JULY 2021 ISSUE NUMBER 02
The Wave
News and updates for Team BlueCrest
In this issue: 02 I CARE Culture Our new Mission, Vision, and Key Behaviors. 04 T hrough the Storm BlueCrest Service team keeps client operational during storm of the century. 07 Microsoft Teams Arrival
Team, During our May all-employee meeting, we unveiled our mission and vision statements and introduced five key behaviors that all BlueCrest employees should strive to model in their work: innovation, collaboration, accountability, resourcefulness and enthusiasm. Our mission and vision together with our key behaviors (known collectively as ‘I CARE’) are the foundation of a strong culture that allows us to best represent the BlueCrest name to our customers, our communities and each other. Dennis LeStrange President & CEO, BlueCrest
In looking at the key behaviors that make up I CARE, it’s easy to see why all five are critical to our continued success. In summary, BlueCrest employees are: Innovative, Collaborative, Accountable, Resourceful, and Enthusiastic. • Innovation: our company is known for being innovative in everything we do, from technologies to differentiating solutions, to solving unique customer problems. Innovation is critical to all areas and functions throughout BlueCrest, and it is the driver for change, productivity and customer satisfaction. • Collaboration: we work together as a team, challenge constructively and trust each other to achieve our collective goals. • Accountability: we are accountable for our own responsibilities, our companywide goals and to each other. Collaboration cannot be accomplished without accountability. • Resourceful: we are agile, resourceful and adaptable. We embrace change and seek new and different ways to achieve success. • Enthusiasm: we are passionate, positive, energized and committed to BlueCrest customers and each other. In the coming weeks and months, you can expect to see more in the way of communications around our mission, vision and I CARE. Please continue to familiarize yourself with this information and continue to model I CARE every day in your work. These key behaviors are the foundation of our culture and have meaning to every role at BlueCrest. Going forward, these behaviors will be integrated into our annual performance review process. Remember that a company’s culture is more than just words on a page. Our culture may be outlined by mission and vision, but it’s the way we demonstrate and live those words every day that is the key to our success. As always, thank you for your passion and commitment to our company. Our success is a result of the contributions you make each day. Onward!
Dennis P. LeStrange, President & CEO, BlueCrest
'
2
J
The Wave | July 2021
Events Calendar of Activities
Customer Events Doxnet
September 6-8, Germany This 3-day conference and exhibition is hosted by the leading trade body for document management professionals in Germany. www.doxnet.de
Innovation Summit
September 15, Danbury, CT We are excited to welcome clients to our very own Innovation Summit at BlueCrest World Headquarters! Please invite our clients to see demos of our industryleading technology, learn about our latest innovations and discuss their business needs with our solutions experts and engineers.
Parcel+Post Expo
October 12-14, Austria This is the premier, global exhibition of future technologies, solutions and services for the parcel delivery, e-commerce logistics and postal industries. www.parcelandpostexpo.com
Internal Events All-Employee Meeting September 9, 9:00 AM EDT November 17, 9:00 AM EST BlueCrest in the Market July 21, 11:00 AM EDT October 13, 11:00 AM EDT Ask the Experts BlueShirt Service Excellence Program July 23, 12:00 PM EDT
Innovation Summit Preview August 27, 12:00 PM EDT
KPI DASHBOARD Key Performance Indicators – Are you Paying Attention? Since introducing our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the last Newsletter, we have also updated all employees on our progress during our May All-Employee Meeting. We hope that by continually sharing information and tracking progress against these KPIs, everyone will have a consistent, reliable way to see how BlueCrest is doing.
We have also made it easy for you to check on our KPI performance anytime by posting them to the intranet site here. Please do take the time to review them and if you have any questions reach out to me directly at carl.amacker@bluecrestinc.com. I would be pleased to receive your comments and input. Read more
3
Sales Spotlight
Commercial Wins
BlueCrest and Paragon Germany sign contract for six inserters As part of a project to increase efficiency, Paragon Germany is replacing several machines from another manufacturer at its Weingarten site with five highly productive systems from BlueCrest. In addition to three MPS (Mailstream Productivity Series) inserting systems, two EPIC multi-format inserting systems are being used. Paragon has also invested in another MPS system for its Korschenbroich site.
