PCs start sweeping away business forms

Organizations are beginning to use electronic mail systems to replace paper with electronic forms. New software allows electronic forms to be sent between departments and stored on computer disks without ever having to be printed out. Jetform Corp, Delrina Technology Inc, Lotus Development Corp and Microsoft Corp all make electronic forms software. The savings over paper forms could be tremendous: organizations spend $6 billion annually on pre-printed forms, but one-third are thrown away unused, most often when they become obsolete. Sales of multipart forms are falling by about 9 percent per year. Some firms, such as Northstar Computer Forms Inc, are exiting the traditional business-forms market.