A lot of companies want to go paperless to save on printing costs. But the truth is, printed copies are still the de facto document in business transactions and communication. That’s why every company should invest in business copier solutions that are optimized to the needs of the business. It’s wise to control your printing costs so that you can reduce expenses and spend it on something worthwhile, e.g., boost marketing budget to get more sales.
Have someone in charge on the ink/toner/cartridge/paper resources
One way to monitor printing costs is to have someone in charge of the key printing resources (ink, toner or cartridge depending on the type of printer your business uses). By having someone track the usage of these printing-related expenses, you, as the entrepreneur, will know how much your business uses in a week or month.
Alternatively, you can use managed print services which uses technology to make sure printing needs are addressed efficiently. For example, if the toner is running low, it will send a message to your toner provider to send one in asap. This reduces the need to task people to monitor your printing needs. Managed print services also include repair and maintenance of your printers. The system will inform your printer technician when it’s time for printer upkeep or repair.
Set a printing policy
You can limit printing privileges so that your printing costs can be stable and predictable for profitability analysis. You can give each of your employees a ream of paper for printing that is usable for a month or two. This will direct your employees to print only when necessary.
Alternatively, every employee will have a code, and once they print, the system will be notified. Everyone’s printing will be tracked, and you can easily call out employees who go past a limit. You can then deduct from their salary the costs from their excessive printing.
A printing policy could also be where you set parameters for documents that can be printed. For example, only final proposals can be printed. The draft versions will remain in soft copy until finalized for printing. The reason is that proposals can be quite a thick document and if every version is printed, then that will eat up printing resources quickly.
Centralize printing requirements
Another strategy you can use is to centralize printing needs. This means only one or two people are tasked with printing requirements. Employees who need documents printed will get authorization first from their immediate supervisor before they can get their documents printed. This will ensure only the most needed documents are printed the hard copy. The rest can just be soft copy documents that can be modified and sent over email or google docs.
This policy might seem tedious, and it probably will bother a lot of people at the start, but once you explain the policy before implementing it and requesting their patience and cooperation, this policy will control your printing costs and allow a better transition to a paperless organization. It also has disadvantages so study the pros and cons carefully and only apply this strategy if overall you get more benefits.
