Micro transforms paper to microfilm.

Don't ever say "the paperless office" around Micro Publication Systems.

If it wasn't for paper, and people's desire to get rid of it, Micro wouldn't be in business.

Since 1951, when Dwight Eisenhower was president, the Carson-based company has been storing paper documents for businesses. The basic purpose of the company hasn't changed much since it was founded: Getting rid of paper around the office.

It still boxes and warehouses some documents, but most of its business comes from converting the paper to microfilm. In more recent years, since Ross took over the company, Micro has also started putting information on paper onto CD-ROM.

The biggest change at the company occurred in 1989 when founder and industry leader Wendel Ware sold the business to Richard Ross, a 53-year-old former accountant who is now president of Micro Publication. Ross says he bought the company for about $500,000.

Since he took over Micro, Ross says, the number of employees has grown from 30 to 125, and annual revenues have increased from $1 million to $5 million.

"What we have done and what's different is that we have greatly improved our customer service and concentrated on a few primary clients," says Ross. "We used to operate on the 80-20 rule, meaning 80 percent of our revenues came from 20 percent of our customers. Now all of our efforts are put into servicing the select clients that produce all of our revenues."

Ross says Micro Publication only seeks out big companies with potentially large accounts. Another source of business is government agencies, which are big producers and users of paper.

No fear of 'paperless world'

Ross sees a good future for the company, despite the technological revolution that points in the direction of a paperless world - offices still produce information on paper that needs to be stored in some form.

"Remember back in the 1970s there was the term 'paperless office' going around? Well, that's going on 20 years now and you know there's still plenty of paper around. People still produce a lot of paper. We like having something to hold on to, to pick up and look at," says Ross.

In 1995, Ross says, the company processed 200 million pieces of paper. That means, the paper was placed in storage, put onto microfilm or onto a CD-ROM.

The business process at Micro Publication is simple. A client calls the company with a request to dispose of paper documents. Micro offers three options: putting the documents in the company's 40,000-square-foot warehouse; transferring them to microfilm or, as it is commonly called, microfiche; or copying the paper onto CD-ROM. The clear majority of the clients choose to put their documents on microfilm because it is the least expensive and probably the easiest to use, says Ross.

Micro charges clients by the amount of work required to store the documents. It picks up the paper, cleans up the documents, like taking staples out, and then sends them on to be photographed.

Motivation is key

The grunt work of the business is carried out at Micro's warehouse-type facility in an industrial park in Carson. The operation runs on two shifts a day, with the bulk of the employees doing tedious, repetitive work like taking staples out of paper or feeding the sheets into photographic machines.

"We work at having people who are available when we get a call for work that has to be done right away. And we work at keeping our people motivated," he says.

The company, he says, has a human resources department and in the past has hired a psychologist to help develop a profile of desirable workers. In addition, the psychologist has helped develop programs for keeping workers interested in their jobs, says Ross.

"What we have done are things like field trips to our clients so people in here can see what happens to their work. They can see the results of what they have done and how people use what they have done," says Ross.

One company policy designed to keep workers going is profit sharing. "Every quarter we take 10 percent of our pretax profit and divide it up among the workers," he says.

As to the future of Micro, Ross says he is not actively seeking a buyer for the company but he has considered and will consider offers. A more likely scenario, however, is that he will continue at Micro for the next few years and eventually turn the company over to Vice President William Jones, says Ross. Or, he adds, there could be some form of employee buyout.

"I don't know if I want to keep working past 60. I want to get out and do a few things, like skiing," he says.

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Micro Publication Systems

Year founded: 1951 No. of employees in 1989: 30 No. of employees now: 125 Revenues in 1989: $1 million Revenues in 1995: $5 million