FP Mailing (Francotyp-Postalia) Franking Machines – Overview

FP logo

Founded over 90 years ago, Francotyp-Postalia Mailing (also known as ‘FP’) has been manufacturing SMART and Mailmark franking machines since 1923.


FP manufactures its equipment in Germany, though its headquarters are stationed in Dartford, Kent. FP is licensed in no fewer than 84 countries worldwide and has over a quarter of a million customers,  supplying an extensive range of desktop folding and inserting equipment to those customers.

FP Mailing’s franking machines are known for their productivity boosting features and their integration of new technology with intuitive user interfaces. FP franking machines are ideally suited for businesses that handle high volumes of outgoing mail.


Low Volume FP Mailing Franking Machines

PostBase Mini

LPM (letters per minute): 17

Scales: 2kg

Feed option: Manual

The PostBase Mini is an entry-level machine designed for companies that spend under £500 or so per month on mail, sending only a few letters per day. This compact franking machine comes with a 4.3” colour touch screen to help you navigate the system, and a 2kg scale that comes in five different colours to suit your office environment. We particularly like the PostBase Mini’s company logo-printing feature, enabling you to personalise your mail and give it that professional look to impress customers and clients.


PostBase Vision 3S

LPM: 35

Scales: 5kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Manual

Part of the new Vision range, the PostBase Vision 3S is the ideal option for small businesses that send out daily transactional mail. While it has a slightly larger space footprint than the PostBase Mini (meaning it takes up more floor space), this model is extremely quiet and comes with a 5” colour touchscreen, 20 shortcut buttons, a 5kg integrated scale, and one singular printhead to help turn ink replacement into a painless task. You can even pick from five different colours to ensure the PostBase Vision 3S fits seamlessly into your office.


Mid Volume FP Mailing Franking Machines

PostBase Vision 5S

LPM: 50

Scales: 7kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Semi-automatic (upgrade to the Vision 5A for automatic)

Going further up the PostBase Vision scale is the 5S, which can process 50 letters per minute, and offers a 7kg integrated scale. With its Navigator Plus reporting feature, you can account for every letter you send and export the data to your own accounting software, making it really easy to analyse your postage spending and cut costs. By using its PIN security feature, you can also ensure that only authorised team members can access the funds, making it a secure option for medium-sized businesses that are on track to grow.


PostBase Vision 7A

LPM: 70

Scales: 7kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Automatic

If you’re sending out hundreds of letters per day, you need a franking machine that produces real-time reports to help you stay on top of your spending. Thanks to its Vision360 reporting feature, that’s exactly what the PostBase Vision 7A provides.

With this feature, you can login and view real-time reports from any location in the world, and you can create up to 250 cost accounts to allow your wider team to help manage the spending. It’s worth noting that if you don’t need a fully automatic feeder, you can opt for the slightly cheaper PostBase Vision 7S, which comes with a semi-automatic option instead.


PostBase Vision 9A

LPM: 85

Scales: 7kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Automatic

The most powerful model in the Vision range, the PostBase Vision 9A is ideal for enterprise-level mailing requirements, processing 85 letters per minute and offering an ‘anti skew’ letter feeder to ensure it feeds your large-volume of mail without a hitch. Just like the 7A model, the 9A comes with the Vision360 real-time reporting feature to help give you full visibility over your spending.

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High Volume FP Mailing Franking Machines

PostBase Vision Ten

LPM: 110 (90 with the dynamic scales)

Scales: 7kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Automatic

The PostBase Vision Ten is all about dynamic weighing and pricing. During this process, the machine automatically weighs and prices each individual piece of mail as it’s franked. This means that you don’t have to weigh each piece of mail first, which helps to boost your mailing efficiency. All you need to do is stack your mail onto the franking machine, and it does everything else for you. It’s worth noting that by using the dynamic scale feature, the PostBase Vision Ten can process up to 90 letters per minute, rather than 110 with its fixed scale.


PostBase One

LPM: 150

Scales: 7kg (optional 30kg scale)

Feed option: Automatic

Offering more than just lightning quick letter processing speeds, the PostBase One comes with a high-capacity letter stacking feature. This enables you to stack large towers of letters and watch the machine automatically feed, seal, weigh, and frank your mail, and report on the expenditure. Mailreport One can be connected to all your offices around the world, and is designed to help you review, monitor, and export all your postage data within one interface.

