August 28, 2013
If you review your office supply bills, you may find that month after month, toner makes up a large portion of these expenses. There's no denying that toner is an expensive but necessary supply, but the fact is that many offices could improve how efficiently they use their printer toner. Below, we'll explore five ways that can better control your toner costs and lower your monthly spend.
#1 - Efficient Purchasing
You can save money by buying cartridges in bulk, opting for high-volume cartridges or, most effectively, by purchasing supplies through a print provider using a managed print agreement.
#2 - Streamlining Your Quantity of Machines
You might think that you'll go through the same amount of toner regardless of whether you have one large machine or several small ones. But, the more printing equipment you have, the higher your risk is for inefficient supply usage because of machine diversity. For example, one large machine, used by all employees, will more efficiently use its supplies than smaller machines used inconsistently by a few employees.
Additionally, personal printers tend to greatly increase the amount of toner an office uses, in part due to the fact that personal printers are less efficient, and in part because there is less accountability.
Again, working with a print provider can optimize your machine quantity and placement. A quality print provider will assess your printing needs and routines to determine the right amount of machines, as well as the size and placement for optimal equipment usage and supply replenishment.
#3 - Purchasing for a Wide Printer Variety
As briefly discussed above, this printer variety issue arises if there are multiple printers and models in your office. When you have several different printer models, it's challenging to inventory correct quantities or streamline purchases because you are buying toners for several different types of printers, each requiring unique supplies. This makes it more difficult for the person who purchases supplies because it is challenging to anticipate when supplies will be needed for each printer in your fleet. This leads to larger supply inventory, which increases your monthly costs.
Keeping your printing equipment relatively uniform will aid in your cost-saving initiatives by reducing the variety of supplies needed in stock. Print providers can assist you in streamlining your equipment variety and develop an effective printer toner supply replacement process. They can offer recommendations, as stated above, on machine quantity and placement, and through a Managed Print Services program they can monitor your usage and automate toner shipment when it is needed.
#4 – Multiple Employees Ordering and Keeping Supplies
Another issue you may encounter with personal printers is employees ordering things "just in case," or grabbing toners from the most recent order and keeping them at their desk. A centralized printer and effective supply reorder strategy eliminates this issue, saving you money.
You can also address this issue by increasing accountability and designating one employee to approve and receive supply requests and place orders. For example, if personal printers are necessary in your office, you could have your key operator in charge of storing and reordering toner cartridges for the entire office or department.
#5 - Color Printing Set as Default
Color printing is much more expensive than printing in black and white. Have your printing defaults set to grayscale so your printer automatically prints in black and white, and requires an override to print in color. This gives you some control in-house over printer toner usage. A print provider can enhance that control by monitoring your supply usage, by device, allowing you to observe how individual employees or departments are using supplies.
Download our Managed Print Services Case Study Collection to see how our Managed Print Services program has helped companies just like you save money through finding solutions just like these.
