For more than 1 year we have witnessed a number of indications, sometimes just contradictory rumours, suggesting the elimination of the current system of variable value stamps as issued in the Correos post offices, in favour of other types of franking systems. The confirmation arrived through an article published in the October issue of the Correos magazine 'Abrecartas': the new franking system will be a reality at the end of January 2007 in all the Spanish Post Offices.

From mid-October 2005, a number of selected post offices in Spain began a trial in which no type of stamp was issued - only an impression or postal mark of postage paid on postal items was used. During December 2005 the second phase of this test was enlarged to 30 new post offices. (Read articles - only Spanish: Pruebas para un nuevo sistema de admisión de envíos - 1a. fase and 2a. fase).

It is worth noting that only one new label design has been produced in 2006, which contrasts with the large number of issues of previous years.
For the equipment, Correos announced, during the first quarter of 2006, three public tenders for the purchase of 368 medium and 24 high volume cancellation machines, to be used for the printing of postage paid postal marks. In addition 200 new scales have also been ordered.

The new franking scales EPELSA DLI

In March 2006, Correos, through the Direction of Planning and Finances, announced a new public tender for the acquisition of 200 peripheral scales connected to the Spanish postal software IRIS.

This is nothing new, because Correos have regularly announced this type of public tender when new franking balances were required in the post offices, but the great news about this tender is that the scales are required without any means of printing stamps ... therefore, without the possibility of issuing any type of variable value stamp or ATM.

The winner of the tender was, again, the Spanish company Grupo Epelsa S.L., manufacturer of all the franking scales currently in service in the Spanish post office.

The new balance proposed is the model DLI, with similar characteristics to the other of scales in service, and an upper LCD screen with a 2-line display, identical to the one of the previous model DL-Iris/Postal. It has the capability of working connected to the software application IRIS, as well as a stand-alone machine. The scale is programmed with the applicable postal rates, through the 36 keys, with the different postal products, destinations and additional services (lower image). Therefore it is possible to calculate, directly, the franking for a letter or a postal item based on the weight, pressing the key corresponding to the postal product, and finally indicating the destination. But it no longer issues any type of variable value stamp, and only - at the request of the user- a receipt on thermal paper.

The distribution of the new Epelsa DLI scales amongst the post offices began in the last week of September 2006 and they could be operational by the beginning of October. In no case is it expected that they will replace the current franking balances, they just will complement them. According to the provisional listing, the new scales will be placed in those post offices requiring new equipment on the counters.

The new cancellation machines PITNEY BOWES

In the same way, in February 2006 Correos and its Direction of Planning and Finances announced a public tender for the acquisition of 368 automatic discontinuous cancellation machines for average (medium ? ) production.
In the next month, in March 2006 a new public tender of the Mail Division established the purchase of 24 high production cancellation machines.

In this case, the winner company of both tenders was the multinational Pitney Bowes, that in the last years has already supplied a large number of cancellation machines to Spanish Posts - Correos.

The 368 (medium ?) average production cancellation machines are of the E586 model, a compact equipment adapted from the machines or franking systems, that can cancel up to 150 covers per minute. The installation in the destination post offices was completed in the penultimate week of October.

On the other hand, the 24 high production cancellation machines are of model 3915, an equipment that can process up to 400 letters per minute. In the image can be seen with the Correos logotype. The distribution and installation of these machines were completed at the end of October 2006.

All these cancellation machines are fitted with a cancellation die with the text "Franqueo Pagado en Oficina" (Postage Paid at Post Office).