GREEN PAPER

The Significant Seven: Seven Guidelines for Sustainable & Cost-Effective Print/Copy Management Practices

Introduction
Recent industry surveys indicate that businesses want to be more environmentally responsible. To support this goal, Océ Business Services is issuing this first in a series of reports – which we call green papers – that will share our recommendations to help enterprises implement more eco-friendly practices across the document lifecycle (document creation through disposal).

In the U.S., companies concerned about the environment, such as Bremer Financial Services, are teaming with their outsourcing partners to initiate document management practices that are both sustainable and cost effective. “We implemented a green campaign as a joint effort between the Bremer Facilities Group and Océ Business Services to reduce paper usage,” notes Dolores Hoffman, supervisor of administrative services and facilities management for Bremer Facilities Department. “Through initiatives such as moving print production to copiers that can print on both sides of a page, we have reduced paper consumption and realized thousands of dollars in cost savings.”

In Europe, another example is the launch of Océ Green Services, a suite of sustainable document management services that resulted from a pioneering project between Océ (UK) Ltd. and Pfizer, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Océ Green Services are designed for companies that work with Océ on long-term contracts for outsourced on-site document management services. So far, Océ Green Services has been rolled out for print/copy, office fleet, mailroom and records management services.

The Significant Seven
Océ Business Services’ sustainability practices and recommendations cover the document lifecycle, including print/copy management, document imaging, fleet management, document needs assessment, records management, mail management, and electronic discovery. This green paper focuses on enterprise-wide print/copy. According to industry analyst firm Gartner, most enterprises do not manage their office printers well, having too much and often the wrong equipment and supplies for their needs. Actively managing office print can reduce spending by 10 to 30 percent while reaping real environmental benefits (“Key Issues for Print Management, 2008,” Pete Basiliere, March 2008).

Océ offers the following seven guidelines highlighting print/copy management practices in the office that can benefit the environment and reduce costs:

The workgroup alternative
To the extent possible, replacing personal desktop printers with workgroup MFPs (multifunction peripherals that combine print/copy/scan/fax functionality in one machine) shared by departments can have a strong positive impact. One financial services company replaced 1,100 copiers and printers and 1,000 fax machines with 400 MFPs. The initiative eliminated 1,700 machines that no longer consume resources based on their manufacture, transportation, operation, maintenance, and eventual disposal.

Adopt scanning practices
Instead of copying and storing physical documents, organizations can scan and store electronically. Employees can retain digital copies that they can distribute electronically, and at the same time avoid accumulating files filled with paper. As a conservative estimate, scanning can reduce paper consumption by one to three percent. In a survey underwritten by Océ Business Services, senior executives involved in document management indicated that document scanning has a high impact across the greatest range of business goals that include reducing costs, increasing competitive advantage, enhancing regulatory compliance, and improving customer service.

Default to duplex
Most multi-page documents don’t require the text to be printed on one side of the page. Newspapers, magazines and books use both sides (duplex printing). With effective fleet management it is possible to change office practices and make duplex printing of multi-page documents the norm. This can potentially decrease paper use by up to 50 percent.

Eliminate printing banner pages
A banner page is the extra page that prints before an employee’s file prints with username and machine name information. Gartner’s research estimates that organizations can reduce their consumables cost by up to 20 percent by eliminating banner pages from office print jobs. Banner pages can represent up to a quarter of pages printed for some typical office print jobs. A 1,000 person organization could cut up 1.6 million pages and save $33,500 per year by eliminating banner page printing (“Cost Cutting Initiatives for Office Printing,” Sharon McNee and Ken Weilerstein, Feb. 2008.)

Bulk up
Buying paper and toner in bulk can reduce transportation, packaging, and storage resources. Buying in bulk also often results in cost savings.

Leverage “smart” technologies
Enterprises can use MFP “smart” technologies such as Personal Mail Box, Fax-from-Desktop, Scan-to-Email/File Folder, and Document Routing in order to decrease paper and chemicals used in printing. This can reduce paper usage by up to three percent.

Implement user authentication
With as many as one in 10 documents sent to the printer and uncollected or sent again before collection to correct user errors, enterprises could reduce ad hoc print costs by up to 10 percent by implementing a PIN authentication system.

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