HIDDEN COSTS

  • Printing Services
  • Mailing
  • Processing
  • Delivery
  • Storage
  • Disposing

EFFECTS OF DIGITALIZATION

  1. Search digital data archives is a key cost advantage over paper because it’s easier than searching for lost paper documents
  2. Digital records can often be automatically aggregated for reporting and auditing purposes.
  3. Cybersecurity such as data encryption and password protections help reduce risk.
  4. Documents stored in a remote location or in the cloud makes recovery more manageable.
  5. Free up large amounts of office space and reduce overhead costs.
  6. Federal and state governments have been making sustainability a priority by offering tax credits and rebates for going paperless which also, enhance reputation. (U.S.A.)
  7. For example, on Yale University, the Student Employment office realized annual savings of $100,000 by adopting an electronic process to replace paper timesheets. Also, the School of Medicine saved $92,000 when the practice of printing paper course packets was replaced with iPads. Finance and Business Operations saved roughly $60,000 when it discontinued printing and mailing hardcopies of its annual report and instead published it online.

RECOMMENDATIONS

  1. Track the number of pages printed per person, generate a monthly report and email it to everyone. Software as Print Inspector may work, but it’s expensive.
  2. Make it less convenient to print. Reduce the number of printers in your office by consolidating smaller, low-end machine with printers capable of higher print volumes at a central location.
  3. Request paperless statements from banks and service providers such as the telecommunications company. Also, pay bills online.
  4. Advocate a culture of reuse and recycling can modify prevailing attitudes toward paper usage.
  5. Validate more electronic signatures than signing printed documents.
  6. Reproduce internal documents on Wikis or online notebooks such as Google Docs or Evernote instead. Easy sharing!
  7. Completely discard fax from the business process and replace paper forms with fillable PDF forms that are submitted via email or a Web browser. The free PDFescape online tool (https://www.pdfescape.com) will create PDF files with the relevant form fields. Paid apps such as Nitro Pro 9 and Acrobat XI offer more sophisticated functionality.
  8. Consider a dual or multi-monitor setup. One common reason that workers print documents is the need to cross-reference them with another document.
  9. In order to work with vendors and clients that insist on using the fax machine, sign up for an online fax provider that will email an incoming fax direct to your inbox. There are various free and paid options.
  10. Digitalizing paper notes and printed literature makes it easy to share documents electronically and lowers the temptation to make photocopies. Example, the portable flatbed Doxie Flip scanner can capture what is written in notebooks and other content that may not fit through the feeder of a conventional sheet-fed scanner.
  11. Optical character recognition (OCR) software turns the static images or PDF files created by hardware scanners into editable files that are substantially more useful. Example, ABBYY FineReader turns PDF files and digital photographs into Microsoft Word, Excel or searchable PDF formats.
  12. For the inevitable paperwork that must be printed, using both sides help.
  13. Smartphone apps, including CamCard and WorldCard Mobile, will capture the content of business cards and generate a digital contact.
  14. Apps such as TurboScan and Scanner Pro can capture documents with a smartphone’s built-in camera and can be uploaded to a cloud storage.
  15. When creating a document:
    1. Reduce margins and font size or adjust document layout to reduce the number of pages.
    2. Skip the coversheet.
    3. Circulate documents for editing or approvals electronically. Use the track-changes feature in Microsoft Word.
  16. When printing a document:
    1. Print on both sides of each sheet of paper.
    2. Print two or more pages per side of a sheet.
    3. Print to order: ask if recipients prefer to receive electronic copies of documents before printing.
    4. Always pick up what you print. This will help you keep track of how much paper you use.
  17. At meetings:
    1. Bring your computer instead of printing documents.
    2. Share information by projecting it.
    3. Distribute meeting handouts and slide decks electronically.
    4. Use a message program such as Microsoft Lync or email to exchange information.
  18. Around the office:
    1. Reuse sheets of paper printed on only one side.
    2. Route a single copy of a document instead of printing multiple copies.
    3. Use bins to recycle paper.