United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA530-N-96-007
June 1996
WasteWiSe Update
WASTE
Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber.
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WasteWi$e Update
Going Paperless
With Technology
Since the onset of the computer age, experts have
predicted the arrival of the "paperless office." In the
office of the future, they said, paper would be obso-
lete: documents would be stored in electronic direc-
tories and transmitted from computer to computer.
There would be no file cabinets, reference books, or stacks of
outgoing mail. There would also be little or no paper waste.
Even though this vision of a paperless office has been
more difficult to realize than originally thought, some
WasteWi$e partners are making real progress. Partners are
using electronic technology to reduce excess paper in a vari-
ety of ways, including:
• Computerized documents and filing systems—
Several WasteWi$e partners have placed phone direc-
tories, human resources documents, and corporate
policy manuals on line to avoid constantly updating
paper versions. Others are using electronic filing sys-
tems to reduce the amount of paper copies made in
the office.
• Electronic data interchange (EDI)—EDI is the
electronic transfer of business information in a structured
format from one computer to another. It is a high-speed
method of electronically communicating large volumes
of data without the use of paper. For example, rather
than sending paper purchase orders and invoices
through the mail, WasteWi$e partners are invest-
ing in EDI to carry out these transactions
electronically.
• CD/ROM and other interactive tools—
CD/ROMs have enabled WasteWi$e partners
to store vast quantities of information, much
more than would fit on an ordinary floppy disk,
in an easy-to-use, interactive format.
In addition to reducing paper use, these emerging tech-
nologies also improve efficiency, saving time usually needed
to process paper forms. These benefits ultimately mean
increased savings for a company's bottom line.
This issue highlights WasteWi$e partners' experiences
implementing electronic technologies that conserve paper.
We look at their successes and the ways in which they've
overcome some typical concerns, such as the length of time
needed to implement EDI and costs of purchasing software
and training employees to use the technology. In addition,
some WasteWi$e partners have found that suppliers or cus-
tomers might also need help adjusting to new technologies.
In this issue, we examine an on-line purchasing catalog
implemented by Silicon Graphics, which the company esti-
mates conserves 500,000 pages of paper per year, and illus-
trate how Haworth has conserved paper by placing its
product catalogs on a CD/ROM. We also showcase the cost
and paper savings Phillips Petroleum and the Southern
Company have achieved through their use of EDI. In other
articles, we see how BellSouth Telecommunications and
Lockheed Martin achieve the benefits of computerized docu-
ment storage.
WasteWi$e congratulates its partners on all the ways
they've used technology to conserve paper and increase effi-
ciency. Along with their other benefits, paper-free technolo-
gies offer another opportunity to be WasteWi$e.
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WasteWi$e Update
EDI: Answers to Oonrmon Questions
f you're not sure what EDI is, or how it can
help your company, you're not alone.
According to a 1994 survey, the greatest
barrier to adopting EDI and experiencing
b success is lack of knowledge about the
technology and its benefits. To help partners learn
more about EDI, WasteWiSe reviewed some common
questions about this valuable tool.
ffi
Q. What is Electronic Data Interchange?
A. EDI is the electronic transfer of business information in a
structured format from one computer to another. EDI is
just one piece of a puzzle known as electronic commerce,
which encompasses such activities as electronic mail, fax-
ing, sharing information via networks and bulletin
boards, bar coding, scanning, and imaging. Companies
typically use EDI for purchase orders and invoices. Other
applications include shipment notification, check
issuance, and electronic transfer of funds; there are literal-
ly hundreds of uses for EDI.
Q. When was EDI first introduced? When did it
start becoming so popular?
A. In 1975 the transportation industry became the first sec-
tor to replace paper transactions with EDI. Since 1987
EDI expenditures have grown 20 to 30 percent annually.
EDI is now a $2 billion industry.
Q. Why do companies switch to EDI?
EDI systems have proven themselves to be much more
efficient and accurate than paper systems, giving compa-
nies a competitive edge. Research indicates that the vast
majority of the companies switching to EDI have no
choice if they want to stay in business—their principal
customer or supplier told them to switch!
