Reduce your office printing and photocopier costs

We all know that running an efficient business isn't easy in today's highly competitive climate, that is why it is imperative to save yourself as much money as possible when you can, not only by looking for the best deals on the market, but also through those 'hidden costs' that tend to creep up on you when your back is turned!

An example of this is in the office environment, where costs for printing and photocopying are often underestimated by many business owners.  A recent report states that 'if companies were to analyse and take steps to make more efficient use of their printers and photocopiers, they could make huge savings on the amount they spend.' Incredibly, this report, commissioned by a leading print specialist, claims that 66% of business owners have little, or no idea how much they are spending on printing. To quote an analogy... if you were to lose your money and credit cards from your wallet, you'd do something about it immediately!  Not so, apparently, with many businesses, who often class print costs as 'lost money'. This 'lost money' actually forms between around 2-3% of a typical company's annual turnover, making it even more important to recoup it!

So how can these 'huge savings' be made?

By making a thorough analysis of the amount your company spends on printing and photocopying is the first step towards making these savings.  Quantifying your print costs and looking at how you can be 'print smart', will enable you to start reducing those hidden costs. A few simple changes to your printing procedure will not only significantly reduce your expenditure but also help the environment by saving paper, which in turn saves trees, thus helping to combat climate change...

What changes could I make?

1. Reduce Number of Pages in a Publication by rationalising your document production devices and controlling page output

• Abridge or shorten content and refer readers to the web for more information.
• Use tinier fonts and reduce the size of the margins and decrease the space between the lines of type.
• Reduce the size and number of photos and other graphic elements.

2. Reduce the Number of Colour Prints

• A large coloured report plus coloured front cover can be expensive to copy.
• The same report printed in black with just the front cover printed in colour will be much less expensive to copy.  (Over 90% less, in fact).

3. Duplex printing of documents

• This will halve your paper consumption, so try printing double sided, or print to PDF.

4. Print 'On Demand'

• Think about using a "print on demand" service, so that copies are ordered as they are needed. This prevents extra copies being printed unnecessarily.

5. Look at Your Paper Costs

• Wherever possible, use environmentally-friendly paper and try to select paper with economy in mind.

6. Print One, Then Copy

• Printing a copy of a document is less than the cost of photocopying the same document. Instead of printing multiple copies, print only one document and then photocopy the additional ones you need.  Also, if you have a networked copier, send the files there to print instead.

7. Consider Transferring Publications to a Web Format

• Try to review everything you currently photocopy for a possible conversion to a web format.  Put any documents like course-packs and materials on a CD or on the internet. This not only simplifies and improves the process, but also reduces your overall costs.

8. Edit Work Online

• Adobe Acrobat provides various tools that can make notations for edits - without ever having to print a copy.
• The best tool to do this is the sticky note tool. With this, people can add and share comments on PDF documents, without obscuring the content. Therefore, numerous editors and authors can comment on and make any amendments to the document, so that multiple review copies don't need to be sent out, thus saving you money. 

9. Proofread on the Screen

• Try to proof your documents on the screen, rather than printing them out for proofreading.

10. Reduce Administrative Photocopying

• Try to convert administrative forms such as application forms, time cards or holiday forms etc, to electronic formats.

11. Conduct Paperless Meetings

• Display meeting agendas via e mail using a PowerPoint program perhaps, rather than printing them out.
• Deploying print software to route print jobs to the most effective printer

In doing some, or all of these things, you will spend far less and see a huge difference in your office spending.  It may also be beneficial to consult a professional document solution company to help you to manage your print services or (MPS).  A consultant will conduct a print audit to find out how efficient your office is, both economically and environmentally. They can then advise on a range of management solutions which can help you to experience savings in excess of 30%.

• Paragon Comment

Paragon Document Solutions Managed Print Services (MPS) can provide the permanent solution to extensive spending on printing and photocopying.  By choosing Paragon as your Managed Print Services provider, you can be sure that your print infrastructure will be seamlessly managed.  We can help you to reduce your costs, improve productivity, assess your printing needs and put into place the best mix of devices for your business.  We'll also help you to introduce automated, digital processes, leaving behind the slow, paper-based processes behind you.

Managed Print Services simply means gaining visibility and control of your printing, which helps to save you money and boost productivity, along with improving your environmental sustainability. We will manage and optimise your printers, their output, and the people and processes that support these devices. Our MPS can help you to outsource print management and cut costs by as much as 30%.  Let Paragon reduce the total cost of your office printing and enhance employee productivity by managing all aspects of you printing and copying.

Further ways to reduce costs.

Managed Print Services, along with the general 'household' tips you can do within the office each day, will undoubtedly save your business money.  However, it is not only the cost of consumables and energy that make printers and copiers expensive. Many firms also site them as products they spend most time trying to fix. In fact, employees often spend several hours a week fixing IT problems, translating into a loss of £1.7 billion for UK businesses- a huge amount of unnecessary expenditure. Another way, therefore, to reduce your overall costs is to consider leasing or renting your business photocopier or printer, rather than buying it outright.  In this way you will get a high value photocopier or printer and you can spread the cost over a period of time, normally 3 or 5 years. There are also tax benefits for leasing the photocopier over a 3 year term. What's more, repairs are then covered by the lessor for the duration of the lease, which can be a significant saving.  Short term photocopier rental could also save your business money. Rental is a flexible and cost effective solution for companies who cannot commit to long term leases or do not have the available capital to purchase the machine they require.

Conclusion

So reducing your overall spending costs, not only for printing, but also through the rental, or leasing options, which are available to you for your equipment, certainly makes perfect sense.  Although MPS from a document solution company looks expensive initially, it will ultimately be very cost effective to you and is well worth investing in.  Its ultimate value often reaches much further into many other areas of your enterprise.  MPS can transform your document environment, especially if your existing print infrastructure means you suffer from escalating printer, and photocopying costs, or you find difficulty in managing the printing environment due to multiple makes and models of equipment and numerous supplier contracts.  When combining Managed Print Services with photocopier leasing or renting your machine from a reputable supplier, you will certainly be able to reduce your overall printing and photocopying costs.

• Paragon Comment

We specialise in providing Managed Print Services to businesses and offices in London & pride ourselves on offering a first class service at unbeatable prices. So if your business relies heavily on inefficient, paper-intensive processes, and you are in need of a fresh approach to your printing needs, email us at info@paragon-ds.co.uk, or contact us or give us a call now on 0800 357 677.

We can also save your business money with our fully comprehensive, flexible, value for money photocopier leasing and printer rental services.