The Background

A transportation and logistics company in the south Chicago suburbs had some very established processes. One of the long-standing procedures involved the way billing was handled. Invoices were printed on three-part, pin-fed forms and printed on a dot printer machine. One part of the form was retained by the company, another was sent to the customer and the last one was a back-up copy that no one was really sure why it was there. According to the customer, "the forms had just always been done that way." The procedure worked for them. Invoices went out and the company was paid, but there was serious waste and inefficiency in the process. The preprinted forms were costing the company more than 34 cents each.