There are various software options for making the most of the Postbase ONE. Navigator Basic software comes as standard, with the Navigator Plus handling cost account management, and MailReport One allowing further analytics and true accounting of your postage spend. Navigator software has its own password protection, but PIN security is also available. The ONE can handle 200 different departments, and this can be extended to 500 where necessary.

Royal Mail can be fussy when it comes to letter sizes. FP franking machines can easily deal with that and the company will also supply a full range of Royal Mail approved envelopes, and other franking accessories, such as ink. However there is one last item that any business dealing with high volumes of post simply can’t be without.


Can FP Mailing franking machines fold letters?

Despite sounding like something that helps with the filing, folder inserters actually fold letters and insert them into envelopes. The rate depends on the machine, but it’s always more efficient than having a person do the job – both in terms of time and money. The five models of FP folder inserters range from desktop machines, the FPi 700 processes up to 1,350 letters per hour, making folding, inserting, and sealing 10x quicker than a manual process. There are also the FPi 2700, FPi 4700, FPi 5700, and FPi 6700 models which are suitable for larger businesses that handle higher volumes of mail.

Fold types

  • Single fold
  • Z-fold
  • Double-parallel fold
  • C-fold (left-to-right)

FP Mailing Franking Machine Prices

The cost of a FP franking machine depends on the model chosen, the purchase method and the specification.

FP franking machines can either be purchased outright by businesses or leased, typically for three to five years.

The cost for a high volume machines can be £10,000+ to buy or £200-£500 to rent.

Prices can vary depending on the supplier chosen and to get an accurate quote purchasers will need to click here and fill in the form.

Suppliers can include different options in their quotes, so it is important to be sure the quotes compared are similar. All our franking machine suppliers provide no obligation quotes, which makes picking the right model simple.


Are there any other costs?

Other franking costs can include annual maintenance, which is a prerequisite of the Royal Mail providing your business with a licence, labels and ink. You may also need to consider the cost of ink as well as factoring in the price of postage, although this can be up to 34% cheaper with a franking machine.

Of course, many of these costs can be offset by the savings generated by the FP franking machines.

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What are the benefits of an FP Mailing franking machine?

No need to go to the post office

With an in-house FP Mailing franking machine, you’ll be able to process all outgoing mail yourself to Royal Mail standards. That means no more need to head to the post office, saving you time and money.

Postage available 24/7

Post what you need, when you need. Having an FP franking machine lets you frank mail at any time of day, and new credit can be uploaded at any time – so you never ‘run out of stamps’. This reduces mailing deadlines and improves productivity.

No more over-spending

Download the latest mailing costs to your FP franking machine and keep on top of your outgoings. In-built scales help to prevent postage cost errors, while franking in bulk can also save you money on ink, envelope and labels because it reduces the cost per impression.

Monitor different accounts

Set up multiple accounts for different members of your team and you can easily track and monitor mailing spend, send out volume, etc. across different parts of the business

Customisable

Print custom messages and company logos onto every letter

User-friendly

Colour touch screen menu for selection with just one button for operation makes for easy use. Plus Wifi and LAN connectivity means you can integrate computers and smartphones with the network for streamlined working.

Stay in-the-know

FP work closely with Royal Mail to ensure the maximum possible benefits for their customers. By using Mailmark– the square bar code that your franking machine can print on envelopes- letters are not only significantly cheaper but they can also be tracked online. Reports provide you with an overview of what is happening to your post so you can calculate, for example, how long it takes recipients to respond.

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Next Steps

To save money on your mail processing you should definitely consider an FP Mailing franking machine. With such an array of machines to pick from it can be difficult to know which franking and mail processing equipment will deliver the best cost to spend ratio for your business. Our experts have all the details at their fingertips, so fill in our quick quote-finding questionnaire and we’ll help you make the right choice.

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Written by:
Dan’s a Senior Writer at Expert Market, specialising in digital marketing, web design, and photocopiers, amongst other topics.
Reviewed by:
Heleana Neil, Business Services editor
Heleana Neil specialises in Business Services, managing the strategy and production of content for SMBs, helping businesses with the challenges and opportunities they face today. Covering everything from payroll to payment processing, Heleana uses her expertise to help business owners make better, informed decisions and grow their companies.