Why You Should Track Your Office Printer Usage

Nearly two-thirds of small businesses don’t monitor or track printer usage – and it’s costing them.

Of course, print monitoring typically does not top the list of a business owner’s top priorities. And, when you’re shelling out thousands of pounds each month on rent and payroll, it’s understandable to assume regular office operational expenses, like printing costs, pale in comparison.

Nevertheless, wasteful printing habits are often one of the most substantial hidden costs that could be severely impacting your bottom line. In fact, printing is the third highest office expenditure for the average workplace – just behind rent and payroll.

Unlike rent and payroll expenses, however, the price you pay for wasteful printing habits is neither a necessary nor justifiable expenditure. This becomes especially troublesome when you note that UK companies spend more than £20 billion each year on printing.

Even worse, almost half of the paper printed in offices ends up in the bin by the end of the day. By simply monitoring your office printer usage, and implementing an office print policy to avoid wasteful printing, you can cut costs by a huge margin.

Still not convinced? Here are some more reasons why it makes sense for you to track your office printer usage:

It Improves Productivity and Workflow Efficiencies

In addition to the concrete cost savings you can realise by monitoring and optimising your printer usage, you’ll also save money from reduced downtime and maximized productivity.

When your office’s workflows rely on paper-heavy processes and overuse of your printers, technology malfunctions could be detrimental to the business’ daily operations. Not only could this result in hours of downtime and productivity losses, but it’s also very frustrating for employees and hinders morale.

Similarly, ignoring inefficient printing habits and overusing paper documents creates different inefficiencies later on. A typical employee spends 30 to 40 percent of their time looking for information kept on printed documents in filing cabinets, which is obviously not the best use of their working hours.

Unnecessary duplicate copies – a common side effect of inefficient printing habits – just add to the problem. Additional loose papers make finding documents even more time and labour-intensive for your employees while creating a more disorganised office environment overall.

By monitoring your print usage and encouraging employees to think twice about printing, you can avoid a significant amount of frustration, disorganisation and wasted time.

It’s Better for the Environment

The average employee prints over 10,000 sheets of paper each year which costs roughly £100 worth of paper per-employee. The associated environmental costs, however, are even more staggering. Considering most trees produce roughly 10,000 sheets of paper, wasteful printing habits at your office are probably also killing a few trees each year. And, when half of the wasted paper inevitably ends up in the bin, it moves on to make up 16 percent of landfill solid waste.

While many offices are unable to go completely paperless, there are still ways to cut back on your printing without completely cutting it out – if you know where to look.

By monitoring your office’s print habits, you can pinpoint which departments are responsible for the majority of your printing. This helps you better understand each person and department’s printing needs, informing you which printed papers are necessary and which are just a result of careless habits.

When you monitor your printing and know exactly what your needs are, you can evaluate different ways to cut back, and ultimately, save some money and the environment in the process.

It’s Easy with the Right MPS Provider

Nevertheless, many small businesses have neither the manpower nor the time to devote to print monitoring, even if it means higher profitability and sustainability in the long run.

Fortunately for these businesses, however, they can avoid the significant time investment of print monitoring, while still realising impressive long-term returns – by partnering with the right managed print services (MPS) provider.

After performing a comprehensive print assessment, MPS providers offer clients actionable solutions to optimise their print environment and effectively manage their printer hardware, supplies, and services.

And although partnering with an MPS provider may seem like an initial investment, most companies end up saving money by outsourcing print monitoring and other activities. As a matter of fact, MPS providers can help you save up to 30 percent almost immediately on print-related expenses, according to a Gartner report. Paper-intensive industries such as healthcare and legal even see cost savings closer to 41 percent.

When you’re running a business and balancing a budget, monitoring your print usage to save money is probably not even on your radar – but it could significantly impact your bottom line.

The good news is that with the right MPS provider, you can achieve all the operational benefits that come with tracking your print usage, without all the hassle of doing it yourself.

Your local Cartridge World can provide you with reliable and trustworthy Managed Print Services. Contact your local Cartridge World today and learn more about our exclusive offerings!