EAN-13	0000000395700
UPC-A	000000395700
Product Name	Trader Joe's Hummus Quartet
Category	Food
Short Description	20 oz
Created	06-17-2007
Modified	06-08-2018 3:29:54pm
MD5	cc1cddcd6d5afa93b5f709cbdfbee92a
SHA256	e876c25d1bf7397be52478653e6ee8423f73716f0cdc56c68a7d6709fd3c1344
Search Google	by EAN or by Title
Query Time	0.0045509

Article of interest

The Facing Identification Mark, or FIM, is used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for the automation of mail processing. Basically, the FIM is a set of vertical bars that are printed on the upper edge of an envelop or postcard, slightly to the left of the stamp. It’s a nine digit barcode that consists of vertical bars and zeros, which are represented by the blank spaces.

The FIM’s primary function is to ensure that all mail is facing the proper way, to identify how the postage was paid (business reply, etc.) and whether or not the business reply mail has a POSTNET barcode. Should there be a POSTNET barcode, the mail can then be sent directly to the barcode sorter.

There are four different types of FIM barcodes, A, B, C and D.

• FIM A: Used for courtesy reply mail and metered reply mail with a preprinted POSTNET barcode.
• FIM B: Used for business reply mail without a preprinted ZIP+4 barcode.
• FIM C: Used for business reply mail with a preprinted ZIP+4 barcode.
• FIM D: Used only with IBI postage.

As far as standards are concerned, the FIM has to meet very specific guidelines:

• A FIM clear zone must not contain any printing other than the FIM pattern
• The rightmost bar of the FIM must be at least 2” (+/- 1/8”) from the right edge of each piece of mail
• Each FIM bar must be 5/8” high (+/- 1/8”) and 1/32” wide (+/- 0.008”)
• The tops of each FIM bar can’t be lower than 1/8” from the top edge of the mail
• The bottoms of each FIM bar can’t touch the bottom edge of the FIM clear zone, but can’t be more than 1/8” above or below the edge.