Pitney Bowes
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| Pitney Bowes Inc. | |
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| Type | Public (NYSE: PBI) |
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| Founded | 1902 (as the Pitney Postal Machine Company) Chicago, Illinois, USA 1920 (as Pitney Bowes) |
| Headquarters | HQ in Stamford, Connecticut |
| Key people | Arthur Pitney, Founder Walter Bowes, Founder Michael J. Critelli, Chairman & CEO Bruce P. Nolop, Executive VP/CFO Murray D. Martin, President/COO |
| Industry | Business Services |
| Products | Metering Systems Addressing Software Presort Mail Services |
| Revenue |  $5.5 billion USD (2005) |
| Employees | 34,165 (12/12/2005) |
| Slogan | Engineering the flow of communication |
| Website | www.pb.com |
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI), the world's biggest maker of postal meters and mailing equipment and provider of mailing and delivery software and services to companies, is ranked 394th in the 2006 Fortune 500, with $5.5 billion in revenue and $526.6 million in profits.
With about 34,000 employees worldwide, Pitney Bowes serves more than 2 million businesses through direct and dealer operations. The company is a major provider of Global Mailstream Solutions and Global Enterprise Solutions to help companies manage their flow of mail, documents and packages.
Pitney Bowes is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
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[edit] History
Pitney Bowes was founded in Chicago by Arthur Pitney, as the 'Pitney Postal Machine Company', in 1902 and merged, in 1920, with the operations of Walter Bowes and began selling the first US Postal Department-approved postage meter. By optimizing the postage meter, businesses could speed up the mail handling process and protect postage funds, while the post office could more easily track the money it collected from delivering mail.
[edit] Key Dates
1902 – Arthur Pitney patents first “double-locking” hand-cranked postage-stamp machine and founds, with patent attorney Eugene A. Rummler, the Pitney Postal Machine Company.
1908 – Walter Bowes, an English emigrant and founder of the Universal Stamping Machine Company, begins selling stamp cancelling machines to the United States Post Office.
1919 – A rapid increase in mail volume makes the Post Office more receptive to metered mail; subsequently, Pitney travels to meet Bowes.
March 15, 1920 – The House of Representatives passes a bill authorizing mechanical stamps on first-class mail.
April 23, 1920 – The Universal Stamping Machine Company and American Postage Company merge to form the Pitney Bowes Postage Meter Company. Bowes and Pitney envision through this merger the development, manufacture and marketing of a smooth and efficient machine that would combine Pitney’s “double-locking” counter with Bowes’ system for wrapping postage payment, postmarking and cancellation.
August 25, 1920 – United States Post Office approves the Pitney Bowes postage meter.
1922–23 – The government collects $4,359,070 in postage from the first commercial installations of 400 meters and products begin to be sold outside the U.S.
1930s – Pitney Bowes expands meter use by meeting the cost-saving needs of many Depression-era businesses.
1940 – Company income tops $4 million with the new "R" line meters that can print variable amounts of postage and employees total 1,243.
1943 – During World War II, Pitney Bowes receives four Army-Navy "E" awards for war production excellence for 28 different products.
1949 – Pitney Bowes expands into 93 field offices and employees total 2,666. Postage payments on metered mail reach $500 million or 36% percent of all United States postal revenues.
1950 – Pitney Bowes is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1950s and 60s – The demand for meters grows rapidly, particularly the "DM" desk model C. New products include folders, Tickometers, and an electric mail opener.
1962 – Pitney Bowes joins Fortune 500.
1970s and '80s – PB introduces electronic Postage By Phone®, full lines of facsimile, copier/printers and other computerized document and mail inserters, folders and related products. The US Postal Service collects $8 billion through postage meter resettings, representing 49 percent of their total postage revenue. Pitney Bowes Management Services is created to provide mailroom management and other outsourcing services.
1980 – Pitney Bowes has nearly 800,000 postage meters producing more than $1 billion in revenue.
1985 – PB revenue exceeds $2 billion.
1990 – PB revenue exceeds $3 billion.
1990s – Pitney Bowes introduces solutions that manage the secure production, routing, multi-channel delivery and tracking of documents and Intellilink™-based technology, the next generation of advanced mailing systems that capture important customer data. Pitney Bowes celebrates its one millionth Postage By Phone® customer.
2000 – New products and services offer electronic statement presentment and bill payment, and software-based tools that track and manage documents and package flow.
2001 – PB divests its copier and fax business to focus on its core strengths in mailing and document management.
2002 – Pitney Bowes launches Intellilink™ technology globally and continues to expand its capability in the mailstream and increase its presence worldwide with strategic acquisitions, signaling a new beginning for Pitney Bowes.
2004 – Pitney Bowes acquires Group 1 to expand its software capabilities in mailing efficiency, data quality and customer communications.
2006 – PB acquires Print Inc. in order to enhance its position in printer supplies, service and equipment to manage document production.
[edit] Services
[edit] Global Mailstream Solutions
The Company's Global Mailstream Solutions (GMS) segment includes worldwide revenue and related expenses from the rental of postage meters and the sale, rental and financing of mailing equipment, including mail finishing and software-based mail creation equipment. The Company also includes in this segment, software-based shipping, transportation and logistics systems, related supplies and services, presort mail services, postal payment solutions and supply chain solutions such as order management and fulfillment support. Products in the Global Mailstream Solutions segment include postage meters, mailing machines, address hygiene software, manifest systems, letter and parcel scales, mail openers, mailroom furniture, folders, table-top inserters, paper handling equipment, shipping equipment, software-based shipping and logistics systems, presort machines and postal payment solutions.
[edit] Global Enterprise Solutions
The Company's Global Enterprise Solutions segment includes Pitney Bowes Management Services (PBMS) and Document Messaging Technologies (DMT). In this segment, the Company sells, rents or finances its products. Pitney Bowes Management Services includes worldwide revenue and related expenses from facilities management contracts for advanced mailing, secure mail services, reprographic, document management and other high-value services. Pitney Bowes Management Services offers a variety of business support services to its customers to manage copy, reprographic and mail centers, facsimile, electronic printing and imaging services, and records management. Document Messaging Technologies includes U.S. revenue and related expenses from the sale, service and financing of high speed, production mail systems, sorting equipment, incoming mail systems, electronic statement, billing and payment solutions, and mailing software. [1]
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Cahn, William (1961). The Story of Pitney-Bowes. New York: Harper & Brothers.
