Biocompatibles needed a new approach to their existing documentation that would improve productivity, be more efficient, provide significant cost savings and, most importantly, address the new business model they were introducing. The new solution had to handle all subsidiaries, avoid code changes and be implemented within a tight deadline.

Historically, the business had dispatched contact lenses to doctors, who then passed them to their customers. Accompanying the lenses was a MAPICS produced invoice, on pre-printed stationery. Seeking to improve both their efficiency and the level of customer service, Biocompatibles' new business model called for the lenses to be dispatched directly to the patient, along with a packing list. The invoice would be sent separately, to the doctor.

Mary Ellen Rupe - Director of Customer Care explains, "We realized that sending the contact lenses to the Doctor, rather than the patient, meant the patients were having to wait longer to receive their new lenses. Doctors were finding it challenging to manage the distribution of lenses to their patients, so sending the lenses straight to the patient made so much more sense --- improving the way we did business and our customer's satisfaction at the same time! The only problem was how to manage the change internally. We had never produced packing lists before as all orders were simply dispatched with an invoice."

Biocompatibles' IS Director, outlines why a change was needed, "We realized the new business model required much more than just some application reprogramming. We were already facing programming costs and scheduling delays each time MAPICS XA was upgraded. This time we wanted to reduce our dependence on programmer resources. Therefore the solution had to be easy to implement, use and manage, and give us the flexibility to meet even the smallest changes."

Looking for a rapid implementation, Biocompatibles turned to their affiliate Custom Systems Corporation (C.S.C) for assistance and advice. After looking at the options available C.S.C recommended JacanaForms. "Using JacanaForms means Biocompatibles have the flexibility and ease of use they were looking for. They can maintain, update and upgrade their forms quickly and easily without changes to MAPICS application code." - Harry Burgh C.S.C.

By using Info Workplace (the MAPICS/XA report writer) in combination with JacanaForms Biocompatibles has:

• Eliminated the need to rewrite their form output each time a MAPICS upgrade is implemented.
• Quickly and easily introduced a complete electronic forms solution to their business
• Added the ability to reprint packing lists, which they couldn't do before!
• Introduced multi-language forms for their Canadian subsidiary
• Introduced Duplex forms
• Customized their MAPICS output to meet their precise needs adding fields not in the standard MAPICS output, with no changes to MAPICS application code!
• Introduced US postal barcodes saving time and money on postage
• Introduced automatic envelope stuffing using OMR markings on forms
• Doubled their output - instead of printing just 1200 invoices they are now printing between 1200-1500 invoices and the same number of packing lists - in the same time frame!
• Achieved their project and business objectives!

Mary Ellen concludes "The transition to JacanaForms has been great. The implementation went smoothly and having an expert on site during the transition meant the whole project was completed so much faster. We are now looking to apply the use of JacanaForms to purchase orders and checks, plus extend its implementation to our overseas operations."

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