Sometimes, the best ways to cut costs are the least glamorous. IBM Printing System’s Michelle Morris cited recent research by Gartner that found that only 30% of printing costs lie in hardware and supplies, while the remaining 70% arises from the printing process. “Better management of that 70% can lead to potential savings of up to 30% of total office costs, “ she said. With that in mind, Morris offered these six tips for organizations looking to cut their overall printing costs.

1. Watch the toner. Today’s printers offer better granularity in terms of darkness controls. In some cases, organizations can reduce toner costs by half, with no change in quality noticeable to the naked eye. Take advantage of the grades of darkness available on your printer, and you can optimize print quality while at the same time saving money, she said.

2. Don’t get inkjet happy. Since inkjet printers are far less expensive than laser printers, many companies make the mistake of placing them on desktops throughout the organization. But if they checked the total ownership costs, they might rethink that strategy, she said. “Printing a 10-page document on a personal inkjet printer costs $2.00,” she said. “So it costs a company with 20,000 employees a total of $40,000 for employees to print just one document.” Laser printers, on the other hand, cost about 5 cents per page as compared to ink jets’ 20-cent-per-page cost. “Simply moving to a shared network of laser printers can provide a quick, easy way to save money,” she said.

3. Get on the digital imaging bandwagon. Morris recommends taking advantage of network-attached multifunction printers/copiers/scanners that let you scan documents and then deal with them in digital form. “Once paper information is converted into a digital format, not only are printing supply dollars saved, but also unnecessary shipping and courier costs can be eliminated,” she said. “Additionally, altering hard copy documents into electronic versions ensures that documents are processed faster, allowing for an organization to invoice and collect payments from customers much quicker and more efficiently.”

4. Go modular. Another advantage to multifunction units is that they save on space and enable users to consolidate costs, since they use the same supplies but can support many functions. Here, Morris recommends modular multifunction units that let you add different modules for different functions, such as faxing or e-mailing, as you need them.

5. Don’t ignore duplex and multi-up printing features. This tip is fairly obvious – printing on both sides of the paper can cut your printing costs in half. Similarly, taking advantage of multi-up printing, where multiple pages are formatted to print on a single sheet of paper, also saves on paper and printing costs. Morris says that although these features are available on many printers, few users take advantage of them, resulting in a lost opportunity for savings.

6. Combine color and black-and-white printing. Rather than support two machines – one for color printing and the other for black-and-white – Morris recommends users consider the newer printers that can handle both modes. “Printing in black and white on a color printer now costs the same as printing to a dedicated monochrome printer,” she said. “Having two separate units is false economy.”

For more information, visit IBM Printing Systems here.