More than 25 years ago, three engineers came together to develop solutions to improve the efficiency of everyday business. This innovative mindset and passion for problem-solving formed the core of what would become Endicia.
The early years of innovation: the 1980s
Founded in 1982 by Harry Whitehouse, Amine Khechfé, and Scott Montgomery, PSI Associates (PSI) began as a technology consulting company.Based in Palo Alto, California, the team initially provided energy analysis for a variety of businesses.One of its early customers was the U.S. Postal Service®. PSI’s first project with USPS® was to provide an analysis of the energy consumptionfor a Post OfficeTM in Carmel, California. This was the beginning of what would become a long partnership fueled by the spirit of innovation.
From creating a fee-estimating application to developing a repair-cost estimator, PSI helped USPS automate and accelerate many manual tasks that were slowing down daily processes. In 1989, PSI released its first software product, Envelope Manager, which quickly became the USPS corporate standard for address cleansing because it effectively reduced the costs associated with undeliverable mail.
Prototyping electronic postage: the 1990s
Following the success of these early projects, PSI was tapped by the Postal Service to develop a solution that would print the POSTNET (Postal Numeric Encoding Technique) barcode - used to sort and process mail - directly onto an envelope. As with every project, PSI focused on improving the user experience and met with the product users to understand and identify the best way to address the challenge. During this process, they realized they could do more than just solve the USPS POSTNET problem. If they could create a solution that printed the POSTNET barcode plus the recipient and return addresses, and also print the actual postage, they could save USPS even more time and money.
Before PSI could get the POSTNET barcode and postage to print on the envelope, they had to solve the problem of obtaining ZIP+4 codes because in the late 1980s, this process was entirely manual. PSI first developed a CD-ROM allowing the USPS call center to quickly look up ZIP+4s for mailers. However, the hardware to maintain a system like this was too expensive for the market, so PSI set out to develop a simpler, less expensive option for businesses to use.
One day, when filling up his car at a local gas station, Harry had an idea. Why not use the same technology that sent credit card information and returned approval codes at the gas pump to send address information and receive the corresponding ZIP+4? This vision became Dial-A-ZIP®, the first remote address verification system.This led to 1991, when PSI Associates developed the next chapter in electronic postage: the prototype of the first electronic personal postage system.
The ingenuity and innovation that first solved a small energy consumption problem went on to revolutionize the way we look at postage.Since that initial project, PSI has gone on to invent several more products and services to automate postal processes and address the needs of its customers.
Scaling to new heights: the 2000s and beyond
As it grew, PSI rebranded first to Envelope Manager Software and then to Endicia Internet Postage. On November 18, 2015 Stamps.com finalized the acquisition of Endicia from its parent company of 8 years, Newell Rubbermaid. This acquisition puts Endicia in a great position to continue innovating with an owner who values growth and understands the complexities of the e-commerce shipping industry.
Today, Endicia remains the leading provider of e-commerce shipping technologies and services with more than $14 billion in postage printed.
