Top 5 Ways Your Copy Machine Saves You Money

So,you have a copy machine that the whole team can use. Work is streamlined, your team runs efficiently, and you have a system in place for fast maintenance. Did you know your copier, and how you use it, may still have hidden costs? Even the best printer, scanner, copier, and all-around great office tools can still affect the bottom line. Here are five ways your copy machine can save you money if you know where to look and how to get the most out of your equipment.

How Can A Copy Machine Support My Business?

There are a myriad of ways your copy machine can save your business. Here are the top five ways you can save money right now, with minimal effort.

Choose Your Copier Or Printer Wisely

Choose the right printer, not necessarily just the right price. That may sound counterintuitive because every business needs to work within their budget. The budget is essential, but it should be a guide to what the company can comfortably afford. A budget should force the shopping process into a contest to get the lowest priced printer. 

The lowest price may bring your team the ability to do the basics, like copying and printing a few pages. However, if the page per minute is too low, the quality is low, or the machine is finicky about when it will work, office efficiency and morale will tank. When efficiency and morale crash, so does productivity.Use your budget as a guide, but choose the printer that will best serve the needs of your team and your overall business. 

Conservation Is A Team Effort

Not all businesses realize that lowering your carbon footprint has a positive impact on your bottom line, especially when it comes to printers. Creating a culture of conservation will help guide policies and equipment choices and inform you on how your team uses and abuses office technology. 

• Use document sharing technology such as Dropbox, Google Docs, Microsoft OneDrive, WeTransfer, and more. This will save unnecessary trips to the printer, which will save the time and efficiency of your people, supplies, and will lengthen the lifetime of your machine. 
• Encourage recycling. Keep the shredder and recycle bin next to your printer or copier. If they do not see the recycle bin, they won’t use it, so keep it close. Empty the recycle bin regularly, so it does not become a source of disarray or tension. Even important docs that need to be shredded after they are scanned can be recycled, so keep the shredder right next to the recycling bin for easy access and use. 
• Use the right supplies. Have draft paper available. Meaning, if someone is just printing something that they need to look at, but it is not customer-facing, they can use the back of an old printing project that is no longer needed. Or they can use the inexpensive printer paper. Save the expensive printer paper for the jobs that really need it. 
• Discourage unnecessary or excessive printing. If you have to, set up a print quota for repeat offenders, or the entire office. Track those users who print the most and determine whether they have a job that necessitates that much usage and other solutions that may better serve their needs. 

Listen To Your Copy Machine

There are those people who pay attention to the car lights on their dashboards and their computer pop-up reminders about updates. And then there are those people who ignore all the messages until their technology finally breaks down completely. When your copy machine has lights or error messages that come up on that display, do not ignore them. They can lead to costly fixes if they are left for too long. Instead, listen to your copiers and printers when they are telling you they are low on toner, have a paper jam, or need maintenance.

Make Security A Priority

Being able to send faxes, though time-consuming and outdated by today’s standards, is still fairly secure. It is also fairly efficient because the team doesn’t need to spend time looking for a file-sharing software or platform that the receiver uses or identifying a compatible file extension to open the document. Almost every medium and large business will have a fax line, and faxing is typically a low-cost feature on any copier.  

Copier Settings Should Reflect Your Budget

Nearly every copier and printer have baseline settings that you can adjust to reflect your company’s budget preferences better. For example, setting the default quality setting to mid-grade or draft, rather than using a lot of ink and toner to print in high quality for every document can save loads of money in the long run. Set the default always to print two-sided to lower the consumption of paper and toner. 

Giving everyone individual codes to access the printer makes it so you can track usage of individual team members. You do not want to nitpick, but you do want to ensure those who change the setting to single-sided are doing so because they need single-sided printing, not because they prefer the setting. Even the best budget printer will have default settings you can adjust and tweak for your specific business needs. 

Conclusion: Do Not Let Your Office Copier Decrease Your Budget 

Every company needs a printer or office copier. It is just as essential as being able to turn the lights on or access a workstation. However, just as you can turn the lights off when you leave the room or close down for the night, you can make adjustments to the ways in which you use copy machines to save money in a meaningful way. 

At ACP, we know just how much copy machines can affect the bottom line and we understand that copiers should be one of those pieces of office equipment that run effortlessly in the background, supporting the business. The moment a copy machine becomes the center of office frustration or the source of budget breakdowns because of hidden costs, it will need to be replaced. 

We are all about relationship building and helping companies grow. That’s why the team at ACP is dedicated to helping you find the best copier for your business, your team, and your budget. Get in touch now for a custom solution.