Short run NCR forms = DIY

[James Burke]

As a one-man show, I still "run on paper", and lately some of my hand written orders have come up missing only to turn up a few days later...too late to record delivery/shipping info, etc. Electronic work flow is coming, but not quite yet. In the end, our orders and invoices are typed into the computer, but sometimes I don't have time to do that when a job first comes in...or over the weekend when the email inbox begins to fill up.

The solution was a long time coming, yet surprises me how much of a no-brainer it is. We now print everything on NCR (no carbon required) paper and pad them to a piece of chip board. One copy goes out to the shop, the other copy goes in a binder on the desk...as sort of a paper "backup".

For serialized work orders, we PDF the Excel file, drop it into SignLab and then use the badge function to automatically number the sheets. Our low volume need makes it uneconomical to get them from a print shop, yet we now have the capabilities to NCR just about every form we need to.


JB

 

[jfiscus]

There are a lot of "digital" options, but until you get to that point (and even afterwards) I would suggest picking a bright colored piece of paper and using that color of paper for work orders ONLY.
We have a digital work order system here, but we still print out an order for every job. The special colored paper eliminates missing/losing paperwork or having it stuck to the back of another order.
Keep a stack of blanks on your desk for jotting down the phone orders, etc as they come in then you can make them official later. FWIW we use canary colored paper here for that.

We also use a specific color of paper for our installer checklists. (lavender?) Using specific colors makes it easier to locate what you're looking for in a hurry.

 

[James Burke]

I would suggest picking a bright colored piece of paper and using that color of paper for work orders ONLY.

Ditto...we started doing that a few years back. It's a little bit more expensive keeping the special colored papers in stock, but it sure pays off in saved time.


Thanks again,


JB