Step 2 - Sorting Test Addresses
Once you have downloaded the Test Address Data, you must use your software to sort this list according to one of the following schemes and generate a printable report and electronic file of the Computer Planning Report, Line Listing and the sorted Test Address Data for submission to the Royal Mail Technical Team for validation.
Please note - you must use the appropriate version of the Test Address Data and Royal Mail Selection Files.
Mailing Schemes | Advertising Mail | Business Mail | Publishing Mail |
---|---|---|---|
Low Sort OCR Letters | |||
Low Sort OCR Large Letters | |||
Low Sort OCR Mixed Weight Large Letters | |||
High Sort Letters | |||
High Sort Undersized Direct Letters | |||
High Sort Mixed Weight Large Letters | |||
High Sort Undersized Direct Mixed Weight Large Letters | |||
High Sort Undersized Direct Mixed Weight Parcels |
If you plan to submit tests for more than one mailing scheme then in the first instance please submit test results for one scheme only - choosing the scheme nearest the top of the above list.
For example, if you plan to send Low Sort OCR Letters, Low Sort OCR Large Letters and High Sort Letters tests, then in the first instance send in the Low Sort OCR Letters test only; or if you plan to send High Sort Letters standard and mixed weight tests then please send the High Sort Letters standard test first.
Once you have successfully completed the initial test you may submit tests for other schemes, in the above sequence.
Test Parameters
- Sort each scheme (apart from the Mixed Weight varieties) as 45g for letters and large letters.
- Although certain sort options and/or formats permit trays and bags as the method of presentation, please use bags for the test purpose.
- Although the maximum bag weight is 11000g, please use 10500g for the test purpose.
- Although your software may permit user choice of minimum selection size, for High Sort option, please use the standard minimum selection size of 50 items for letters, 10 items for large letters and 5 items for parcels for the tests. For the Low Sort option, the minimum selection size should always be 1 item.
Mixed Weight Schemes
The Test Address Data contains a Weight Indicator for each item. You should use this indicator to determine the item weight for mixed weight schemes as follows:
Weight Indicator | Weight |
|
---|---|---|
Low Sort / High Sort (Large Letters) |
High Sort (Parcels) |
|
1 |
48g |
48g |
2 |
70g |
70g |
3 |
130g |
150g |
4 |
212g |
220g |
5 |
550g |
850g |
Other Considerations
The Software Testing process is designed in part to determine whether or not software is able to allocate the correct standard selection codes (SSC) from Postcodes and Post Towns in addresses where quality and format of addressing may vary. Therefore, if your software provides address cleaning and Postcoding functions in addition to sortation, these additional functions must be disabled for the purposes of the software tests.