By Andrew Green, Staff ReporterJAMAICA'S top maker of business forms, Moore Business Forms Caribbean Limited, is changing direction to serve the region's evolving information management requirements.
At issue is the switch from paper-based record keeping to digital records. Moore established a new division, Moore Tech, to solve the massive problem many businesses have in converting their paper-based records into digital format.
"Moore started producing forms used in business such as invoices, statements, purchase orders and cheques," said Desmond Valentine, Moore'
s managing director. Established by the giant Moore Corporation in 1968, it served the growing information needs of businesses at the time.
With computer technology then in its infancy, the existing paper-based information storage systems required huge amounts of forms.
But technology changed and with that there was a shift in the types and quantities of business forms needed, Mr. Valentine explained.
"People ask us about competition and usually they are asking about other forms manufacturers," he said. "But by far our greatest competitor has been technology."
Modern businesses need to have data in an electronic format for easy storage and handling. So Moore set up its Moore Tech division two years ago to serve this need. "Moore Tech is our technology division that specialises in information management solutions," Mr. Valentine said. It handles customer information from data capture, to archiving, retrieval and work flow management.
"Moore Tech is our technology division that specialises in information management solutions," Mr. Valentine said. It handles customer information from data capture, to archiving, retrieval and work flow management.
"Moore Tech operates along with Moore Business Forms," said Moore Tech information technology manager, Neil Williams. "The main product is data capture." Data capture involves automated information processing to replace manual data entry.
TAILORED FOR CUSTOMER
The company designs forms to suit customer needs, also taking into account the requirements for efficient data capture. Moore print these forms, which are then used to gather the information required by the customer.
"Then we take these handwritten forms and scan them back in the computer," Mr. Williams said. "They can then be interpreted, and data created."
One example of this process occurred in the last population census. "The census provided a good example of the scope of our operation," Mr. Valentine said. Moore Tech designed a form based on the requirements stated by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). Moore printed the forms, which were then used in the census.
CONVINCINGLY COMPETENT
Information from the forms was then captured automatically, leaving STATIN with both paper and electronic records, which could be manipulated to provide useful information.
"We were able to screen the forms and take out obvious errors," Mr. Valentine said. "The important thing is that STATIN got clean information to work with."
"We convinced STATIN that they should outsource this work," Mr. Williams said. In the previous census, STATIN bought its own equipment and trained people to do the work. But censuses are held only once a decade so the equipment had to be given away after it was used.
Moore won an international tender put out by STATIN for the census contract, Mr. Valentine said. "We were able to win that bid and deliver the goods in the specified time with the required level of accuracy."
With this success, "We now have the capacity and the knowledge and the technology to produce these types of forms better than competitors in any other country in the Caribbean," Mr. Valentine said. "We are looking for offshore business."
