In many offices, paper is essential to business. However, with today’s technology it doesn’t have to be. Read on to learn how you can reduce your reliance on paper, and get one step closer to a paper “less” office!
Paper vs. Digital
On average, office employees are printing 10,000 documents per year. This rate is increasing each year by about 22%… and your costs along with it. Documents must be filed in expensive and space-consuming filing cabinets, to the tune of $1,500 per year per cabinet. Employees often spend up to 30% of their time searching for documents, and lost documents could be costing your business up to $700 each. By day’s end recycling bins are overflowing with documents that were printed, but not needed. (Stats: The Paperless Project)
However, when you go digital, many of these costs are significantly decreased. Digital storage is relatively inexpensive, and takes up little or no room in your office. Documents can be indexed to be searched with just a few keystrokes, saving your employees valuable time. Digital documents can drastically reduce the incidence of lost documents and help you recover quickly from a disaster like a flood or fire that could have easily destroyed your paper documents. Going digital saves time and money and reduces your impact on the environment.
Steps to Get Started
Even with all these benefits, many companies hesitate to get started on going paperless. However, it doesn’t have to be complicated, and most companies begin to see benefits right away.
- Audit your current paper usage. Whether through a Managed Print Service provider or using a manual logging system, once you understand what you’re printing now, you can determine where you can reduce your paper use.
- Update your equipment. Multifunction printers can scan, copy, fax, and print replacing a roomful of machines, and integrate seamlessly with a digital workflow system, reducing or eliminating paper use for many common tasks. Older equipment can cost you in unnecessary energy usage.
- Use cloud-based and online applications. This can reduce paper use for banking, as well allow the transfer of data more quickly and easily to clients.
- Change your workflows. Scan documents as they come in, fax directly to email, and utilize digital technology where you can.
Going paperless can save your business time and money. With just four easy steps, you can get started on seeing the benefits of a paper-free office. Contact us today for more tips!
