PRINT MANAGEMENT
Cutting printing costs and W
e are going
through a global financial crisis
which is unlike anything most of us have ever seen before. The pressure on every commercial enterprise is to control costs and at the same time remain competitive or even remain in business – and the public sector is no exception.
One important difference between this and earlier recessions is that there are now other pressures as well as financial. In particular, all industries are expected to be aware of the environmental impact of what they do and take positive steps to reduce it.
Many are keen to establish their own green credentials and also expect the highest environmental standards from their own suppliers. Therefore, being able to demonstrate best practices could mean the difference between being awarded best hospital for example or being closed down.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr) recently completed a major study called Smarter print management commissioned by OKI which highlighted the potential annual cost saving across the public administration and defence sector alone from adopting smarter printing practices as £213 million, which is the equivalent of covering the annual council tax of 155,134 band D homes at an average of £1,373.
These figures are perhaps not so surprising when you consider that public sector organisations from local government offices to the civil service typically have
44 pse
a significant administrative requirement.
Most are well aware that the paperless office will never become a reality because workers and working practices are accustomed to using paper documents. Whether it’s sending an appointment letter to holding paper copies of all reports, paper is still a necessity. However, this can be reduced.
The study did not just identify cost savings. cebr estimates that, by saving waste and by printing at the point of need, 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions could be saved each year across EMEA, equivalent to taking 400,000 cars off the road or the emissions from 750,000 long-haul flights.
Smarter printing
At first glance it may be hard to see how moving print in-house from a specialist can have such a dramatic impact both on costs and on carbon emissions. The explanation, though, is simple. If you print in-house then you print precisely what you want, when you want it and where you want it – ‘smarter printing’.
Every business or industry requires stationery - letterheads,
invoices etc. Traditionally, this stationery has been pre-printed in advance and because of the economies of scale when using an external supplier, items are usually ordered in large quantities. For example, if patient files had to be reprinted, going to an outsourced print shop would be both time consuming and costly.
You pay for a large amount of paper, tying up cash. You spend energy moving it from the print shop to your premises and, if you have multiple locations, you probably pay again to move it from the headquarters to these other branches. You have to provide storage for it. And if any detail changes – a new address, membership of a new trade body, maybe the addition of your environmental certification details – then the paper is just scrap to be delivered (more carbon) to a recycling plant.
Today’s printers are perfectly capable of printing a logo and layout in high resolution within tight colour tolerances at the same time as the letter text or the invoice details. Why use energy on two print processes when only one is needed? This not only saves money but also space which, for many, can be critical.
Nov/Dec 10
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