Problem Printing

A study put out by Loudhouse on behalf of Kyocera (details here) shows us how Paper Saving Software can benefit any organization. Highlights from the study and how Paper Saving Software addresses the issues are:

“Of the 10,000 or so pages printed per employee per year, as many as 6,800 of those sheets are thrown away or recycled.”
I do not know of any organizations that would tolerate up to 68% of their resources being wasted. Paper Saving Software has many different features to reduce printing waste.

“70 percent of IT managers surveyed said that their companies could do a better job encouraging workers to print smarter, largely through employee education about the cost benefits of more efficient printing”
AXIAR Green includes print metrics collection and reporting tools. The first step in many of our implementations is to measure printing behavior and then analyze the information we have captured (sample Report screen shots here).

“The average IT department spends one-third of its time on dealing with office printing, and nearly one-quarter of respondents say they spend 50 to 100 percent of their time on printing”
AXIAR Green is a complete print queue management and printing decision-making tool. IT staff can manage printers and print queues remotely with our software and automatically redirect print jobs to most-available, least cost printer. Users get an email or message telling them where printing occurred. Print usage is tracked and metrics are collected to ensure proper use of print resources.

“About 40 percent said they are getting more executive support in putting green printing on the IT agenda, incorporating environmental policies into the network, and encouraging workers to print less”
Paper Saving Software can automatically apply print-reduction processes and measure results. We have a calculator that shows savings in both dollar terms and environmental terms (click here to see sample environmental results).

We can help IT and management lower costs and increase efficiencies without requiring the purchase of new printers. We can implement basic paper saving and print management software features in a matter of minutes. Contact us to learn how to get started today.

Free Office Paper Use Assessment

If you are interested in reducing the cost of government without sacrificing services, please send this information to your elected representatives.

FREE OFFICE PAPER USE ASSESSMENT

New Canaan, Connecticut, July 29, 2010 - In their ongoing effort to help reduce waste and lower government spending without sacrificing services, LBM Systems is now offering a free Office Paper Use Assessment to qualified government organizations.

LBM Systems will work with Government purchasing and IT resources to:

1. Identify office paper use rates, associated costs, and paper overuse/abuse;

2. Track and measure office printing volumes; and

3. Identify areas of printing waste and/or printing/device overcapacity.

Based on the results of the Assessment, LBM then recommends both paper saving software steps and device optimization steps to reduce paper use, which delivers cost savings, green/sustainable office benefits and productivity improvements.

In a recently completed Assessment within a New York State government department in Albany, LBM's analysis identified 1) a significant overcapacity in printers, 2) no universally applied paper savings tactics, such as forced duplex printing or draft printing, or 3) any ability to prove compliance to any cost-cutting mandates being applied at the state level.

Unlike printer assessments that focus primarily on device/fleet optimization, an Office Paper Use Assessment targets printing processes and seeks to drive total paper use down by identifying and employing Paper Saving Software features to reduce print output. This delivers significant benefits in three areas:

1. Cost saving benefits (lower printer/copier costs, lower toner costs, lower paper costs, lower postage costs, lower electricity costs, lower waste removal/recycling costs);

2. Green/sustainable benefits (less paper consumed, less paper waste created, fewer print devices consuming electricity); and

3. Productivity benefits (lower IT expenses related to printer support, fewer helpdesk calls, fewer toner/printer maintenance calls, less time spent tracking lost print jobs, less time spent distributing printed output, etc.).

LBM's AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software, is a product that reduces government paperwork and paper consumption without sacrificing services. LBM has been perfecting paper saving software and deploying paper savings strategies within local, state and federal government offices for the last twenty-five years. Best of all, they answer the phone, so you can talk to someone who shares your goals and understands how to help you see immediate benefits in today's office paper use milieu.

Give them a call at (203) 966-0661 and visit www.PaperSavingSoftware.com for more information or to learn more about reducing government expense and waste.

# # #

Printer Sprawl

Printer sprawl happens when printers are acquired and installed piecemeal based on a current/tactical printing need. After a few years of printer sprawl, many different devices are on a network, each with their own drivers and unique consumables.

Some IT groups play printer whack-a-mole (unplugging devices as they pop-up), some simply make users happy by supporting the new devices and some IT groups are using (or are considering) Managed Print Services to help reduce printer sprawl.

But tackling the hardware is only part of the process - you need software as well to manage printing processes and improve document-based information delivery processes.

That's where AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software, plays a vital role: giving IT personnel both metrics-collection tools as well as print management tools to reduce print resource use, justify printer allocation and reduce IT help desk calls.

If you are currently considering Managed Print Services, we encourage you to contact us as print environment Consultants. We will help you identify ways to right-size your printer fleet while improving your printing processes. Since we do not sell printers or copiers, we are focused on identifying wasteful printing processes and employing our paper saving software to reduce waste.

