Introduction

Mailpiece Design Analysts (MDA) are postal employees specially trained to answer your questions regarding mailpiece design. These employees provide advice and issue rulings regarding acceptability for automated rates. MDAs provide technical assistance on mailpiece design to envelope manufacturers, printers, advertising agencies, and graphic designers.

The Mailpiece Design Analyst Lookup Tool will help you locate the MDA responsible for your ZIP Code area. Mailpiece Design Analysts are available for:

• Testing paper and actual mailpiece samples for acceptable thickness, background color, flexibility, rigidity, and barcode print tolerances.

• Assigning unique ZIP+4 for Business Reply Mail (BRM) mailpieces.

• Providing camera ready artwork for the proper Facing Identification Marks (FIM) and barcodes for Business Reply Mail (BRM) and Courtesy Reply Mail (CRM).

• Reviewing artwork prior to printing.

• Review and approval of vendor-prepared "privately printed" forms for USPS special services.

• Analysis of Optical Character Reader (OCR) readability and automation compatibility of prospective or actual mailpieces.