The phrase “hindsight is 20 / 20” should ring a bell to most Americans, as it is a common saying that offers advice on what we could have done differently if we knew then what we know now. This is something that can easily happen when a business owner takes a good look at their printing environment and notices a few flaws. Things like:

• How much printing is done throughout all of your departments
• Realizing that you might have some redundant devices such as multifunctional copiers, desktop printers, fax machines, and scanners.
• Breaking down your actual costs when choosing to outsource to a print-to-pay shop
• How much it’s costing you after an IT disruption suddenly shuts down your networkWhat you’re actually expenses are when purchasing supplies such as paper, ink, and toner

It’s easy to get lost in all of this so it’s not that surprising that many business owners choose not to do this when you have bigger fish to fry.

Whether you’ve had a bad experience with a managed print partnership or this is the first time you’ve heard of this, here are five things you can start doing now to start plugging up those financial leaks in your print environment.

Don’t Ignore The Great Printer Default Features

In case you didn’t know, all print drivers come with a set of default settings when first installed. This means that your print options can be preset to black and white unless someone is constantly messing with the print properties. Changing your settings to black and white over color and doing two-sided printing over one-sided can come in handy, especially if your employees are doing more than 10,000 prints/copies per year. I’m sure that you can quickly realize the savings if that same person was printing all those pages single-sided and with color.

The Problems of Storing Too Much Paper

One of the biggest reasons you are seeing a rise in paper jams is because your paper is damaged from the get-go. If your reams of paper have been sitting on your shelf for a long time, there is a good chance it has curled, bent, or has taken up moisture. If you add this paper to your copier, you are asking for a service call to be placed. A better option would be to store your paper in a cool and dry place while having some sort of protective covering over it. If you need to use the copier and your paper trays are empty make sure that the tray guides are set for your paper size, inspect the ream for any signs of warping or damage, and fan the paper stack before placing it onto the tray. If you’ve stocked up before reading this blog and notice that your cleaning crew has had to dust off your paper every once in a while, then you might want to run a few tests runs on a smaller printing unit to find out how well it holds up.

Get A Newer/Better Copier For Free Without Spending A Penny More

Desktop Printers In Every Station Will Cost You

While small inkjet printers might be convenient for a single user, these desktop units can be expensive to maintain. If you have more than five of these devices throughout your office consider consolidating them and route that user’s print jobs to a shared full-size copier. Not only is it 3-4 times more costly on every single page when using inkjet printers rather than laser printers, but they also produce very little yield.

A Conveniently Placed Copier

Not many business owners know this but about 65% of the documents printed will end up getting thrown away or recycled that very same day. This suggests that a lot of what is printed should have been shared digitally. This is why you might want to rethink where your copier unit will be placed in the office. If your copier is conveniently placed outside of someone’s office they are more likely to use it simply because it is there. However, when your copier is placed in a not-so-convenient area of the office, your employees might second-guess whether or not it’s worth the hassle to get up and walk across the office.

Don’t Force Feed Or Force Fit Toner Into Your Copier

Whether your adding paper to the paper tray, switching out the toner, or replacing the waste toner container, chances are it’s made of plastic, and forcing things into your copier won’t do anyone any good. Trays and toners were designed to make the replacement process seamless. If you are experiencing any type of resistance, there is a good chance that you either have the wrong toner or there is something wrong with your paper tray. On the off chance you are dealing with multiple devices in your organization there is a pretty good chance you’re going to misplace toners for specific printers. There are better solutions to this such as setting up a contract where your copier vendor handles all of this for you (toner, repairs, installation, etc.). At the end of the day, or at least after reading this blog, we hope that you have gained insight into what you should and shouldn’t be doing to have a better handle on your operating budget.

Your Copier Vendor Adds Value

On top of managing your fleet, your copier dealer should also help you with the following:

• Run a print assessment on your business to get a big picture of your printing habits
• Offer tips and/or recommendations on how to streamline your current printer fleet (regardless of the brand).
• Provide a better solution to save on consumable supplies and replenish them at the moment you need them.
• Give feedback on how you can reduce your carbon footprint through energy-saving changes
• Become a small extension of your IT department so that they can assist you when your machine goes down.
• Provide hands-on training and support so that you can take full advantage of your copier’s features.
• Find ways to help you cut unnecessary spending (between 20-30%)

Final Thoughts & The Next Step

Let our copier specialists perform a print assessment to see if we can start saving you money today. And for those that don’t know, we also have another program that helps business owners get more bang for their buck called the Free Upgrade Program where we offer you a better and or newer machine without you spending a penny more. Lastly, for our Orange County and Los Angeles County communities, if you are a new business that’s looking for a copier that is a little more economical, we also have a copier Starter Package promotion for business owners who qualify. To learn more on each of these programs and promotions, click on the following links below or give one of our specialists a call today. 

 Copier Free Upgrade Program Starter Business Package Promotion

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