Q. What cost savings can I expect from using EDI?
A. Depending on the size of your company, you can expect
to save $1 to $5 per document. Dan Ferguson, president
of The EDI Group, Ltd., a company specializing in elec-
tronic commerce education, explains, "These dollar sav-
ings are a result of eliminating redundant processing
steps, eliminating paper, and reducing the amount of
labor required to conduct the transaction."
Q. What other benefits can I expect?
According to the 1994 survey, companies switching to
EDI can expect to see a better than 50 percent decrease
in error rates and an average 40 percent or greater
decrease in total transaction time. With all of these bene-
fits, you probably also have happier customers.
Q. What are the components of an EDI system?
Typical EDI systems consist of three main components
(1) EDI translation software to generate, receive, and
interpret transacted information. (2) Hardware, includ-
ing computers (mainframe, mid-range, or personal),
modems, printer, and storage device. You may be able to
use existing equipment, with upgrades as necessary. (3)
Access to and continued support from a network
provider that will transport your EDI information.
Q. What are typical EDI start-up costs?
A. Initial start-up costs can be quite high. Ferguson esti-
mates that the cost to set up a typical EDI system aver-
ages $10,000 on a personal computer platform; $50,000
on a mid-range platform; and $100,000 on a mainframe
platform. Adding the substantial costs of researching,
pilot testing, and training employees on the new system
can drive costs much higher.
(Continued on page 11)
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WasteWi$e Update
HavuortHs
Intelligent
How many compact disks does it take
to hold 2,000 furniture catalogs? Just
one! Salespeople at WasteWiSe part-
ner Haworth, Inc., the second largest
manufacturer of office furniture in
the United States, can carry nearly a quarter ton of
sales literature to client meetings—all in the palms
of their hands. With SourceBook, a CD/ROM contain-
ing more than 2,000 sales-related documents (e.g.,
sales bulletins, price lists, forms, planning guides,
fabric samples, and video clips), salespeople have a
wealth of information at their fingertips. Haworth
estimates that if all of the information contained on
one SourceBook CD were printed, the stack of paper
would be 6 feet tall and weigh 400 pounds.
Costs and Benefits
The start-up costs for SourceBook included $500,000 for
software development and another $2 to 3 million for train-
ing more than 600 people, purchasing laptop computers for
260 market managers, and other indirect expenses. Ted
Evans, systems analyst responsible for Haworth's CD/ROM
publications, explains, "It's really too early to calculate hard
cost figures, but we believe that from a marketing perspective
alone, SourceBook has already paid for itself through cus-
tomer satisfaction, the general impressiveness and high visi-
bility of the product, and the increase in employee
efficiency."
Some of the many benefits that Haworth has realized
through SourceBook include:
• Decreased printing costs and paper usage. Haworth fre-
quently makes adjustments to prices and product lines,
resulting in the need for updated sales literature, which
requires vast amounts of paper. Reprinting these materials
costs Haworth more than $ 1 million annually. Over the next
few years, Haworth plans to discontinue printing much of
this literature, with the goal of decreasing its annual budget
for reprints by 40 percent by the year 2005.
• Higher-quality client presentations. Rather than cutting
up glossy catalogs to create presentations, the salespeople
now custom design client presentations on the computer,
complete with full-color graphics. This conserves paper
and avoids discarding cut-up catalogs.
• Greater customer satisfaction. Response time to cus-
tomers' questions has decreased since all of the information
that salespeople need (e.g., prices) is at their fingertips.
• New training opportunities. SourceBook serves as a good
training tool for both new employees and customers; it depicts
company activities and products. For example, one SourceBook
video clip explains how Haworth makes wood veneer office
furniture and describes the different types of wood available.
•
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WasteWi$e Update
Evans comments, "The entire
company is pleased with SourceBook,
and we have received nothing but
compliments. In fact, Dick Haworth,
the company's chairman, wanted to
try it out too. He recently received
his own laptop computer, complete
with SourceBook, and loves it!"
Implementation Schedule
From concept to product,
SourceBook took about three years to
develop, beginning in 1992. Haworth
spent approximately one year examin-
ing the innovative proposal for
SourceBook, including an initial cost- I
benefit analysis. Writing the software
took about a year as well, during which time the company
devised a 10-year schedule for implementation and expan-
sion of SourceBook.
