What’s the Deal with Envelopes?

Crazy times like these call for a Seinfeld reference, so there it is. But seriously, what IS the deal with envelopes?

The envelope shortage has been a huge headache for printers, direct marketers and envelope manufacturers—it’s an ongoing issue that will plague us for a while yet, but as we’ve learned throughout the pandemic, sometimes challenges present us with opportunities as well. So, instead of focusing on the negative, I reached out to a list of print, envelope and mail leaders in the industry to see if they were willing to share some “boots on the ground” insights and advice.

How has the envelope shortage affected the way you work with your customers? Are you avoiding or engineering around envelopes, or have you found creative ways to get what you need?

Bolger: The primary change for us as been an increased focus on getting clients to better forecast demand. Armed with good longer-range forecasts, our purchasing team has also been creative in how we’ve worked with our envelope suppliers, and thus far, we’ve met demand with only a few touch-and-go moments. 

Modern Litho: We’ve seen more opportunity for our sales and CSR teams to showcase our expertise with different formats and mailing guidelines in general.

Hederman Brothers: Our sales force has worked very hard to stay in front of our customers, letting them know the difficulties of finding envelopes (and paper). We encourage them to go ahead and enter orders months in advance so that we can secure the envelopes. We also have been converting envelopes in-house on small runs. We have run into a customer wanting a specialty envelope only to find out it’s not available. If we can locate the paper they want, we will print and convert.

Parkland Direct: We have started to see the paper market loosen some, but not to the same level it was a couple of years ago. While we did face challenges as paper became less readily available, we were able to navigate through even the tightest period. We credit this to a few things.

Most of our projects and focus are on larger volume, so that helps with buying power, especially when grouping several large projects together that are on the same type of paper.

Our production process calls for the type and size of paper the mills can produce right off their lines without requiring secondary steps. So, most of what we buy is what mills like to produce.

To help things further, we consolidated the types of paper we purchase and warehouse. This limited options on the paper side but allowed us to continue to produce a steady supply of envelopes. We offer a variety of options on the print side, coatings and foiling/embossing, which allows for huge creative freedom to make up where paper was limited.

Suttle-Straus: Because we worked through shortages with our clients last year, I find clients are not surprised that we are asking them to project their needs eight to10 months out. The custom envelopes we would normally print and send to a converter, we’ve had to change our mindset to engineer envelopes in reverse. We’ve looked across several clients and determined what we can pool together. We are now converting blank stock into those custom envelopes to have on hand before art design.

Have your customers changed their behavior in response to the envelope challenges?

LCP: The one thing we have in our favor is supply chain issues are everywhere, so our customers know this and are understanding. I continue to urge my customers to plan much further ahead than they are used to doing so that we stand the best chance to get the stock we need. I have found that being proactive and being an advocate for my customers is the best approach. It always has been, but even more so now.

Parkland Direct: Direct mail is winning big right now and working very well in tandem with digital marketing. There are several theories as to why (digital fatigue, the haptic connection direct mail gives, etc.) We are finding that our clients want things that are very noticeable and represent their brands well in the mailbox. Because of this we have seen an uptick with embellishments like foil, embossing and coatings.

HBP, Inc.: Interestingly, mailing has increased. Clients have been very understanding and each one with a specific situation has mutually worked to come up with a solution. The point here is to reach out as early as possible and let them know the current circumstances and that you are doing everything to work out a solution.

Suttle-Straus: Clients who work on annual campaigns and rely heavily on direct mail understand the urgency in timely mailings. Everyone has been very receptive to moving up their timelines and starting planning earlier. We’ve never been this far ahead with creative design—it’s been a good thing. Rather than cutting it close to deadlines, getting out in front of printing early is refreshing.

SPC: Planning is key to success in this market. One healthcare company bypassed our planning warnings last year and struggled with producing their programs, ultimately splitting the work across multiple vendors. They missed many mail dates as paper and manufacturing time was not available. We have now secured a three-year contract for this work, allowing SPC to preplan these programs for the client.

Do you have any stories about innovation or strategy under pressure?

Hederman Brothers: Last year we took the initiative to go ahead and start buying envelopes as they became available knowing that this year was going to be rough. Our relationship with our paper vendors is a partnership – they let us know when they receive shipments and give us the option to purchase. We have also used our relationships with other vendors to reach out to envelope convertors that we have not used in the past. We are casting a wider net.

Modern Litho: We print a coil bound directory, 500 copies, for an association each year. Normally, we shrink-wrap the directory with chipboard and insert it into envelopes that are inkjetted for mailing. Of course, this year we couldn’t source the typical envelopes, or anything that really fit well in the same price range. We explored Tyvek envelopes, which were way too expensive. We took the piece to our in-house mailing expert, and asked if the directory could mail, shrink-wrapped with chipboard without the envelope. Sure enough, yes, it can!! We added a slipsheet to conceal the front cover for more discretion. When the customer was presented with this option, they were on board! No envelope cost—we just added a label to the outside with the mailing address. The result was a mailed directory, less cost to the customer and less work for our team. Win-win!

