A method of merging postal articles with a stack of mailpieces that have already been machine-sorted into a delivery round comprises the following steps: inserting the postal articles in sequence into a sorting frame having slots; placing the stack of mailpieces on a merge table; displaying on a display screen of a monitoring and control unit an indication representative of a number of current postal articles to be merged, and of an insertion position at which the postal articles should be inserted into the stack of mailpieces; then manually taking from the frame the number of postal articles indicated on the screen, and inserting them into the stack to perform a current merger; and having the monitoring and control unit measure a distance before and after the current merger to detect any error in taking the postal articles from the frame.

A method of merging, on a table (7), postal articles (2) with mailpieces (3) that are already sorted into a certain sorting order comprises the steps of pre-sorting the postal articles (2) in a sorting frame having vertical slots by means of an electronic station for assisting with sorting in the sorting frame, and then in using said station again for assisting the operative with merging the pre-sorted postal articles with the mailpieces.

Apparatus for assisting in merging postal articles with a stack of mailpieces that have already been sorted into a certain sequence, said apparatus comprising a merge table suitable for storing the stack of mailpieces on edge, a first camera suitable for forming a digital image of a current postal article to be merged with the stack of mailpieces, a second camera that observes the stack of mailpieces in the manner of an operator placed at one end of the merge table, and a monitoring and control unit with a display screen that is placed at the end of the merge table.

A processing system and method for nationwide commingling of mail items to increase efficiency and lower mailing costs includes a pre-sort facility which creates a first set of diverted mail items and a first set of associated data while a print and mail manufacture facility generates a second set of manufactured mail items and a second set of associated data and then receives the first set of diverted mail items and first set of associated data from the pre-sort facility and then commingles the first and second sets of mail items according to a predetermined set of commingling rules applied to the first and second sets of associated data to produce commingled mail items which reduces postal costs in mailing the commingled mail item.

Apparatus for assisting in merging postal articles with a stack of mailpieces that have already been sorted into a certain sequence, said apparatus comprising a merge table suitable for storing the stack of mailpieces on edge, a first camera suitable for forming a digital image of a current postal article to be merged with the stack of mailpieces, a second camera that observes the stack of mailpieces in the manner of an operator placed at one end of the merge table, and a monitoring and control unit with a display screen that is placed at the end of the merge table.