Haworth released SourceBook to its 350 independent dealers
in February 1995. The company's 260 internal market man-
agers were up and running with laptop computers equipped
with SourceBookm November 1995. In early 1996, Haworth
began targeting the first documents for printing reduction.
Haworth currently provides monthly updates of the
SourceBook CD to its dealers and market managers. These
salespeople retain the old CDs as a reference library for his-
toric prices, product lines, and video clips.
Challenges Take Time to Resolve
As with the introduction of any new technology, Haworth
encountered some challenges during the project. Timing was a
crucial issue. Many of Haworth's marketing activities are con-
ducted by outside, independent dealers of office furniture as
well as internal Haworth employees, known as market man-
agers. When the company introduced SourceBookm February
1995, both the independent dealers and Haworth's market
"We believe that from a
marketing perspective alone,
SourceBook has already paid
for itself through customer
satisfaction, the general
impressiveness and high
visibility of the product, and
the increase in employee
efficiency."
Ted Evans, Systems Analyst, Haworth
managers received training on how to
use it. While the dealers possessed the
hardware necessary to run SourceBook,
the market managers were initially
without laptop computers and thus
unable to use the new tool. As a result,
Haworth's market managers did not
support the technology at first, especial-
ly since part of their job involves sup-
porting the independent dealers, as well
as servicing their own clients. By
November 1995, however, all of the
market managers were up and running
with laptop computers and SourceBook
themselves. Evans remarks, "It's difficult
to pull them away from their comput-
I ers now! Although the market managers
are now fully supportive of the technol-
ogy, they are not yet completely comfortable with it. Everyone is
using SourceBook, but perhaps not to its full potential. It will
take time to fully adjust to this new technology."
Haworth's Electronic Horizon
Haworth is continuously making improvements and
expanding upon its original idea. Currently one-third of the
SourceBook disk space is consumed by video clips, such as an
11-minute interview with G.W Haworth, the company's
founder. In April 1996, Haworth expects to have enough video
for an entire CD/ROM, which will be used for both training
and marketing purposes. The company is also in the process of
electronically scanning fabric and finishing swatches, which
eventually will be contained on a separate CD/ROM.
Each page of a SourceBook document is currently format-
ted as if it were a standard piece of paper. Once the need to
print the information decreases, Haworth will be able to
improve SourceBook formatting, making it more compatible
with the electronic medium.
Evans notes, "We continue to learn new things that
SourceBook can be used for. It adds value to the company."
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WasteWi$e Update
Lockheed Martin Flies
High With Internet
Communication
While many companies develop a home page
on the Internet to communicate with cus-
tomers, The Lockheed Martin
Corporation went one step further. This
WasteWi$e partner, headquartered in
Bethesda, Maryland, is also using the World Wide Web
to communicate corporate policies and decisions to over
80,000 employees nationwide.
Employees can quickly access information on both cor-
porate and facility procedures from their desktop comput-
ers. Lockheed Martin selected internet technology as the
most effective way to convey vast amounts of information
and enable employees to search for specific information.
To ensure that Lockheed Martin's corporate policies
and procedures are kept confidential, the network is pro-
tected with a firewall. Only Lockheed Martin employees
and authorized guests are able to access the network.
"The Internet has proven to be a cost-effective and
timely way to distribute corporate policies and proce-
dures," says Nancy Corder, director of corporate policies
and procedures at Lockheed Martin. Using the Internet to
distribute information has helped Lockheed Martin lower
business costs by reducing staff time spent accessing infor-
mation and the use of paper products. While Lockheed
Martin does not track the number of documents pulled
off the Internet, the company believes the associated
paper savings are tremendous. Mailing just one 100-page
policy manual to each of the 80,000 employees connected
to the network would cost the company more than
$250,000 in postage and paper costs.
Especially helpful in reducing paper costs is the
Internet's ability to incorporate and disseminate changes
to documents on-line. Instead of printing and distribut-
ing hard copies of revised policies and procedures,
changes to documents can be made without using a
single sheet of paper. In
addition, the network
can send on-line
memos to employees
alerting them of any
recent revisions
to documents.
