5 Actionable Tips to Reduce Your Printing Costs
Posted on 17th September 2021 at 19:06
One cost that most businesses simply cannot avoid is ‘print’. From paper, to toner to time spent waiting – not only are they necessary, but left unchecked can be expensive too. Here are our tips to control toner costs.
When we’re meeting potential clients, we often hear that it can be hard work getting to grips with printer toner costs and discovering ways to reduce spend.
To help inspire you, and hopefully to save you some money, we have put together our “top 5 ways” to take the reins on printer toner spend in your business.
Be more efficient when buying toner
Sometimes you just can’t get away from needing to buy toner. Consider ways be more efficient when it comes to ordering toner. You could consider buying toner cartridges in bulk, as this will often allow generate a discount. One point to consider if you look at this option is required storage space and lifespan of toner – make sure you have room and that the toner you’re buying will be in date when you need to use it.
Alternatively consider a supplier that is able to provide you with the printer toner that you need via a managed print or monthly agreement, an arrangement that will help to reduce costs and take care of the logistics for you.
Take a look at the number of machines that you have and consider whether your print fleet can be streamlined
If you have a fleet of several small printers or copiers (potentially different models and manufacturers) it is unlikely that you are achieving optimal toner expenditure. The more equipment you have, i,e several smaller printers rather than one larger MFD, the more chance that you are using toner inefficiently.
One larger machine, used by all employees is going to be more consistent and consistency is key when it comes to saving money. Personal printing is likely to reduce, supplies can be purchased at optimal levels for the device, volume discounts become more likely, small device failure rates are removed from the equation .. the list goes on.
Reduce the variety of printer types and manufacturers
As discussed above, it often doesn’t make sense to have several different, small printers around an office space (versus one larger Multi-Function Device). With multiple machines, by multiple manufacturers ordering print supplies becomes difficult to manage.
You will need to find a different supplier for each printer type to secure the best price. You will also need to manage multiple processes to establish when toner is going to be needed, for which machine, at what levels etc. This increases the risk of toner being incorrectly ordered, unavailable when needed, or arriving late.
Nominate one person to deal with print supplies
It is often the case that too many people have an involvement in ordering office supplies. This can mean that mistakes happen: Forgotten orders, over ordering, picking the wrong part, not getting the best price etc. By nominating a single person to manage print consumables you can reduce these risks and increase the chances of efficient print buying.
Check that your default print and copy settings are configured optimally for your business
Colour toner is more expensive than black and white toner, which means that printing in colour unnecessarily is a more costly option. Colour is often the default setting in many businesses, however, it makes sense to check if this is the best choice for you, and to ensure that your software / printer is configured to the grey-scale default if not.
A reputable print company will help you to establish the optimum configuration for your needs, and can help you to understand your usage of the lifespan of the machine.
As you can see, there are a number of ways to tune your print fleet and your usage of toner. Doing so will reduce costs and improve print efficiency in your business.
Tagged as: Cost Management
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