Summary

This paper is the first in a series of Special Reports dealing with mailroom matters. Not so long ago, a typical mailroom consisted of just some wooden tables and crowds of people, often mostly women, bundling and packing the newspapers manually. About ten years ago, with the introduction of sophisticated mailroom machinery and the mechanization of most of the functions, the investment sum of a new mailroom already amounted to 10% of the price of the adjacent printing press. Nowadays, with the space- consuming intermediate storage systems, the value of the equipment has risen to 30% of that of the press, and in addition, this lighter equipment normally has a shorter life span, which makes it even more costly. This emphasises the importance and the cost sensitive nature of mailroom functions in the production flow of a newspaper. More attention should be paid to this area by all concerned. This systematic classification of mailroom functions should provide a better understanding for those responsible in the field of newspaper production economy.