Phillips
As a result of its use of EDI and other technologies,
WasteWi$e partner Phillips Petroleum Company
has saved almost $250,000 in paper, envelopes,
and forms over seven years and conserved 210,000
pounds of paper. The company, headquartered in
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, reaped these rewards by changing the
way it does business with its suppliers.
In 1989, Phillips began paying a few of its major suppliers
electronically (i.e., transferring funds via computers rather
than paper checks). Since then, the company has expanded
its use of electronic fund transfers to make an estimated
615,000 payments, or 35 percent of Phillips' total payments,
annually. Start-up costs were low as Phillips developed the
program through a partnership with its bank. The company
believes that implementation costs, including a $25,000
annual maintenance fee and $80,000 for an EDI translator,
have been offset by the cost savings.
The company is currently expanding its use of technology
in two ways:
• Encouraging major customers to replace check pay-
ments with electronic fund transfers. Instead of sending
checks each month, customers can save paper by transfer-
ring money to Phillips electronically. Presently, 75 major
customers are making 300 payments each month.
• Replacing paper purchase order forms with electroni-
cally transmitted requests. When ordering paper, for
example, rather than filling out a purchase form and mail-
ing it to Phillips' paper supplier, the company can com-
municate via computer with the supplier to place an order.
Some 126,000 purchases have been made via computer
order since 1990.
Phillips' use of these technologies has not only saved money
and reduced waste, it has also improved efficiency. Transferring
money and purchase orders electronically reduces the time and
effort formerly spent to process paper checks and forms.
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WasteWi$e Update
From start to finish, EDI improves the purchasing
process," says Steve Choat, The Southern
Company's EDI coordinator, Georgia Power,
Procurement and Materials. The Southern
Company, an electric utility holding company in
Atlanta, Georgia, developed a sys-
tem to obtain price quotes from
vendors electronically, significantly
shortening the purchasing process
and saving money. Choat estimates
that Georgia Power, one of the
seven utilities in the holding com-
pany, saved $120,000 in avoided
administrative costs in one year
alone.
Previously, the Southern
Company requested price quotes for
transformers, cable, and other sup-
plies and equipment via paper
forms and received a bid document
in response. Any negotiations over
price, quantity, and availability
required that documents be sent
back and forth between the compa-
ny and its suppliers. This correspondence lengthened the
time and increased the cost needed to select a supplier.
Today, the use of standardized EDI transactions cuts
processing time significantly. More than 312 suppliers use
utility-specific standards (known as ASC XI2 EDI stan-
dards) , which enable the company to send and receive
price quotes in a standard format. The ASC XI2 standards
have been promoted by the Utilities Industry Group to
both utilities and their suppliers nationwide.
"EDI has been immensely
popular with both large
and small suppliers.
Everyone appreciates how
it speeds up the payment
process and minimizes the
need for paperwork"
Steve Choat, EDI Coordinator, Georgia Power,
Procurement and Materials, The Southern Company
The Southern Company's new process minimizes turn-
around time because the standardized forms identify the infor-
mation required from suppliers. Negotiations are conducted
using an electronic form of post-it notes that allow both par-
ties to attach comments to specific sections. When all bids are
complete, the Purchasing
Department reviews and selects a
supplier. In many instances, employ-
ees can then order the materials
directly from the supplier, through
their computers.
To calculate administrative costs
(e.g., handling, paper, postage)
avoided from electronic bidding,
the company developed a conver-
sion factor of $6 per EDI docu-
ment based on a national survey of
EDI document costs and savings.
The Southern Company multiplied
the 20,000 quotes received last year
by $6 to calculate savings. To
implement the new system, the
Southern Company did incur net-
work charges and technical service
costs. According to Choat, however, "With the cost savings
realized through EDI, the new system more than pays for
itself."
An important benefit of the Southern Company's elec-
tronic bidding process was the reduction of paper use.
Formerly, each quote averaged three pages, for a total of
60,000 sheets each year. Thanks to the new paperless sys-
tem, the company now conserves approximately 600
pounds of paper per year.
