Here are 14 ideas for reducing paper usage in copiers, printers and faxes. When used together, these suggestions can have a significant impact on the number of documents an organization produces.

1. Design documents effectively
   
   Before you hit the “GO” button, ask the following questions to determine if the document you need to communicate needs to go back to the “drawing board”.
   
   - What is the purpose of the document?
   - Who is my intended audience?
   - Why do I need to communicate this information to that audience?
   - What action or behavior am I expecting from the recipient?
   
   
2. Communicate information electronically
   
   Can the information be e-mailed?
   
   Determine if the document you’re about to copy can be communicated electronically. Do you have the document in an electronic format already? If so, can you e-mail the document to the intended recipients? If the document is not already available in an electronic format, can you scan the document and then e-mail it to your intended recipients?
   
   Can the information be posted online?
   
   Some teachers are beginning to post and receive homework assignments online. Also, school administrators are beginning to post board packets, teacher handbooks, student handbooks, student curriculum and various district documents online.
   
   
3. Don’t print multiple pages you don’t need
   
   Determine whether or not the information you need to communicate can be copied or printed on both sides of the paper using the device’s “duplex” feature. If so, make two-sided copies or prints. If the device you’re printing to cannot duplex, print the odd pages first and then put the pages you printed in the paper feed tray and then print the even pages on the blank side of the paper.
   
   
4. Shrink documents to half their size and print/copy 2-up
   
   Determine whether or not it is feasible to shrink your original down to 50% size and put two copies on one sheet of paper or to print two pages per sheet. Use this along with the duplex feature. (Check to make sure there is a paper cutter nearby.)
   
   
5. Don’t make copies you don’t need right now
   
   Are you planning on printing extra copies for future use? If possible, print only what you know you’ll use in the short-term so that if plans change in the coming weeks (or if the document undergoes a revision) there are not wasted copies.
   
   
6. Don’t print documents to send as faxes
   
   Determine whether or not the intended recipient has an email address you can send the document to. Additionally, there is software available for sending and receiving faxes through email which won’t use any paper at all on your end.
   
   
7. Don’t use fax cover sheets
   
   Determine if you can use a small sticky-note designed to communicate the recipient’s information or add the recipient’s name to the first page of the document you need to fax.
   
   
8. Eliminate junk faxes
   
   Call the number listed on the bottom of the page that is provided for removing yourself from the company’s fax list.
   
   
9. Preview the document before printing it
   
   Do a “print preview” before printing each document. If possible, increase the margins or change the formatting so that the document takes fewer pages. If you are printing from a web page, print to PDF (if possible) first, and then eliminate any unneeded pages.
   
   
10. Eliminate unneeded space when printing emails
    
    If it is necessary to print an email, copy and paste the email to another document that you can edit to remove unnecessary space and all but the relevant portions of the thread.
    
    
11. Re-use “half-used” paper
    
    Create a place to store “half-used” paper, i.e. paper that has a copy or print on one side, but not the other. Use this paper when printing rough drafts or internal memos.
    
    
12. Establish access codes for making copies or prints
    
    If not, ask your administrators if access controls can be set up. Access controls are an excellent means of holding everyone equally accountable for reducing waste.
    
    
13. Limited access to paper
    
    Another idea for potentially reducing paper usage is to control the amount of paper that each user has access to, perhaps on a monthly basis. Again, this could be an excellent means of holding everyone equally accountable for reducing waste.
    
    
14. Set a goal to reduce your paper use by 20%
    
    Many government agencies are setting a goal of reducing their paper usage by 20%. Track your own paper usage and see if you can reach this goal. Your great example will influence those around you!

Have you seen, heard about, or implemented other paper reduction suggestions or strategies? Please leave a comment and let me know about them!

Hannah Recla
Analysis Services

Best value for document output systems is a great goal, but most administrators don’t have a clear definition of what it is. Furthermore, most administrators don’t have the necessary contracting and management practices in place within a highly defined document output strategy to achieve best value.