“We are pleased to further expand our partnership with Paragon,” said Wilhelm Kanzler, Vice President Germany, Switzerland, Nordics at BlueCrest. “Paragon is at the forefront of innovative customer communications and we are very proud that BlueCrest technology is helping to drive their progress.”
Through the Storm BlueCrest Service team keeps client operational during storm of the century In February 2021, Texas experienced the “storm of the century” which saw 100-year-record freezing temperatures, ice, snow, and rolling power outages that lasted over a week. During that time, BlueCrest client Venture Solutions of Fort Worth, TX could not get their operators onto the site to continue mission critical business operations. Enter BlueCrest technicians. Not only did BlueCrest provide the same number of people per shift (2) throughout the whole week, but those same technicians also ran the machines on behalf of the client and continued their critical work in place of the usual operators, who could not make it in due to the storm. In a true all-hands experience, the team stayed safe and supported our client through the storm. This is a genuine
4
example of going above and beyond—and the essence of true partnership between supplier and customer. Special thanks to Rob Parsons, Kyle Arneson, Stuart Whitcomb, Chikwe Ukpaka, Martin Trevino, Frank Sellers, David Carr, and La’Manza Davis for taking care of our client.
The Wave | July 2021
World record breaking mail inserting performance COMMUNISIS LEEDS (UK) Earlier this year the stage was set for the team at Communisis Leeds to attempt to beat a previous world class mailing performance. A previous record set in 2020 was up for grabs and the team were determined to push the limits, setting a target to produce half a million packs on one EPIC inserter in 24 hours. And they did it, with a stunning production performance of 439,770 packs produced in 24 hours.
TRULY EPIC! A new record for finished mail pieces in any 24-hour shift set right here.
Communisis site Manager, Glen Place commented, “For a while we’ve been attempting to beat our previous record. With focus and enthusiasm between the Communisis Operators and the supporting BlueCrest Engineers we were finally able to make it happen. The whole team has really pulled together. I applaud them all for their effort.” The superb collaborative team members from BlueCrest who achieved this performance are: Andrew Tanner, John Kendrick, Luke Kenyon, Phil Hirst and Antony Diplock. Antony Roscamp, BlueCrest’s Client Service Manager for the site commented, “I am proud that the BlueCrest team were able to support the customer’s effort and ensure the EPIC performed to its highest potential delivering what we believe are world record level results. The top line production figure is impressive, even more so when you know it is backed up by a 0.05% out-sort rate and average Mean Cycles Between Stops of 4,000. These figures prove beyond doubt the operational efficiency of the EPIC.” The BlueCrest partnership at Communisis goes from strength to strength and reaches every level of the company. This goes to show how a collaborative partnership between client and vendor delivers tangible gains benefitting both parties. Communisis is one of the first clients globally to enter a “gain-share” agreement with BlueCrest, looking for positive, incremental opportunities to continuously improve. This exceptional mail production performance has of course also been celebrated by Communisis. On-site posters now proudly display the achievement and are part of the talk track with new clients when they visit the facility.
22nd February 2020, 19:30pm - 23rd February 2020, 19:30pm
MAIL PACKS PRODUCED (C5 FORMAT):
439,770 FROM COMMUNISIS:
FROM BLUECREST:
Keeley Edwards Clifford Quadoo Lee Waite
Andy Tanner John Kendrick Luke Kenyon
Working in partnership
Two of our proud, blue-shirted engineers, Andrew Tanner and John Kendrick, from the winning team at Communisis, Leeds, UK.
5
Programs and Promotions Introducing our Chat Bot!
Wouldn’t it be great to have one spot on the BlueCrest intranet for searching and sharing step-by-step job aids, FAQs and other helpful information about policies and common workplace tasks. Great news - we agree! And soon BlueCrest will be rolling out our Chat Bot - no more searching! Whether it’s booking a work trip, managing expenses, creating a Help Desk ticket, ordering supplies, or changing your password now you’ll have help finding your way! Coming soon to the BlueCrest Net
6
Have you tried Yammer?