Setting EDI Standards Industry Wide
The Utilities Industry Group (UIG), a national association of 1 63 utilities and 98 utility suppliers, was formed in
1987 to investigate the benefits of standardizing EDI transactions in the utility industry. In coordination with the
ANSI Accredited Standards X-12 Committee, UIG developed national guidelines that govern electronic transfer of
information throughout the industry, allowing participating suppliers and utilities to use the same system.
According to Mercedes Johnson, head of a UIG task force on environmental issues, standardization makes electronic
transactions easier for everyone in the industry. "For the utilities involved, the use of standard EDI procedures eliminates
mail and courier charges, improves production cycles, and reduces inventories, clerical workloads, and errors in on-time
data entry," says Johnson. The suppliers' process is also facilitated, because suppliers respond to utilities' requests in a
standard format, rather than having to adapt to hundreds of different formats for processing requests. "The overall
result of EDI standardization has been the improvement of business efficiencies throughout the industry," adds Johnson.
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WasteWi$e Update
Carbon Paper Outdated At
Silicon Graphics
ould your company invest in a
project if it could double its
investment within two years?
Silicon Graphics expects that its
paperless purchasing project will
do just that. By developing a World Wide Web-based
purchasing system, Silicon Graphics conserved over
two and half tons of paper forms in just one year.
Now, the company's 11,000 employees can order
products and services electronically without leaving a
costly paper trail.
Breaking the Paper Chain
Early in 1994, WasteWi$e partner
Silicon Graphics, a leading computer
manufacturer, began investigating
opportunities to streamline its pur-
chasing process and cut costs. The
company, based in Mountain View,
California, noticed that in just two
years the number of purchasing
transactions had increased by 90 percent, reaching 19,000
transactions. Ben Gardner, manager of Corporate
Purchasing, realized that he either needed to hire additional
people to handle the growing paperwork or reengineer the
purchasing process to become more efficient. He chose to
research electronic commerce opportunities and put these
technologies to work for the company. Results to date indi-
cate that his instinct was right on target. As a result of the
purchasing system, Silicon Graphics has saved money, paper,
and time. According to Gardner, "In the upcoming year,
Silicon Graphics expects the project's savings to reach $2.1
million."
By replacing the multi-part paper forms with electronic
forms, Silicon Graphics conserved approximately 500,000
sheets of paper in just one year (60 to 70 percent of the paper
is unrecyclable carbon paper). This estimate does not include
the paper generated by supplier organizations.
Improving Efficiency
Using a Web-based system, the
Purchasing Group reduced the num-
ber of purchasing steps from 15 to
three. "That's not all," adds Gardner,
"now employees can receive their
purchases more quickly, too.
Employee orders can often be filled
within 24 hours instead of 3 weeks."
Prior to implementing this system, the Purchasing Group
routed every request through a series of cumbersome steps, log-
ging items into various systems. To purchase an item, employ-
ees searched through paper catalogs and sent a paper form to
management for approval. The manager then sent each
approved form to the Purchasing Group. After logging in each
form, the Purchasing Group sent another form to the supplier,
who sent back invoices and receipts. Finally, the Accounts
Payable Group cut and mailed checks, logging in forms at
every step of the process. Keeping track of an item in the paper
intensive process was time-consuming and frustrating.
Under Silicon Graphics' new purchasing system, employees
browse supplier catalogs that are electronically linked to the sys-
tem and fill out an electronic form. The system sends the form
via e-mail to the appropriate manager for approval. If the man-
ager approves the request, the purchase order is transmitted to
the supplier via EDI. In the future, the system will allow digital
signatures to acknowledge receipt of materials, and electronic
invoices and payments. Employees will also be able to track the
status of an order at any point throughout the process.
"Paperless forms are no longer just the
wave of the future at Silicon Graphics.
They are changing the way we do
business by saving the company
money, time, and paper today."