This video explores nine contracting and management steps that administrators can use to achieve best value.

To get the white paper titled Optimizing Your Copier/Printer Fleet - First Five Steps To A Document Strategy, please visit our homepage at www.optimizon.com.

Today, Rod Davis, President and Founder of Optimizon presented a webinar about five well-known, but poorly-understood factors that block companies from achieving millions of dollars in savings on copying and printing.

This webinar explores management issues driving these factors, the real value you should expect from your copier/printer environment and secret strategies for reducing costs your vendors would rather you not know.

You’ll not only learn how to save a great deal of unnecessary costs, but you’ll be motivated and inspired to go make the necessary changes that Rod will share to immediately begin reducing your copying and printing costs.

Here’s the link to view the webinar: http://www.optimizon.com/resources/webinar5reasons.asp

If you know someone that would benefit from reducing their copying and printing costs, please forward this link on to them!

Optimizon President discusses printer/copier improvements on popular podcast Boise, Idaho – January 7, 2009: Optimizon, an independent and vendor-neutral professional services firm that helps organizations create, execute, and manage ideal contracts for printer and copier fleets, announced to day that Optimizon President, Rod Davis, is featured on the January 2009 edition of the Document Strategy Podcast. Davis was the guest for the entire episode and discussed ways companies can improve the performance and return on investment of their workgroup printers and copiers. The company recently released a white paper, “Optimizing Printer/Copier Fleets,” available on their website. (more…)

Optimizon has published its latest white paper titled Optimizing Your Printer/Copier Fleet - First Five Steps to a Document Strategy. ABSTRACT: While there are many environments and technologies to consider when designing a document strategy, companies are discovering that their printer and copier fleet can serve as an effective and profitable place to start. Workgroup printers and copiers are a natural and sensible environment for a document strategy because they directly support the day-to-day business of organizations of all sizes and types from every industry. Pick any department or any business process and you can bet that users – from frontline employees to executive staff – depend on printers and copiers to get their job done. Ultimately, business operations depend on the efficiency, effectiveness and cost control associated with work group printers and copiers. (more…)

I was reading a recent marketing article from raintoday.com that stated the majority of decision makers require some form of an answer to five key questions before purchasing a product or service. As I read each question, which I’ve listed here below along with a response to each, my mind conjured up all the conversations and reasons clients have chosen to do business with us over the past 16 years. Since I’m sometimes guilty of being too “wordy”, I made a concentrated effort to see if I could eliminate most of the typical marketing verbiage and pinpoint an exact answer to each question in one or two sentences. Here’s what I came up with: (more…)

Well, technically, it’s: ˈäp-tə-ˌmī-zən. Less technically, start with ‘optimize’ and add ‘un’ (as in run) – optimize-un.

The root of our name, optimize, is a well-known verb. According to Miriam-Webster Online, the definition of optimize is ‘to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible’. Since our goal is to help each of our clients create Ideal Contracts for their copier and printer fleets that are as perfect, effective, AND functional as possible, we coined the noun, Optimizon, to refer to our company.

You can read more about us by clicking on the Company link at the top of the page. If you’re not already a part of our story, we look forward to getting to know you soon!

If one of the goals of your organization or district is to maintain an accurate asset list, here are some things to keep in mind when deciding what information will be kept up-to-date. It’s important to know what equipment you have and where it is located, so you’ll want to start with a list of the current location, make/model and serial number of each device. If you want to determine the cost of the equipment, then you’ll also need to track the installation date, acquisition method (purchase or lease) and cost, and service contract base and overage amounts. For any leased equipment, it is especially important to track the lease end date and the date the letter of intent is due to the lease company. (more…)

We notice that quite often, when a client of ours is incorrectly charged for property tax on a lease agreement and has tried unsuccessfully to have the charges removed, they’ll let the incorrect charges continue to accumulate, paying only the charges that are correct each month. (more…)