David and I just returned from a weekend in Cincinnati to help Julie & Jane with the huge task of shipping out all of our anniversary release orders! We have never been there to help right after a release, so to see the whole process in action along with the sheer volume of EVERYTHING that they are dealing with was absolutely fascinating! I took a few photos so that I could share a bit of the process with you!
Everything starts here with Jane. She does all the legwork in preparing your order to be packed. She prints invoices & shipping labels, processes payments and organizes all the paperwork for the pickers.
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The pickers take the paperwork and collect all of the items that you have ordered. This is the "stamp wall" where most of the stamps are organized in order by item number. This makes it easy for the pickers to find the set(s) they need easily.
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They also make the decision about which box would suit your order the best. After they are done with that they set the box filled with merchandise in a stack for the packers. (This is one of the stacks of shipping boxes that were ordered to have on hand for this release!)
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There were two "packers" in place when we were there. Here is Julie double-checking the contents of the packages. Every order is checked twice to make sure there are no errors.
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Here is Michelle packing up a box. She has just finished wrapping everything in tissue and preparing the contents for its journey to its final destination!
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David is adding another package to the stack waiting for USPS to pick up. I was so impressed with their speed! These stacks are what they had completed packing on Friday alone! And that doesn't include the UPS stack in the back room!
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While I was there I tackled the job of making up the stamp packages. I really enjoyed the process! Here are ALL the new stamps, waiting to be packaged!
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It all starts with assembling the stamp boxes.
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It is easiest to do 150 at a time.
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Then it is time to insert the stamps, CD case and rolled instructions with our new label.
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Finally, it is time to add the box band. And then when these are done, the process is started all over again. It seemed almost as if in a matter of minutes a batch I would have just completed would be gone! I am in awe of how fast they work! So, I am proud to say that many of you will be getting stamp sets that I personally assembled! I hope you enjoyed this little peak into the process! After seeing the progress they have made, you should all be getting your packages very soon!!!
