6 easy ways to reduce printing costs

Efficient businesses are always looking at ways to improve their bottom line without sacrificing quality or output. Right? And while big item costs such as wages are usually first to come under scrutiny, printing and paper costs tend to fly under the radar.

It’s an interesting oversight because there are many ways to reduce printing costs in the workplace - and it’s something that can be easily implemented and quantifiably measured, all while saving money and improving sustainability.

Not sure if printing and paper costs warrant your attention? That’s okay, we’ve put together some fast facts to get you thinking and some tips on how you can reduce printing costs:

Paper facts

• Did you know Australians use on average 230kg of paper per person, per year? That’s almost three times the average body weight of an Australian adult.

• It’s said that every Australian office uses up to 10,000 sheets of A4 paper per year, and that half of that paper ends up in landfill. That’s 5,000 sheets of A4 paper in landfill from only one workplace.

How much paper does your workplace waste?

Printing facts

• Did you know a printer cartridge takes between 450 and 1000 years to decompose? That equates to almost 10 generations or human lifetimes for one cartridge to break down properly.
• In Australia, 34 printer cartridges go to landfill every minute.

Do you know how many cartridges your office uses each year, and how they are disposed of?

Now that we have some context around printing and paper costs - both economically and environmentally - we can look at how to reduce printing costs in your workplace to actually improve your bottom line while giving your sustainability profile a boost.

Easy ways to reduce printing costs at work

1. Double up

Implement a double-sided print protocol in your workplace and ensure printers have a default setting that prints double-sided.

This alone will significantly reduce paper use and the amount the office buys. That equates to cost savings right there.

2. Audit

If you don’t know who is printing what and how much printing your office is doing, then it might be time to look at doing an audit of your workplace.

These numbers can be pretty shocking, but will also be inspiring, as you’ll be able to identify ways to reduce waste and output significantly, and to dramatically reduce your carbon footprint, while saving money in the process.

3. Systems

Do your systems need an overhaul? It may be time to review internal documents and processes that could be digitalised to reduce the printing your office does.

Things like procedure manuals, induction programmes, and large corporate documents could all be placed on internal shared drives so staff can access them digitally rather than print them.

4. Hardware

If you’ve had your printing and document-handling equipment in place for several years, it might be time to replace your devices to make way for more innovative systems that are more sustainable and cost-effective to run.

5. Recycling

Set up stringent office procedures for recycling and ensure there are paper recycling stations readily available near every printing device. Hence, it’s easy for staff to pop wasted paper into the recycling bin rather than toss it into the rubbish bin.

Where possible, reuse single-sided printed paper by stapling it into groups of 20 sheets and distributing it to office staff as a makeshift scribble pad.

6. Get it right

Are you happy with your current print provider, and do you believe they genuinely care about your printing costs and bottom line? It might be time to look towards finding the right provider who can assist with all facets of your printing and document handling.

Do your research and find a reputable print provider who can assist with managed print services (MPS) to ensure maximum printing efficiency that will also help you reduce your printing costs in the process.

Printing is typically the third-highest business expense after rent and payroll, but it's often overlooked or calculated using only the sticker price. Download our Guide to Calculating Total Printing Costs to learn how to correctly assess your device's total cost of ownership and avoid unnecessary expenses.

KYOCERA Document Solutions provides document management solutions with long-life print technology that keeps printing and maintenance costs low, reducing the total cost of ownership while delivering greater productivity, reliability and uptime.