Reduce Printing Costs: 3 Shocking Ways Businesses Can Save $100K + This Year

This article about how you can reduce printing costs is sponsored by Valley Office Systems.

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Every business has operational costs. Some of these expenses, such as the cost of printing, are easy to take for granted. If you reduce printing costs, your business could save $100,000 or more this year. Skeptical?

Here are some ways that printing costs are running up the tab in your office… and how you can reduce your printing costs in 2021.

1. The average employee prints 10,000 copies per year – reduce printing costs by cutting this down

Yes, you read that correctly. According to a study by MomNet, the average employee prints an exorbitant number of copies each year, averaging at 10,000 copies per employee.

Now, this may vary by industry, but in most cases, it seems that this is completely unnecessary.

A study by Keypoint Intelligence revealed that 60% of office printing is required for the employee’s role. Be sure to examine each role and do what you can to cut down on required printing.

Single-sided printing is also a huge contributor to over-printing. Change the default settings on each computer to double-sided printing to reduce paper waste.

Plus, you can easily save on printing expenses by encouraging employees to email PDFs, take notes on their laptops, and give electronic presentations.

2. On average, companies spend $1,200 on annual printing costs, per employee — save on expenses by changing office policies

Not only does the average employee print way too many copies, but each year, the average company spends $1,200 or more on printing costs, per employee.

Cutting down the number of copies your employees need can help significantly with this expense. But there are other contributing factors, too.

If your office has a lot of paper sitting around or requires data entry, consider transitioning over to a fully digital system. Documents can be scanned in to reduce paper clutter.

By discouraging the use of paper in the office, you also discourage excessive printing.

Another contributing factor to the expense of printing is personal printing. In fact, 78% of office workers admit to using their work printers for personal use.

Create a clear policy around the use of the printer. This could include policies such as allowing employees to use the office printer for personal use, but they must then reimburse the company for the copies they make.

3. The average company loses up to $300,000 on color printing annually– save tens of thousands by switching printers

The average cost to print color copies is $0.12- $0.15 per page for laser prints. For photographs and graphics, the color copy prices can be as high as $0.60 per page.

This may not seem like much, but when employees are printing 10,000 pages a year, it adds up fast.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say every employee prints in color half the time, and the average cost per copy is only $0.12.

That means, in a company with 500 employees, color printing costs can run as high as $300,000 a year!

Even if you’re a small business with only 10 employees, color printing could run you $6,000 a year. A small business could definitely put that money to better use.

So, what’s a business owner to do about the cost of color printing?

You could easily reduce the cost of color copies by limiting your employees’ computer settings. Simply change the printer settings so the majority of staff can only print in black and white.

However, this isn’t always a practical solution.

Especially in an office that needs to meet the rising demand for color copies, limiting the printer settings can equate to just one more level of bureaucracy.

Instead, consider an option that allows color printing and reduces the cost of each color copy.

For example, Kyocera’s Tiered Color System Advantage enables document evaluation so you only pay for the color ink you need.

Rather than replacing color toner every time one color runs out, this smart printer puts you in control of your color usage.

It can even differentiate between simple text documents, full-color documents, or marketing materials, and adjusts ink usage accordingly.

A customizable printing experience like this enables you to dramatically cut down on costs, while also allowing your employees to do their jobs.

Related Articles:

7 Proven Ways to Take Your Small Business to the Next Level with In-House Printing

The Coolest Pieces of Tech That Are Making Going Back to the Office Safer in a Pandemic

Know someone who needs to cut down on printing costs in 2021? Click below to share these top 3 ways to save on business printing costs with them!