Ben Gardner, Manager, Corporate Purchasing, Silicon Graphics
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WasteWi$e Update
Decision-Making Process
The project took more than a year
s~* and a half to develop. Silicon
/^ Olhnk Graphics' Purchasing Group began
*• •**^ by researching purchasing systems at
approximately 20 companies through
a benchmark study. The study
helped identify the best purchasing
practices in the industry.
Concurrently, the company investigated commercial soft-
ware available to facilitate electronic transactions. Unable to
locate software that met their needs, Silicon Graphics
resolved to develop its own purchasing system based on the
World Wide Web and the company's internal network.
To plan the new system, the company conducted numer-
ous focus groups with employees and suppliers across the
country. The focus groups helped the company design a sys-
tem that would both enable employees to do their jobs more
effectively and be compatible with suppliers' systems.
Gardner notes that the most rewarding feedback from
users of the new system has been, "Hey you guys really lis-
tened to our advice. Thanks."
Large Start-Up Costs Are Well Worth It
for the Future
Silicon Graphics attributes its abili-
ty to please all involved parties to
its long and in-depth review of
what users of the system needed.
The company's motto throughout
the project was "If the system is not
fast, simple, and pretty, it's not
going to succeed!" The biggest
obstacle the Purchasing Group faced was getting people to
understand the opportunities that electronic commerce
presents.
Although project start-up costs exceeded $1 million,
Gardner expects to achieve payback within nine months of
initiating the project. In the first year, the project has
already saved an estimated $200,000 for Silicon Graphics
and is expected to save $2.1 million in the second year as
the system is expanded to include additional purchasing
functions. Initial costs were high because they included all
of the efforts to research, design, develop, pilot, and
implement the system, as well as efforts to work with and
educate employees and suppliers. Now that the infrastruc-
ture is in place, however, Silicon Graphics can expand its
use of the electronic forms infrastructure into other com-
pany groups.
Glowing Reactions from All Involved
Silicon Graphics' new system makes
life easier for everyone involved,
including suppliers. Managers are
excited about the savings in time
and money. Employees receive their
orders faster and do not get frus-
trated because the order slip has
been misplaced. Suppliers are paid
promptly and now have the infrastructure in place to work
electronically with their other customers. Ben Gardner
concludes, "Paperless forms are no longer just the wave of
the future at Silicon Graphics. They are changing the way
we do business by saving the company money, time, and
paper today."
Advice
From Silicon Graphics
Research the current paper-based process from
"womb to tomb."
Know the details from start to finish about where a
form is initiated and sent.
Look at the entire chain of individuals involved with
the process including all customers and suppliers.
Identifying all links is critical to designing a suc-
cessful system.
Listen to everyone's suggestions and concerns and
incorporate key ideas.
Understanding supplies, customer, and employee
needs helped Silicon Graphics design a system
that works.
Don't be intimidated by the initial
start-up costs.
Once the infrastructure is in
place, the system can be
expanded to target other
areas where forms are
processed, providing
opportunities for addi-
tional savings.
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WasteWi$e Update
10
UbsteMf $e On Line
For more than two years, Waste Wi$e has encour-
aged companies to prevent waste at the source.
We're taking our own advice—WasteWi$e is now
using Internet technology to reduce paper. The
next time you're taking a drive on the information
superhighway, check out our new home page at
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/wastewise.htnil.
On the WasteWi$e Home Page, you will find an assort-
ment of waste reduction information at your fingertips,
including WasteWi$e Update newsletters, a list of partners
(updated periodically), and technical assistance tip sheets. We
provide most documents in both text (ASCII) files and
graphics (PDF) files. As WasteWi$e develops new tip sheets
and other materials, we will add them to the home page.
The future of the WasteWi$e Home Page holds the fol-
lowing enhancements:
• On-line Registration. Businesses and other organizations
will be able to join WasteWi$e via on-line registration.
Prospective members will simply enter the requested infor-
mation on line, and e-mail directly to WasteWi$e.
• On-line Distribution of Materials. Soon we will put the
WasteWi$e Bulletin and other materials on the home page
regularly. If you have Internet access and would like us
to stop sending paper copies of new materials, please
call the Helpline at 800 372-9473 and let us know.
