timing, thereby improving adaptability while maintaining operational simplicity through automated learning
Data Source
AI summary
A method of preparing a presentation instrument includes receiving, at a host computer system, an electronic transmission from an external customer. The external customer is an entity other than the operator of the host computer system. Transactions using the presentation instrument are processed by an entity other than the operator of the host computer system. The electronic transmission comprises information to define a decision rule. The method also includes receiving an electronic transmission from the external customer that comprises a decision information. The method further includes applying the decision rule to the decision information and, based on the application of the decision rule to the decision information, sending control signals to plastics production equipment that cause the presentation instrument to be prepared. The method also includes sending control signals to mail processing equipment to package the presentation instrument for transmission to a customer.