Yammer allows for open and dynamic communication across BlueCrest. It’s a social media tool that will help us improve engagement and enhance collaboration. Consider joining an existing community of interest, start your own, make posts, gather ideas and feedback, and keep everyone informed, aligned, and moving forward! Haven’t tried it yet? Sign up and start using it today. Check Yammer Out
The Wave | July 2021
Programs and Promotions BlueCrest is moving to Microsoft Teams!
A Hub for Teamwork Microsoft Teams provides one hub where you can chat, meet and share ideas and content in a collaborative environment.
Meetings in Moments
Get Ready for Microsoft Teams! Starting in July, IT will be rolling out Microsoft Teams to all BlueCrest employees. Eventually Teams will replace Skype for Business and RingCentral. You can chat, host and attend meetings, call, collaborate, and share files… all in one place! View Teams Capabilities
Go from a group chat to a live call at the click of a button. You and your team are only a mouse click away from connecting to a productive and engaging meeting.
Customizable for each Team Tailor your workspace to include content and capabilities your team needs every day. Add Tabs to provide quick access to frequently used documents and apps like PowerPoint, OneNote, Excel and SharePoint.
7
Product Updates
Recent Launches In 2020, we saw huge increase in interest surrounding our Vote-by-Mail product solution, Relia-Vote. Carrying this momentum into the months and years ahead, we’re excited to unveil a new software product, a new logo, and a new eBook! Check them out below.
DOWNLOAD
Relia-Vote Ballot Management Software
Vote-by-Mail Election Checklist
Relia-Vote Ballot Manager software provides election officials with transparency and awareness into every step of the endto-end Vote-by-Mail and absentee ballot process—from ballot production and distribution to return and validation. The onpremise (or cloud-based) solution provides elections officials a simple way to prepare ballots for mailing automation. It also helps them confirm that all requested ballots were sent and delivered, and identifies those voters who returned a ballot, all while maintaining voter privacy and integrity.
2020 was an abnormal year—it’s not very often that a pandemic comes along and takes the world by storm. That said, voting by mail has been growing steadily for the past twenty-five years and will likely continue to rise. This eBook covers the key trends and impacts from 2020, and the best practices in the industry moving forward. Download eBook
Read more
8
The Wave | July 2021
Organizational Announcements
Ask the Experts Ask the Experts is a regular online webinar and Q&A where BlueCrest gurus share the latest news and information on our products and services.
As our company continues to evolve and grow, so do our team members. Please take a moment to read these recent organizational announcements. > Office of the CEO April 19, 2021
Check out the most recent Ask the Expert sessions below and keep yourself informed. Relia-Vote Ballot Manager Software
> North American (NA) Professional Services May 11, 2021
> BlueCrest/BCC Leadership June 2, 2021
> Engineering June 6, 2021
Download Deck
Download Recording
Mixed Mail Stackers & Direct Mail Application
Download Deck
Add text here
Download Recording
Relia-Vote Campaign Overview
Download Deck
Download Recording
9
BlueCrest in the News
Press Releases BlueCrest Featured in PrintWeek!
Our very own Kevin Reber was pictured in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story featuring Allegheny County.
Read how BlueCrest has launched the EvoluJet to the UK market. Guido Rietti, BlueCrest Vice President for the UK and Ireland, said: “This solution is perfectly positioned to provide cost-effective high-quality inkjet printing to operations in the transactional and transpromo market space.”
Read more Read more
Vote-by-Mail Industry Leader BlueCrest Launches Relia-Vote Ballot Manager Software. BlueCrest is advancing its position as the industry-leading global technology provider for high-integrity communication solutions by introducing its new Relia-Vote Ballot Manager Software. “Vote-by-Mail is not going away, and our new Relia-Vote Ballot Manager Software solution demonstrates our continued commitment to product leadership by delivering even greater automation and security for election officials” said Rick Becerra, Vice President, Sortation Solutions & Strategy. Read more
10
The Wave | July 2021
BlueCrest in the News
Case studies
Case study: DATEN_PARTNER
Case study: Kane County
For the love of documents DATEN_PARTNER further expands its leading position in document management with investment in modern printing and mailing technology.
