Bundle Tops
The bundle top can include the following items (an asterisk* indicates items controlled by the Business Rules):
route | draw adjustments* |
future starts (for next pub day) | delivery schedule messages |
carrier name | invoices* |
previous delivery messages | messages to carrier |
carrier phone #* | number of papers to drop |
delivery placement | vacation pack messages* |
subscriber phone #* | number of bundles to drop |
draw comparison* | TM products delivered with paper* |
returns* | drop location |
drop sequence | inserts and mix (InsertPlus required)* |
complaints* | truck number |
publishing date | route list (based on Enter Bundle Info) |
account payments* | changes to expire dates |
subscribers going into grace* | advance updraw* |
subscriber payments* | edition |
start/stop/restart messages | advance section detail* |
draw changes | bonus day messages |
The start, stop, restart, and vacation pack messages include the subscriber name and address, delivery schedule, billing method, number of copies, and expiration date. Also included are general messages entered using Enter Bundle Info (see Enter Bundle Info).
Returns, complaints, etc. that were entered before the publishing run (and have not previously been printed) will be printed on the bundle tops. Messages can be printed on several consecutive days, but after the first day, a “reminder” heading will accompany them. Invoices can be flagged to print on bundle tops for a publishing run using the Invoices On Bundle option in Accounting.
Business Rules determine whether:
The expire date prints with subscriber transaction messages.
The restart date is printed when printing stop messages.
Bundle tops should always be printed on the same side of the paper.
Bundle top messages should be printed on the same page as the other information.
The truck, standard bundle size and number of standards are displayed in large print.
A banner page is printed for each truck.
Business Rules also determine:
The number of starts a route must have on the next publishing day before future start messages are printed.
The day on which complaints, reminder messages, and repeat messages should be printed.
The print order for the bundle tops (ascending truck, descending truck, descending drop, edition or depot).
Whether bundle tops for relay trucks are printed in drop order or after the other bundles on the parent truck. Also, if relay bundles are bulked, whether relay parent bundle tops should reflect the combined actual draw of the relays or the bulked draw.
Bundle Top Sorting
Sorting for bundle tops is chiefly controlled by the departure sequence and truck sequence, which can be ascending or descending, based on Business Rules. The table below is an example of the order in which bundle tops might be printed. The numbers in the right column represent routes, each of which will have one or more bundle tops printed (depending on whether they were set up to be printed for standard bundles or only keys). Notice that bundle tops for hand-tie bundles and bulk bundles are printed at the end. Truck bulk bundles (which list all bulked routes on the truck) are identified with a “B”.
| Truck (controlled by departure sequence) | Bundle Tops (controlled by truck sequence) |
|---|---|
Truck 15 | 23, 27, 31, 24, 26, 33, B |
Truck 07 | 44, 52, 54, 39, 03, B |
Truck 12 | 02, 05, 06, 07, 10, B |
…Relay Truck 12a | 65, 75, 71, B |
Truck 22 | 37, 38, 34, 32, 77, B |
Truck 19 | 17, 16, 18, 12, B |
…Relay Truck 19a | 25 |
......Relay Truck RR | 48, 43, 45, 37, B |
Truck 02 | 61, 62, 63, 66, B |
Hand-tie bundles | All hand-tie bundle tops in truck and drop order |
Truck Bulk | Truck-wide bundle listing bulk routes and draw |
Messages for bulk | Bundle tops for all bulk routes that have messages |
Bulk with key option | Bundle tops for all bulk routes set up to print keys |
Insert exception | Bundle tops for routes with insert combinations that are below the minimum defined in Business Rules (InsertPlus sites only) |
About Key and Bulk Bundle Tops
A key bundle top is used for the bundle containing the odd number of papers. For example, if a route has 50 papers and the standard bundle size is 20, the route would have two bundles of 20 and one key of 10. Typically, route messages are printed only on the key bundle tops.
Some trucks have bulk bundle tops for some or all routes. This means that the papers are bulked together rather than in individual bundles. If a route has messages, they are printed on a special bundle top for the route known as a bulk key.
When a route is added to a truck sequence, it can be flagged as bulk. The Print Key Bundle Only flag is also set (which indicates whether standard and key bundle tops, or only key bundle tops, should be printed). There is also a Print Key Bundles Only field in Enter Bundle Info, which can be set to “route”, “always” or “never”. If “never” is selected, both key and standard bundles will be printed. The Print Option field in Truck Departure setup determines whether keys or standards are printed first. The following table lists the bundle tops will be printed for a route based on the bulk and Print Key Only settings.
| Enter Bundle Info | Print Key Only | Bulk | What prints |
|---|---|---|---|
Route | Y | Y | One bulk label for all bulk draw on a truck (no standards). One key label for each route. |
Route | N | Y | Bulk labels for all standard bulk bundles on a truck. One bulk key label for the truck. |
Route | Y | N | Key bundle for each route, no standards. |
Route | N | N | Standard bundles and key bundle for each route. |
Always | Y | Y | One bulk label for all bulk draw on a truck (no standards). One key label for each route (no standards). |
Always | N | Y | One bulk label for all bulk draw on a truck (no standards). One bulk key label for the truck. |
Always | Y | N | Key bundle for each route, no standards. |
Always | N | N | Standard bundles and key bundle for each route. |
Never | Y | Y | Bulk labels for all standard bulk bundles on a truck. Standard bundles and key bundle for each route. |
Never | N | Y | Bulk labels for all standard bulk bundles on a truck. One bulk key label for the truck. |
Never | Y | N | Standard bundles and key bundle for each route. |
Never | N | N | Standard bundles and key bundle for each route. |
Printing Bundle Tops
Before printing bundle tops, you must first enter bundle size information (see Enter Bundle Info).
To print bundle tops:
Select Bundle Tops from the Distribution menu to display the Bundle Tops window.
Choose the product, edition, departure sequence and truck sequence for which you want to print bundle tops by selecting the appropriate Process checkbox. If you use publishing groups (see A Note on Publishing Groups), the publishing group will also be listed. Note that edition will be “*” unless you have separate publishing runs at the edition level (see A Note on Editions for details).
Click Continue to print the bundle tops.
Example—Bundle Top
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