• On-line Reporting. As requested by several partners,
WasteWi$e hopes to make on-line reporting available by
March 1997. Partners will be able to complete their 1996
Annual Reporting Forms and 1997 Goals Identification
Forms on line. Paper copies of both forms will remain
available for those partners without Internet access.
We'll let you know as these features are developed. If you
have questions or suggestions, you can also correspond with
us via e-mail at ww@cais.net.
WasteWi$e Home Page:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/wastewise.html
WasteWi$e e-mail: ww@cais.net
NADA Helps Car
Dealers Be WasteMf$e
WasteWi$e has 40 Endorsers, trade associa-
tions and other organizations, that have
pledged to promote WasteWi$e to their
member companies. Endorsers are
using a variety of approaches
to educate their membership on waste
reduction benefits. Consider, for
example, the approach used by the
National Automobile Dealers
Association (NADA), located in McLean
Virginia. In an effort to educate its
20,000 dealership owners about ways
to reduce waste and reap savings,
NADA developed the WasteWi$e
Management Bulletin. The Bulletin,
part of a series of educational guides for dealerships, is
an easy-to-use tool designed to help dealerships under-
stand the waste they generate and develop a strategy to
reduce it. While most of the guides in the series have
focused on new regulations and standards, the
Wastel/l//$e Management Bulletin is the first to highlight
voluntary initiatives for protecting the environment and
saving money. NADA plans to advertise the availability
of the Bulletin in trade publications such as Automotive
Executive and Automotive News.
According to Patrick Rowsey of NADAs Legal and
Regulatory Group, NADA undertook this project because
"we are moving out of the era of command and control
regulations and into the world of voluntary partnership
programs like WasteWi$e that provide the flexibility for
companies to implement cost-effective environmental
management programs." NADA hopes that by
educating its membership about volun-
tary programs, it can keep members on
the cutting edge and help them be
proactive about waste reduction.
NADA researched dealership
wastes by surveying selected dealer-
ships and performing a waste audit
at one dealership. Based on this
information, NADA developed a mod-
ified WasteWi$e goals form for use at
automotive dealerships, with sample activi-
ties under the waste prevention, recycling, and buying
recycled sections. For each recommended activity, NADA
explains how to implement it and discusses associated
benefits and considerations.
For other WasteWi$e endorsers, developing similar
guidance might be a useful way to alert your member-
ship to the cost-saving opportunities of waste reduction.
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11
WasteWi$e Update
(Continued from page 3)
Q. What are the implementation costs of EDI?
A. Implementation costs vary according to applications used
and the number of trading partners (i.e., other facilities
within one company or other companies with which you
exchange information.) According to the 1994 survey, a
company with 100 or more trading partners invests an aver-
age of $200,000 or more annually. A company with 10 or
fewer trading partners may invest $10,000 or less per year.
Q. How long is the payback period?
A. The typical payback period averages two and a half years.
The more trading partners and paper documents you con-
vert to EDI, the greater your benefits will be and the short-
er your payback period.
Q. What's on the EDI horizon?
Value-added networks (VANs) have long been the standard
choice for transporting EDI information from one comput-
er to another. A new player is emerging—the Internet.
Debate still ensues over the strengths and weaknesses of
VANs versus the Internet. Only time and experience will
tell which one will ultimately serve more customers.
Q. What are the benefits of using VANs?
A. VANs offer years of EDI experience and implementation
support for their customers, including trouble-shooting,
communications monitoring, and policing for compliance
with EDI standards. VANs also provide a direct link
between computers, thus ensuring reliability, stability, and
availability.
Q. What are the benefits of using the Internet?
A. Internet accounts usually allow many hours of use at much
lower costs than VANs. The Internet also offers worldwide
access and rapid transport of information. Security and reli-
ability are issues for EDI via the Internet. However, stan-
dards such as including encryption and digital signature
techniques are being developed.
Sources for EDI Questions and Answers
1. 1 994 survey, conducted by the EDI Group, Ltd., results published in
EDI Forum, The Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1994, "The Real
Facts About EDI in 1994," Daniel M. Ferguson.
2. Journal of Systems Management, March/April 1995, "EDI: An
Analysis of Adoption, Uses, Benefits and Barriers," Vairam
Arunachalam, Asst. Professor of Accounting, University of Missouri,
Columbia.