CT/CBIA Sustainability Show in Hartford

This Wednesday, June 9th, we are exhibiting AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software at the Connecticut Business & Industry (CBIA) Sustainability Conference being held at the Marriott Hartford Downtown. The Conference hours are 8:30-11:30 am on Wednesday.

CBIA’s 2010 Sustainability Conference

June 9, 2010 • 8:30–11:30 a.m.
Hartford Marriott Downtown Hotel, 200 Columbus Blvd., Hartford, CT

CBIA’s 2010 Sustainability Conference will showcase what companies from a variety of industries are doing internally and externally at the Green Business 2.0 level.

The half-day program will feature a presentation by Michael Ellis on current trends and predictions for the future. Ellis is a senior associate at GreenOrder, a national strategy and management consulting firm that helps companies gain competitive advantage through environmental innovation.

The Emerald Isle

Imagine flying over the country of Ireland and seeing it covered by office paper – the WHOLE Emerald Isle covered in white paper. Or looking down on the state of Florida and seeing over half of it covered by paper. That’s how much office paper is used every year (check my conservative math below). In two years we’ll have all of Florida covered…in ten years Texas, or France.

That’s a lot of paper.

AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software, reduces the amount of paper your office consumes. You can make a difference by contacting us to learn more about saving paper by printing intelligently in your office. We’ve got experience saving paper and lots of ideas that can help any office save paper.

And if saving the Emerald Isle from a blanket of paper isn’t motivating you, we can save you a lot of money, too. Either way we’ll get you green.


*The Math:
IDC's 2009 Printer and MFP Forecasts estimated that the number of printed pages was 1.5 trillion pages in 2008…so let’s go ahead and cut that estimate down since we’re at 2010 and we’re not at the same employment levels, let’s assume 1.4 trillion sheets are consumed per year. Let’s be conservative and figure 8.5 inches by 11 inches is the size, giving us .65 square feet per sheet.
1.4 trillion, times .65 feet, converted to square miles is about 32,600 square miles. Ireland is about 32,500 square miles.

Source: http://advice.cio.com/steve_saito/reaching_the_paper_mountain_tipping_point

Will and Clout

"Ideas matter in New York. I am certain that more conversations in New York are about ideas than anywhere else. Not just vague theories, but ideas that New Yorkers have the will, and the clout, to do something about." Sir David Frost

We found this quote while developing marketing materials for an upcoming event (we're going to be talking to New York State CIOs/officials in Saratoga, NY, May 13). But certainly the concept applies well beyond New York: ideas matter, but you need the will and the clout to turn ideas into action.

Right now it's time for people to find the will and use their clout to cut costs and reduce waste no matter where they are. Certainly New York does not have a monopoly on turning good ideas into beneficial actions.

So if you've got the will and the clout to do something about reducing costs, talk to us about AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software. Tell someone in government or at your business about the potential to save money with Paper Saving Software. Find the will, use your clout and find a way to make a difference. We have proven products, not vague theories, that are already helping commercial and government organizations throughout the world cut costs and reduce waste.

Make it Earth Year with Paper Saving Software

A one-day event like Earth Day is a great way to highlight an important subject, but I think most success in life comes from managing processes, not from a single event. Merely making an effort one day a year isn’t going to meaningfully impact too much (it’s a good start!), but changing behavior every day is going to make real differences. And changing behavior takes commitment and time. And it can be hard work.

However, with an application such as AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software, the payoff over a year is quite significant in terms of cost savings and resource-use reduction (we see 30%+ savings in most of our successes). Much more than simply asking people to “think before you print”, AXIAR Green evidences waste and delivers a powerful set of tools to manage print processes without having to retrain users.

So how do we get the Paper Saving process started? Plan your work and work your plan:

-Pick a local group/department who is interested in reducing waste (act locally)
-Identify printing processes, devices and users with our assistance
-Track and quantify current printing volumes using AXIAR Green’s metrics collection tools
-Determine which processes can be modified with Paper Saving Software without negatively impacting your core business processes
-Implement Paper Saving Software features incrementally with user feedback encouraged
-Use AXIAR Green reporting tools monthly to graphically illustrate both cost and paper saving
-Expand Paper Saving Software use to new processes (think globally)
-Reduce paper use, device count and lost productivity/employee time tracking print jobs with AXIAR Green

AXIAR Green, Paper Saving Software, positively impacts printing processes every day, all year long. It not only raises awareness of printing waste by tracking use, but also delivers tools to reduce use. It is part of a process through which your organization can save money and demonstrate to stakeholders that you are committed to sustainable business practices.