Is your company spending too much on printing? Here are a few ways in which you can bring down your business’s printing costs.

Take steps to go paperless

Not all companies can get rid of paper – customers may still prefer printed receipts, bills and contracts and giving them this option could be important for keeping their loyalty. However, there are many cases in which paper isn’t necessary. A lot of information between employees can be shared digitally without having to print it off – you could email certain documents and newsletters to people, or share documents on the cloud. This could dramatically reduce printing costs. Cutting down on unnecessary paper usage could also free up space in your office and make it look tidier, whilst also having a positive environmental impact that could be good for company’s reputation.

Protect important documents

A lot of unnecessary printing can be the result of documents getting damaged or lost. By taking efforts to put important documents in a secure place such as pinning them to a noticeboard or putting them in a safe, you could stop them getting lost. Meanwhile, laminating documents could stop them getting damaged. In trades such as restaurants meanwhile, you could reduce the cost of printing off extra menus by buying menu covers. This won’t just help to protect these documents, but it will also make them look more professional in many cases.

Introduce a printing quota

One way in which a lot of companies cut down on printing costs is by introducing a print quota. This is basically a limit as to how many documents can be printed in a certain period of time. Many companies give each employee a quota – if they exceed this they may be charged for any extra paper usage. This can help to discourage employees from printing off unnecessary documents. It’s also common in schools and colleges as a way of keeping printing costs down among students.

Buy paper and ink in bulk

You can also reduce the cost of printing supplies by buying them in bulk. Stocking up on a pack of 10 ink cartridges could result in a huge discounts as opposed to buying 10 individual ink cartridges. The same goes for buying paper in bulk. You should be careful when stocking up on ink as cartridges can expire if not used by a certain date.

Watch your printer’s energy consumption

Your printer could also be costing you a lot of money in energy consumption. If you keep your printer permanently switched on, consider whether it’s worth turning it off when not in use (this may not be practical if it’s regularly in use). It could also be worth unplugging your printer when you leave the office so that it’s not wasting extra energy in standby. As for the age of your printer, if you’ve got a machine that’s over ten years old, consider whether it could be worth upgrading it to a newer model – many modern printers are very energy-efficient and you could save money in energy bills by investing in one.