Small business owners and busy and money overlook the amount of money wasted when it comes to the office printers and printing supplies. The printers, paper, and ink can be easily taken for granted and the expenses involved with them can be overlooked. It is easy to save money with it comes to printers and printer supplies in an office.
Taking an audit of your office printing habits is easy and worth the time.
First thing to do is to take a look at all of the printers in your office. It might surprise you to see a few printers in the office that you have forgotten about or have made their way onto someone’s desk that really doesn’t need one.
Make a simple spread sheet of the printers in the office with columns with such information as:
Printer brand, model, ink cartridge or toner replacement numbers, ink cartridge or toner replacement cost, location of printer (is it in the hallway or sitting on Tom’s desk?), is the printer hooked to the network (if it is on the network it makes it easy to share). Include any other data that may be helpful in your specific office setting.
Take a look at all of the printers and decide if they are really all needed. For example…do both Jill and Bob need a printer on their desks? Or consider if a different printer is a better option for them. For example, do they need to print color? Mostly like not, then switch them to a monochrome laser printer that will save significant money in the long run. (read an article about other money saving tips on ink and toner cartridges here).
It is more cost efficient to have as many printers as possible using the same ink and toner. Spending some money now on two or three basic printers that are the same make and model, could be a savings over the year.
Organize your printing and office supplies. Keeping everything in one spot will save both time and money in the long run. Having only one spot to check inventory will make reording quick and easy. Also, money will be saved from purchasing duplicates that happen to sitting somewhere else in the office.
Get everyone in your office thinking about conserving on supplies. Request that everyone print in draft mode when appropriate or to use paper on both sides. Explain why you have the printers in the office located where they are. Explain that centralizing the printing supplies is not to punish anyone, but to save money overall and to make it easier for them to have the tools and supplies they need for their jobs.