Tip of the Week: Rely Less on Your Printer

Going paperless these days is all the rage, even though we understand why some organizations like to keep their hardcopy documentation printed out and available. If you’re careful, you can minimize printing to reduce the costs associated with printing, while still keeping your critical files organized and at the ready.

Here are some ways you can adapt your office’s printing tendencies to match your goals.

Putting Together a Print Policy

Any policies or procedures you put together for your organization’s printing policy should be documented, in language that is both clear and concise, in a location where it’s readily accessible to your staff. It should include all of the following:

• How many prints each department/user should make in a given period of time.
• Which documents can be printed in color, and which should remain in greyscale.
• Which documents should be produced in hardcopy, and which can remain digital.
• Which pages from a given document actually need to be printed, and which can be omitted from the hardcopy.
• The cases in which double-sided printing is an option.
• Whether or not a document has received an initial proofreading.

These guidelines should be preferable ranges that you can change and adapt rather than those that remain static. You can never know when your business will require that you have hard copies of documents, so don’t be afraid to throw away the printing caps when you need to. That being said, placing a cap on your business’ printing will naturally save you quite a bit of capital through simple awareness of resources.

Using Network Printers with Print Management Software

This kind of organic decrease in printing will only get you so far. It’s more economical to invest in a network-attached printer that the entire office shares. This is great for your organization’s printing policy because it can give you key insights into your organization’s printing habits and provide ways to decrease waste. It also decreases the number of devices that need to be maintained.

Directive can provide your organization with a plethora of ways to take advantage of the latest printing technology. To learn more, reach out to us at 607.433.2200.