How Document-Heavy Businesses Can Save on Printing

Even with the help of tablets and digital technology today, print still plays a central role in business. What many companies don’t realize is, as technology moves forward, the printers and copiers of today are similarly smarter and engineered to be more cost-efficient than before.

Getting the right tools and setting up your office for optimal printing and copying operations can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars every year. Furthermore, saving money on your bottom line—even without having to buy a bunch of new printers—is easier than you’d expect, thanks to a couple slight changes and upgrades you can implement in your day to day print practices.

Here are some easy ideas to get you started:

• Install print management software on networked printers rather than allowing your staff to free print from personal printers. This is one easy step towards curbing lost overhead by limited wasteful printing and keeping track of everything going through the copier. Print management software allows you to tabulate printing costs and include that expense when you bill clients, recouping costs you’d otherwise eat as overhead directly. It also gives office managers the tools needed to pinpoint where the most paper is being used, and come up with strategies to minimize wasteful print practices.

• Choosing the right ink and toner for the job can make a huge difference at the end of the day. Many common printer models have compatible or recycled ink and toner options that work as well as original manufacturer products . . . but for a whole lot less. Compatible ink and toner is a practical way offices can save money without sacrificing the print quality needed for documents especially for personal desk printers where cost-per-page printed can be higher than larger workforce laser printers. Plus, they’re eco-friendly! Buying name brand cartridges when you don’t have to is a completely unnecessary expense in most cases.

• It’s also possible your current roster of printers in the office simply isn’t right for your printing needs. Upgrading your printer/copier system may seem like an unnecessary expense if your printer is working just fine, but the amount of money you save on repairs alone may justify the purchase in the long run. In a case study from Konica Minolta®, one major New York law firm saved more than $100,000 by consolidating individual printers and choosing a fleet of the right high-capacity office printers for the job. That’s big money.

• Minimizing repairs is another way to keep your costs low. The firm mentioned in the case study above had a staff of four repair people just to keep their office printers running smoothly before they upgraded. Getting the right printers for the job means spending less time bouncing print and copy jobs to whatever printer is working—and paying someone to come repair the broken one. Your new office-caliber printer may cost more at the time, but it will save you money calling your repair service.

• When limiting the number of printers you will be using, it’s important to consider the location of your share printer in order to allow access to the largest percentage of people. When most of your employees have to walk a considerable distance to get whatever documents they need, it cuts into the available time they have to do their job. Putting your workgroup printer somewhere centrally located, rather than in an isolated printer/copier room, not only opens up the work space, but it allows everyone quicker and easier access. This is especially true if your printers are situated on a different floor than the bulk of your staff.
• Scan documents to archive them rather than copying and filing. It may take an extra step, but it can help you save big in the long run. Not only do you save money in copying and duplication costs immediately by scanning them into a database, in time you will conserve valuable space and avoid needing to expand your offices for storage space alone. Real estate is expensive and paying money to store file cabinets just doesn’t make sense in the 21st century.

Printing smarter can do wonders in minimizing office expenses and giving you the type of extra capital you need to expand. Many of these money saving tips also do wonders for minimizing your office waste, helping you run your office in a cleaner, leaner, and greener way. All the more incentive to take a good look at how you print and see what you can do to make your printing technology work for you!