Forms distributor aren't the least bit nervous about a decline in the sales of multipart forms.
Multipart forms are among the oldest of forms in this industry, but with the advent of the laser printer, they are quietly moving to the back of the line, and distributors don't seem a bit concerned.
Brandt Morrell, president and COO, Altec, Laguna Hills, Calif., spares no love for the antiquated forms. In fact, he considers them to be a necessary evil that is fortunately becoming less necessary. "They used to be the only way an individual could share certain information like purchase orders and invoices with another party, but that's changing with technology," he said.
Dan Rosswog, vice president of sales, western region, Consolidated Graphic Communications, Bridgeville, Pa., agreed that they're on the decline, and noted the economic impact that it's having on manufacturers and distributors alike. "Currently, the number of companies that can print multipart forms exceeds the demand, so the plants just aren't as busy as they've historically been," he said. "And as manufacturers lose this business, prices increase for distributors."
These distributors cite laser printer technology as the culprit behind the initial decline in multipart forms. Advanced technology has paved the way for intelligent electronic forms, document imaging and automated output management solutions, replacing the need for hard copy output.
With this shift towards e-documents, Altec has sought ways to provide clients with means of storing and distributing information electronically. One of its solutions is Doc-route, which allows a user to distribute information to various departments electronically, on paper or both.
Morrell added that since Doc-route allows a form to be sent electronically, it eliminates the cost of the paper, envelopes, postage and handling that would be required of a mailed multipart form, and it arrives at its destination within seconds.
All of this, however, is not to say that multipart forms are obsolete. In fact, Great American Business Products, Houston, which markets almost exclusively to the automotive and property markets finds that there is still a high demand for multipart forms in certain industries.
"Changes in technology don't really affect the forms we sell because the industries we market to require the legal protections and convenience multipart forms provide," said Mark Farnsworth, automotive marketing manager.
The reason for this is that the bulk of the forms needed in the property and automotive industry are handwritten or are legal forms that have very specific requirements and can't be altered. "For example, when an apartment renter requests work to be done, the renter, the complex manager and the repairman will all need proof that the work was completed. There also needs to be a paper trail for legal reasons," said Farnsworth.
Tackling the Issues
Clearly, the needs of clients vary, and understanding what a particular customer requires is foremost in the multipart form distributor's mind. As such, Morrell, Rosswog and Farnsworth emphasized the importance of being familiar with the path the form will take through the office. "To properly specify multipart forms, a distributor needs to know how each ply of the multipart form is used and what information needs to be on it," said Rosswog.
When Morrell began selling multipart forms, distributors interviewed the employees that would be using the form and asked what information they needed and what they did with the form when they were through. "The challenge for the sales representatives," he said, "was to determine how the product was being used and how to cut company costs."
Morrell added that distributors still need to track forms, but instead of following a paper trail, they follow an electronic path.
Rosswog noted that specifying continuous multipart forms that are printed on an impact printer can be more complicated than those meant for handwritten use. "These forms require actual print positions, so the placement of the copy, the columns and the boxes become more critical," he said.
Despite improved technology and increasingly efficient methods of sharing information, cost remains the primary issue for most distributors and is not always something that can be augmented by a better design. After all, the more parts a form has, the more expensive it is.
In light of all this, distributors find themselves with crucial decisions to make. There is still money to be made in multipart forms whatever the medium, the question just is where and how.
Altec has chosen to do so by meeting its clients' electronic needs. While the company still offers multipart forms, Morrell advocates identifying complementary software packages to aid customers in eliminating paper. "Distributors need to assist companies in their migration from paper to paperless processing, helping them augment and reduce the need for paper," he said. "For many, the problems with paper documents are that they can get lost or misfiled, can only be viewed one at a time and require storage."
Consolidated Graphic Communications has opted to expand its product line. "We're offering more products, ranging from commercial printed products and four-color process to labels, tags and laser cut sheets," said Rosswog.
He noted that multipart forms are just one product among many and added that there are markets that will continue to use multipart forms. "While most companies are finding ways around using them by putting laser printers on every floor of the office, there are still companies who prefer a more hands-on approach," he said.
He concluded that while multipart forms will be an increasingly smaller piece of the pie, they'll never completely disappear.
Finally, Great American Business Products has decided to stay with the markets it knows will always require multipart forms. "The need for these types of forms will never go away. As long as there are lawyers and legal protection is an issue, there will always be a need for multipart forms," said Farnsworth. "Furthermore, many of our customers use multipart forms in lieu of, or in addition to, using a computer system, but when taking a service request from a customer, there's no substitute for having a form they can fill out."
By Sarah Lerow