3. EDI Forum, The Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1995, "The Internet:
A Strategic Backbone for EDI?," Vince Hruska, Vice President, First
Interstate Bank in Los Angeles.
4. EDI Forum, The Journal of Electronic Commerce, 1 995, "EDI on the
Internet," Timothy Szal and Barbara Lloyd, Advantis.
5. Interview with Daniel Ferguson, president of The EDI Group, Ltd.,
Oak Park, IL, March 1996.
SOU C S
SELECTED EDI RESOURCES
A wide variety of EDI and electronic commerce
resources exist. Here are a few that WasteWi$e is
aware of:
EDI World. A monthly magazine of electronic com-
merce that integrates management and technology
information with editorials and advertising. For more
information, call 800 336-4887 or send e-mail to
ediworld@ix.netcom.com. Or visit the EDI World home
page (http://pwr.com/ediworld) to learn about its
bookstore, conference, and seminars.
EDI Forurn The Journal of Electronic
Corrmeroe. A quarterlyjournal featuring EDI
research, trends, opinions, and case studies written by
a variety of authors in the electronic commerce indus-
try. For more information on this journal or The EDI
Group, Ltd., including courses and conferences, call
708 848-0135 or send e-mail to
dmferguson@attmail.com.
Buyer'
P\^^ ^-:u,,^
s Guide to ElectroricCorrm
Describes e-mail, EDI, and electronic commerce prod-
ucts and services; also available electronically. For
more information, call 770 951 -2648 or send e-mail
to info@e-com.com.
Internet links. Start with the home page of Premenos,
an EDI software company (http://www.premenos.com),
which will introduce you to many publications, web
sites, and e-mail addresses.
• Data Interchange Standards Association
(DISA). Located in Alexandria, Virginia, this not-for-
profit organization provides education and informa-
tion on EDI and electronic commerce. DISA also
sponsors one of largest annual EDI conferences and
exhibitions in the country. For more information, call
703 548-7005.
EledronicCorrmeroe World Institute. Located
in Montreal, Canada, this membership organization
offers a global perspective on EDI and electronic com-
merce, including current news from around the world.
The Institute's web site (http://www.ecworld.org) offers
case studies, links to related sites, and other useful
resources. For more information, call 514 288-3555 or
send e-mail to institute@ecworld.org.
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WasteWi$e Update
12
WASTE
BellSouth Telecommunications
Dials Up Big Savings
You might not think that something so seemingly sim-
ple as storing reports electronically could save millions of
dollars, but that's precisely what BellSouth
Telecommunications (BST) has discovered. During 1994
and 1995, the company conserved approximately 16 mil-
lion sheets of printout paper and saved $3.5 million by
implementing an electronic filing system.
BST's system of storing reports electronically enables
employees to view, download, or print reports
archived in the company's data centers from their
own workstations.
Implementing this system has helped the compa-
ny conserve paper, improve efficiency, and reduce
the need for paper storage. Prior to initiating the
electronic filing system, BST employees could only
obtain reports by ordering printed copies. For
employees requiring specific references or pages
from a report, this process often wasted time and
paper. Employees now can save resources by view-
ing reports on line or printing individual pages.
Implementing an electronic filing system at BST has
not been without challenges. "The greatest challenge has
been getting users to change their mindset for the need to
have a piece of paper in their hand," says Lamar Poppell,
environmental coordinator of BST's Information
Technologies-Operations. "Employees need to be assured
that their reports are safe and accessible," explains
Poppell. To overcome this challenge, the company has
publicized the advantages of the electronic filing system in
its employee publication. BST also includes a note with
all printed reports that details how much paper an
employee could have saved by not printing the reports.
Like to
WasteWi$e would like to hear about your efforts to achieve a
"paperless office. " In addition, if you are not yet a WasteWi$e
partner and would like to join, please let us know. Benefits of
membership include technical assistance on waste reduction,
publications, a peer match program, workshops, and more.
Contact us at 800 EPA-WISE for more information.
vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
(5306W)
401 M Street, SW.
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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