Voting by mail is on the rise throughout the country and the State of Illinois is no exception. With Illinois planning to expand “no excuse” absentee ballots, Kane County began exploring ways to process the anticipated increase in mail-in ballot volume. While preparing absentee ballots manually served the county well over the years, they needed more efficient printing, mail ballot assembly and ballot sorting solutions to cost-effectively process higher volumes. At their current volume, the process took a minimum of 6 people over 10,000 hours to manually process the mail-in ballots. Additionally, Kane County needed to be able to ensure the ballots were produced accurately and be able to provide that information to the electorate for complete transparency.
We love documents: This is the slogan for DATEN_ PARTNER - one of the most advanced document management companies in the German market. Producing modern communications that recipients love to receive requires a passion for the process of high-quality, secure document production. DATEN_ PARTNER, together with its technology partner BlueCrest, has optimized every step of this production process to ensure that the documents they produce are perfect on arrival. Read more
Read more
11
International update Letter from Kim Andersen | June 2021
Kim Andersen
The International Team is on track for a great year. Read on for the latest quarterly update.
With just a few days left to close out business for the first half of 2021, I am pleased with our progress in Q2 business activities throughout all international geographies and product lines. In fact, we are on target to achieve our Annual Operating Plan (AOP) in H1 for both revenue and EBITDA. For order intake, our District teams have done an outstanding job, coming close to 90-100% growth compared with H1 last year. As our selling cycles can vary from 3 to 9 months, we all know how important the monthly order intake is in building the coming quarters, as well as next year’s revenue streams, and with a strong projected order intake over the coming 3 to 4 months, we should be on track to achieve our full year AOP. As a quick reminder, the International AOP is built on three initiatives: • Hardware (HW) growth (+30% from 40M$ to 53M$) • Software (SW) growth (+ 10% 11M$) • Service Stabilization (total of 44M$) These initiatives will help us in our aim of getting BlueCrest International back to our 2019 level of business, with total revenue of 123M$. Every day we must balance the need for short-term results and more long-term consistency in business. Many of the actions we have taken will not bring about immediate effects, but I know they will build a solid foundation for our long-term success and I am proud to see the teamwork across the International business unit as we strive to achieve this balance. I am excited and looking forward to the coming months. Vaccines are being rolled out, restrictions are being lifted in many places, and we will start to travel and see all our international teams in person once again. We have many good stories to share, some of which you will find in this edition, and we have many more to come. Summer is coming for many in our international teams and soon it will be time to enjoy a few weeks off with family and friends. Blank Pdf
I wish you and your families an enjoyable summer. Please take time to rest and re-energize! Kind regards,
Kim Andersen, Executive Vice President, International
12
The Wave | July 2021
International Team Highlight Australia & New Zealand (ANZ)
ANZ starts the year with great momentum and secures first ever Clarity install. A fleet refresh opportunity that Noah Terracall (ANZ Major Accounts Director) has nurtured over the last 2-3 years came to fruition. A firm order for 3 x Epics (2 with continuous feeders) was placed in February by IVE Group, Australia and all the machines should be installed by the end of Q2. This is the result of great perseverance by Noah, selling the benefits of replacing their aging fleet and presenting a compelling ROI, together with tremendous support from our senior technical leads and install team – David Langford-Smith, Siamak Farahani and Barry Broker. We have recently completed our first Clarity install at NZ Post (largest ANZ customer). NZ technical lead, David Good led the install, and we now have a month’s worth of compelling data, which will complement the outcome-based contract that we are in the process of switching to. With the assistance of Gary Jubb and Richard Smith from the UK,
Zane Summerfield (CSM based at NZ Post) we completed a Workcell Optimization project. Again the data and metrics are persuasive and will allow us to have engaging, fact-based, substantiated conversations with the customer to improve their productivity. Not one to rest on his laurels, Noah then set his sights on a conquest account in Western Australia. This is a remote geography where we do not have a BlueCrest footprint. The result is an order for an Epic with the possibility of also selling a back-up system – it’s very satisfying to displace a competitor! Opportunities are also starting to arise from Windows 10 upgrade notification letters for End of Manufacture and End of Life. I am proud of the efforts of all the ANZ team members. There is a pervasive attitude of simply getting on with it, being flexible when required, taking on additional tasks when asked and simply making things work – underpinning all of this is our great customer service team. This year is shaping up to be an extraordinarily strong year in both written and actual business with (maybe even a strong ’22 pipeline)! Jason George Country Lead, ANZ & Services Director, Japan
13
Outcome-Based Challenge Service Awards
These Individual Top Achievement Awards recognize outstanding individual contributions and results attainment within the service team. Great work to our recent recipients!
