10–16. Reduce Number of Form Copies to File

Over time, it is a common occurrence for a company to continually add to the number of copies of printed documents. For example, an invoice that starts with two copies—one for the customer and one for the company—may later have another copy added, so that invoices can be filed in numerical order, and perhaps another copy, so that the customer service department (or some other department) can have an extra copy. These additional documents are usually added without much thought to the consequences for the filing staff, which must put away all the extra copies. Also, additional document copies result in more expensive documents (since there is more paper involved), as well as a more heavy-duty printer that can punch through such a thick sheaf of documents (which can also bunch up quite easily, causing a printer jam). Thus, a large number of document copies results in a multitude of problems, not the least of which is a considerable increase in the workload of the filing staff.

The solution is to reduce the number of copies. However, this is not a simple matter of ordering new documents with fewer parts. Both costs and politics can become an issue when implementing what appears to be, on the surface, a very simple matter. The main cost is that there may be many documents still in stock with extra copies. If so, it makes little sense to throw them all out. Instead, use them up, throwing away the extra copies that are generated, and then order ...

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