Forms management and control involves the approval and authority over all forms produced and urchased for organisational use.
What is a form?
A form is container, paper or otherwise, for the systematic collection and use of data.
In the 1980s, is was held that 75% of records in line offices were forms. In executive offices, it was viewed that reports and correspondence might outnumber forms.
Forms enable systematic communication of infomration and are the primary means for this purpose. In other words, forms represent "structured data". In 2009, "structured" versus "unstructured" data is discussed in ICT literature but forms are not tyically mentioned.
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Forms management involves:
- ordering and initiation routines
- designing processes
- procurement processing
- storing processes
- distribution processes
- reordering routines
- reviewing processes
- disposal and obsolescence management processes
- Ten objectives of forms management
- Minimize costs by ensuring efficiency in use and reordering
- identify obsolete forms, followup and cancellation
- design for effective communication while observing printing and production economies
- establish new forms with retention schedule and review periodically
- vet print and production orders to ensure currency and appropriate integration into current business workflows and processes (up-to-date revisions and quantity, etc.)
- proofread and authorize relaease of printed forms (check for corrections, etc.)
- ensure that forms are supported by approrpiate procedures; refer to the relevant business procedure office before, during and after forms work
- establish a unique identifier
- maintain a file of relevant information about the form (sponsor, revision history, rationale, stakeholders, user reacions, flow charts, etc.)
- maintain metrics on use for both analysis of efficacy and for production purposes. Costs of not controlling forms include:
- failure to be systematic (as through the use of forms) means that aspects of the organization that would be well served by systemization cannot be. For example, forms that are produced independantly at the desktop have an effect on consistency, time, equipment and space consumption and costs. Such forms often (usually) lack instructions, affecting time and usage. Typically, they are produced at higher than justifiable cost on photocopiers or local printers (instead of integrated into electronic systems or, where necessary to produce in hard copy, managed for print-on-demand or high volume production); forms can be an important vehicle to link records series to retention schedules - failure to maintain retention schedules requires costly and time consuming ad hoc review and analysis; no unique identifier and tracking provisions, lack of knowledge over what exists and what does not with implications for reinventing the wheel; lack of management can mean that forms do not take advantage of relevant equipment (computer completion, placement of instructional elements relative to typewriter roller where still relevant, etc.).
A forms inventory is an important tool.
Characteristics of production and use equipment is critical.
E.g. 1/2" gripper at top and bottom; 1/4" sides for printed roll or Web press forms; multiart sets with gripper margins appropriate to single part margins and attention to the chemical composition of send/third part inking to ensure that data remains for the required retention period; paper weight and grades: choose 80% rag content for longer duration requirements, sulphite for very short requirements - with cost implications for each.
- Bond paper #4 Suphite: 10 year retention
- #2 Sulphite: 10 year
- #1 Sulphite: ?
- 25% to 75% Rag content: 40 year retention
- 100% rag content is very expensive vellum, not recyclable (?) Powder paper: can scrape off errors to reveal fresh ground for new content. 3 lines to the inch for double spaced (typewriter) setting.