Lyndon Lewis, (Client: Discover)
The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution is presented to Lyndon Lewis and his dedication to driving significant improvement in operator efficiency at Discover. Both the operators and the site manager recognized the impact he was delivering. “Lyndon has been spending most of his nights on the floor looking for opportunities to help and, a lot of the time, they don’t have to request service and ring the bell because he is already on it, logging in and taking care of the issue”. Lyndon’s added focus at the site increased operator efficiency by over 38%, the highest ever performance seen on the site.
Mark Pommerening (Client: HMHS Jax)
The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution is presented to Mark Pommerening and his use of Clarity to identify systemic issues impacting performance and executing corrective actions to address root causes. Using Clarity, Mark not only helped identify systemic improvements to the site equipment, but also identified issues with the client’s material that were causing significant problems. For example, Mark’s work helped reduce overall outsorts from 1.26% in the beginning of January to 0.55% by the end of March – for the client that’s a significant impact.
14
Todor Bourov (Client: OSG)
The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution is presented to Todor Bourov. Todor’s regular analysis of production data from Clarity, to support daily management of continuous improvement, has enabled him to quickly identify degrading production performance trends and swiftly take corrective action to resolve issues and improve outcomes.
Kenny Rogoz (Client: Venture NC)
The Award for Outstanding Individual Contribution is presented to Kenny Rogoz and his consistent use of Clarity to support daily production management and execute systemic improvements. Kenny identified a concerning trend of increasing alarms despite decreasing jams. Clarity enabled him to zero in on the problem area and determine the corrective action needed to reverse the trend and dramatically reduce jams.
The Wave | July 2021
Manager and Team Achievement Service Awards
This award recognizes outstanding leadership and team accomplishment.
Gary Warfford (Client: JPMC Coppell)
The Award for Outstanding Team Leadership is presented to Gary Warfford and his role in organizing and executing an outcome-based improvement initiative at JPMC Coppell. Gary led the team to increase machine/operator efficiency, machine run percentage, and mean cycles between stops (MCBS) while driving down the out-sort percentage and number of alarms. The overall site showed material improvement over the course of the month with some of the machines achieving gains of 14%, reduction in out-sorts, and 10% gains in operator efficiency and run time.
Scott Weinhold (Client: JPMC OH)
The Award for Outstanding Team Leadership is presented to Scott Weinhold for driving an outcome-based improvement initiative at JPMC Ohio. Scott and the team improved machine/operator efficiency, machine run percentage, and mean cycles between stops (MCBS) while driving minimizing the out-sort percentage and number of alarms. The overall site showed material improvement in all KPI categories over the course of February, 2021.
15
Engagement Team Member Milestones We are BlueCrest!
Every quarter, we like to celebrate the many team members who have reached milestone achievements of 5, 10, 15, 20 years—and beyond! Thank you to each one of you for all that you to do make BlueCrest great.
Second Quarter, 2021 35 years
20 years
10 years
Scott Dinapoli
Robert Bogrette
Rick Becerra
Glenn Bury
Christopher King
Al Welch
Mark Dearinger
Roger Snow
Andre Colas
Jimmy Gresham
Patrick Kephart
Timothy Thering
Michael Dean
30 years
Jeffery Culverson Jerry Douglas
John Riordan Matthew Magliulo
25 years Brad Swinford Clifford Wittman Robert Carlino Jason Harbert Andrew Bruce
16
5 years Gary Roller
15 years
Jason Jordan
Steven Pitts Ed Kelly James Lake Eddie Khazzaka Julious Defreitas
The Wave | July 2021
We want to feature your story in the next issue of The WAVE Please send your ideas and stories to: estinc.com ns@bluecr
BlueCrestCommunicatio
For more information visit us online: bluecrestinc.com
BlueCrest and the Corporate logo are trademarks of BlueCrest or a BlueCrest subsidiary. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2021 BlueCrest (a d/b/a of DMT Solutions Global Corporation). All rights reserved.