Two of the most valuable things in business, along with loyal customers and reliable employees, are time and money. These printing tips can help you save both!
Being able to save on these can massively increase the efficiency and growth of your company, with printing one of the many areas that demands you spend both.
When it comes to printing in-house there are ways that your company can devote less and retain more of both commodities. Efficient Multifunction Printers (MFP’s) are one way, as is utilising effective Print Management Software. For everyday printing though, there are also some simple changes you can make that could mean big savings in the long term.
Chances are you have a designated ‘Printer Monitor’ in your office whose job (alongside their full time role) it is to maintain your machine and keep it in tip top condition. It is likely they’ll be asked to keep on top of ink and toner levels, as well as making sure all machines are shutdown when not in use. It is likely too that they will be asked to read the meters and keep energy costs under control. Even more likely is that the designated ‘Monitor’ doesn’t really want to be doing this job and will often forget or ignore their duties to concentrate instead on what they’re paid to do.
Sound familiar? If it does then Top Printing Tip Number 1 could well save your company, and your monitor, a great deal of time and stress:
With certain MFP’s you’re able to have emails sent directly to the equipment’s supplier if there is anything wrong, and get quarterly meter readings sent automatically too. This means that you never need to call an engineer when there is an issue and that any problems, however small, are dealt with sometimes before you are even aware there’s a concern.
If the designated ‘Monitor’ is also a bit of a worrier too, then Top Tip Number 2 is likely to save a few sleepless nights:
An MFP can actually adapt to the way your office works, switching on and off based on usage from data it has analysed over 4 weeks. What this means is that if you forgot to turn a machine off then never fear, it will put itself to sleep throughout you absence.
We’ve established that saving time is vitally important, as the longer your machine is down the less productive your employees can be. Saving money is equally important, and small sums soon grow over time. Top Tip Number 3 focusses on a small change that can save large amounts:
Setting your printer to print black as default can save a huge amount of unnecessary ink and colour toner, especially if you predominantly print emails that have very little colour. If there is any colour in a document you are likely to be charged for a colour print, a much more expensive option compared to black.
As well as unnecessary ink and toner costs it is paper too that is often wasted, leading to Top Tip Number 4:
When printing documents it is crucial you know whether you are printing one or two pages. If you only need the first page then set to print 1 of 1. Alternatively you can set duplex printing as default too, so that 2 pages becomes a single sheet.
That’s four top printing tips that can easily be applied to any office. To find out how EBM can save you even more time and money with our extensive range of machines and management software, contact us today.