Tech Corner
mrc Web-Based Electronic Forms: Print optimized HTML delivers Real ROI
by Brian Crowley
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The mrc-Productivity Series tool suite includes the ability to generate Web-based electronic forms. This capability is available to all mrc customers by using the time-tested reporting features of the product and the newly developed Web/Servlet report templates.
Business Forms, In General
Any document distributed to business partners could be considered a business form. Forms are often the most consistent method of communication between business partners. So, to ensure that those forms project the most professional image, many organizations have gone the route of purchasing pre-printed forms.
Business forms serve many purposes:
- Invoices
- Purchase Orders
- Order Confirmations
- Shipping Manifests
- Delivery Schedule Reports
- Expense Reports
- Account Balance Reports
Why upgrade to electronic forms?
Documents are living, not dead. As soon as a document is put into production, someone wants a change. So, why bother with pre-printed forms? You know that you'll end up throwing cases of them away when it's time for a change.
That is, of course, if you don't disrupt operations first by running out of them! When you make the move to electronic forms, you eliminate the expenses and hassles of form production.
Why choose mrc's offering for forms?
The mrc-Productivity Series' myriad features offer unique benefits to implementing electronic forms:
- Savings on postage and distribution costs by sending portable electronic documents with optimized printing via email, fax, FTP, or served from Web sites
- Faster payment of invoices through instant communications and document delivery with business partners
- Easy set-up of new documents by using any free HTML editor for formatting
- Waste-reduction cases of expensive pre-printed forms due to modifications (e.g. area code change, etc.) because any updates or modifications to the forms can be performed on the screen as needed
- Savings on manual processes like collating, mailing, and expensive human errors through automation
- Savings on design outsourcing costs with endless formatting options included: graphics, lines, colors, fonts, etc. that allow the ability to design forms in-house
How can I use the forms capabilities of the mrc-Productivity Series?
Compile any new or existing report specification using the Web/Servlet Report template. Then, run the application from your browser, which runs over IBM's free WebSphere middleware, or with command MRCRPTSND. When executing the report, choose the output option "Print-Optimized HTML" for consistent page layout.
You can format the default look by importing the IFS HTML skeleton into any desired HTML editor on your PC. The skeleton is located here: /mrcjava/dd/r00100.html (where DD is the Data Dictionary and the report is number 100.) After modification, save the report back to the same location.
Run the application again to see the application immediately employ your formatting.
Here is an example Invoice Print application on mrc's crazybikes.com demonstration Web site:
http://www.crazybikes.com/mrcjava/servlet/MRCWEBDEMO.R00160s
Will electronic forms really save money?
Need help convincing management that using mrc-Productivity Series forms abilities will save money? In addition to all of the inherent material costs, think of all the labor costs involved. Consider how many people at your organization are involved with pre-printed forms:
Marketing/Design designs the form and works with the forms supplier.
Purchasing negotiates the prices and terms of buying the forms.
Shipping receives the forms.
Accounts Payable pays the invoices for the forms.
Accounting tracks the forms as expenses.
Information Systems creates the report to load the form with data.
An operator prints the report on the pre-printed forms.
Administration collates the forms, stuffs the envelopes, and pays the postage.
Administration tracks the number of forms on hand and places orders.
Now imagine simplifying this process with the forms capabilities already built into mrc-Productivity Series. Eliminate the paper trail, and be a hero at your organization!
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