Porter Cable Corp. had been spending about $2,400 each month on fax lines, says Dennis Willie, senior buyer with the Jackson, Tenn.-based manufacturer of power hand tools. Porter Cable faxes its suppliers weekly 20- to 30-page demand forecasts, which help the company operate on a just-in-time inventory system. Often, the forecasts contain handwritten notes, making them difficult to send as e-mail attachments. Porter Cable worked with eCopy Inc. of Nashua, N.H., to reduce costs. eCopy's software links copy machines with PCs, converting paper documents to digital copies that can be sent via e-mail. By transmitting the information electronically, Porter Cable's fax bills have dropped to about $400 monthly. In addition, the company was able to re-deploy three people who previously had spent all their time faxing.
