Published In:
The Australian Financial Review Date Published:
10th September 2003 Author:
Mark Lawson
Ross Kirby did not realise how much desktop printers were costing the employment business at which he was a financial controller until he had some of them removed. Then he realised how much they were costing in ink and paper, in part because simply having them in the office encouraged staff to print documents unnecessarily.
The printers in question were not on the company balance sheet or a recognised part of the IT budget.
Whenever a printer was superseded, individual staff at employment agency TMP in offices dotted around Australia, some as small as 10 persons, would see the excess printer sitting on a desk.
"They'd ask 'what's happening to that?' and they'd be told it was being replaced. Then they'd say, 'I'll have that' and take it away to their own desk," Kirby says.
The appropriated printer would then be connected to the staff member's PC for the employee's own use. Having a computer to hand encouraged them to print out documents.
Kirby, who is now a consultant with Expense Reduction Analysts, says the first step to finding a solution to the problem is to take a step back and ask why people are printing out documents and how they can be discouraged from printing.
One way to curb unnecessary printing is to remove "acquired" printers and rationalise the rest.
"Employees might print out something if they only have to turn in their seats to get it," he says. "But if they have to walk a few yards to pick it up, then they may not bother."
The changes worked. The number of printing devices was cut by 22 per cent without disruption or affecting service levels. Costs to print a page were cut by 37 per cent.
The amount saved in toner and paper was incredible, Kirby says.
Any business can benefit from an analysis of just how it moves documents around and when, and how often, those documents are printed out.
Documents can be distributed by email, but that may mean most recipients of the email will print it out, thus costing the business a great deal more money than if it had been printed and distributed.
Material produced by consultancy PMP Print Management Solutions notes a chief financial officer or an SME operator will know the weekly cost of running the company's fleet of vehicles - even very small companies may have a "fleet" of, say, two cars and a truck - but may know nothing about the cost of creating and distributing communication materials.
One reason for that problem is that the costs are spread over a number of areas, such as stationery (the cost of the toner or ink) and IT, PMP says.
Cost saving tips given by PMP include competitive costing of print suppliers and stationery items, standardising ordering processes and ordering online.
Mike Dunne, general manager of the services side of consulting for printer company Lexmark says that a first step in controlling printing costs is to look at the life cycle of a document, from creation to storage, and what the company wants to do with that document.
Once the needs of the business have been established, such as when particular documents need to be printed out and by which employee, they can work out printer requirements.
There has been much talk (and some action) about offices doing without paper records altogether. However, Dunne agrees it is better to have an office in which paper is considerably reduced rather than eliminated.
"Having a paperless office may encourage unwanted behaviour such as not reading documents at all," Dunne says.
Expense Reduction Analysis director Gary Wilson says the progression for printers is bubblejet for home systems, ink jet, and then laser printers.
At the top end of the printer spectrum are multifunction devices, which are photocopiers that can act as printers and fax machines.
If the company is prepared to pay enough, perhaps $10,000, the multifunction device may even be usable for printing glossy flyers (with the right paper), rather than using an external printer, Wilson says.
