While many businesses dream of going paperless, it’s not always a realistic option. But, “papercutting” might be a better possibility for you. Papercutting is about implementing and using tools that help you cut or reduce your paper use.
Use and Waste
According to statistics from The Paperless Project, the average office worker uses a staggering amount of 10,000 sheets of paper every year. And, 45 percent of all paper printed in offices ends up trashed by the end of the day. What a waste!
Assessment
So, what can businesses do to help reduce paper waste while still functioning at maximum capacity? It might be easier than you think. First and foremost, document management will allow you to assess your current document needs and usage. Once you have a better idea of how much paper you are actually printing—and possibly wasting—you can begin reducing the associated waste.
Reduction
Once you implement a document or print management program, you will be able to take control of your businesses overall print program. You can set parameters and put protocols in place that control what documents can and cannot be printed. You can also set controls that manage who can print particular documents and how many pages they can print in a certain time frame.
Security
The more paper you print, the more vulnerable you are to security breaches and extraneous costs. Digital document scanning and storage decreases losses and increases privacy. According to The Paperless Project, “more than 70% of today’s businesses would fail within three weeks if they suffered a catastrophic loss of paper-based records due to fire or flood.”
Are you properly prepared? Reducing your reliance on paper files is one of the simplest ways to be prepared in the event of a natural disaster and decrease waste. Papercutting and decreased dependence on print documents save money on paper, ink, storage, and security-related costs.
Cut Paper, Cut Costs
So, not only does reducing your need for printed documents help your carbon footprint, but it also helps your bottom line. If you can increase security and reduce waste with document management, why wouldn’t you?
We know this is a lot of data, so feel free to contact us with any questions on cutting your paper use, managing your documents, or securing your print program.