Lesson: always check mailing requirements; it might surprise you what is allowed or acceptable.

HBP, Inc.: We purchased an envelope company, as we saw early on where things were headed.

Cenveo: Cenveo has the unique advantage in the industry of having a national footprint of manufacturing locations, strategically located for receiving raw materials and shipping product. We therefore have the ability to ensure continuity of service to our customers by quickly pivoting to other plants when issues arise. Cenveo has also invested in state-of-the-art engineers located throughout our network to continually test and quickly implement solutions during these challenging times. Expanding our footprint and addressing labor shortages to meet strong demand is now underway.

SPC: In an effort to mitigate the major envelope timing and availability issues, we proposed a new “hybrid” self-mailer format to a client who, up to this point, had all direct mail efforts mailed in envelopes. Their needs were complex, and we came up with a solution to create a self-mailer that contains two CR80 offer cards, ample messaging space, reply device to be perfed off, and a tipped-in BRE. Most of the production is completed “inline” on a web press, and the BRE is tipped in using an “offline’ fashion," the combination of both is what we term “hybrid." We even created the BREs as a side seam process on a finishing line, not on a traditional envelope machine. We have removed the need for any traditional envelope printing or converting for this process, safeguarding if the industry tightens further.

Suttle-Straus: We’ve gone away from putting dates/years on the envelope art and over-producing printed envelopes. Having custom blank envelopes on hand allows us to easily go back on press if they run short. Envelopes are now precious, so we cannot be tossing away expired printed inventory.

Security tint envelopes are a challenge, so if you must run an envelope on press for the return address, adding graphics/color that doubles as a security tint on the outside doesn’t add costs.

Our graphic design team has been innovating our envelope designs using just two colors with bleeds to avoid sending out for four-color converted envelopes. We are producing some beautiful envelopes that are proving four-color converted envelopes aren’t necessary. We’re also thinking outside the box with inkjet variable messaging in red or blue (instead of black) to add something unique to an envelope design.

Parkland Direct: One of our customers was unable to acquire a color paper for a reoccurring project they do and preferred not to change the format, so they came to us for solutions. We were able to use white paper and imitate the print to match the colored paper they were using. It actually ended up saving on overall cost, and they were able to continue the program unchanged. We’ve also done similar things like this for linen papers, where an embossing can be applied to regular paper to imitate it.

Is there a quantity range where getting envelopes is easy, and a quantity where once you get over that number, it gets really hard? Is there a specific size or style that’s easier to acquire?

Bolger: All quantities and sizes are a challenge right now. Odd sizes are almost impossible to source. Even if we print the folio sheets to have them converted, we’re fighting for capacity and fighting the paper allocation battle. In short, nothing is easy to acquire. The best advice is plan well internally and with clients, remain flexible, and test every creative option you can think of.

LCP: Honestly, I can’t say it’s been a particular style or quantity. I will say the larger quantities tend to be more problematic. What’s also great is companies like Mohawk and Neenah have excellent envelope programs and it can open discussions with customers about exploring colored envelopes as an option. This costs more, but the added impact in the mail can’t be overlooked.

Parkland Direct: We have found that sticking to commonly used sizes (#10s, 6 x 9.5s, etc.) will help in getting projects turned faster. Again, we focus on larger volume, so for us usually the limitations come from quantities being too low, not too high. However, on common sizes, many times we are able to work in shorter runs. The best thing someone can do in this market is to plan ahead and try to stick to that plan as best you can. But we’re in direct mail and that isn’t always possible or ideal for our customers, so we do have to remain nimble and ready to pivot if the need arises.

SPC: Quantities in the hundreds of thousands or less are far easier to produce than larger quantities at the moment. Print demand typically dips toward the end of the fourth quarter—if that happens this year, that might open capacity for clients in Q1. Standard #10 envelopes will be the easiest to source as they are the most commonly produced envelope. Companies want to be efficient on their machines, so piggybacking on a future run with the same size and spec envelope can be helpful.

Common Threads

There were three recurring points that everyone reiterated over and over in different ways throughout all of the interview responses I received, so I think it’s worth ending with these as a reminder of how to navigate (and win) during the envelope shortage:

Planning

Plan as far ahead as you possibly can. Customers have never been more willing to act early, and it’s making the process less chaotic and miserable.

Flexibility

Show your customers different ways to achieve what they want, try new things, bring them solutions. The forced flexibility of the shortage means they may be open to trying new things that could even work better for them, so now is the time.

Teamwork

Be a problem solver and an advocate for your customer. Help them get what they want through creative sourcing, solutions and strategy. Now’s the time to show off.

I’m deeply grateful to the to the following industry professionals who took the time to answer my questions and share their advice with us: Stephen White of Parkland Direct; Ryan LeFebvre of SPC; Cassandra Atchison of Modern Litho; Theresa Aide of Suttle-Straus; Dean Petrulakis of LCP; Eric Norman of Bolger; Terri Mascagni and Doug Hederman of Hederman Brothers; and Joe Wagner of HBP, Inc. Also thank you to Kate Cooper for helping to facilitate the Cenveo response.