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Xerox pushing services that eliminate machines and cut paper use
According to the Wall Street Journal article “Xerox Tries to Go Beyond Copiers” (subscription required), Xerox is pushing consulting services that show clients how they can save money by eliminating unnecessary machines and cutting down on paper use. From the article:
For decades, Xerox and others built their businesses by pushing companies to buy more office machines and supplying pricey ink and toner. But increasingly these vendors are now advising big customers to reduce their number of machines and find ways to cut printing costs.
[continuing ...]
Xerox, Hewlett-Packard Co. and others say they are seeing strong demand for consulting services that show companies how to eliminate desktop printers and force workers to share multifunction devices that copy, print and fax. The vendors say such moves can reduce printing costs up to 30%.
According to research by Xerox, companies spend between 3 and 4 percent of their revenues on producing documents. With the downturn in the economy and the increased profile of being “green,” companies are very interested in becoming more paper savvy. More from the article:
The services push comes as office copiers, fax machines and printers have merged into multifunction devices that are linked to corporate computer networks. Although these devices often cost $10,000 to $20,000, vendors install them when they manage a company’s printing because compared with desktop devices, they are more efficient, break down less and can use cheaper supplies.
Last month, Procter & Gamble Co. agreed to turn over to Xerox its vast fleet of printers and copiers in a multi-year contract valued at more than $100 million. Filippo Passerini, P&G’s chief information officer, says the decision is expected to cut paper usage 40% and costs 20% to 25%. He declined to disclose dollar figures.
Unclutterer is all for a paperless workplace. We have written about this subject in the past and we’ve offered tips on cutting down on your personal paper output.
Could your office survive without paper?
19 comments posted
Posted by Sherri (Serene Journey) - 03/03/2009
When I worked in the office it always amazed me how much paper we went through. Moving to paperless is a great idea in theory but people still have that urge to print documents, charts, graphs, etc. I still find it tough to read any lengthy piece of work on the computer screen. I find that a physical piece of paper is easier to look at, modify, add comments too.
I do think a lot of offices could survive without paper but until they actually stop buying the paper and printers and employees have no other option but to read, edit, and comment on the computer I don’t see a truly paperLESS workplace (at least where I’ve worked) happening for a while.
Posted by Taylor at Household Management 101 - 03/03/2009
Going paperless has its advantages and disadvantages, but I feel like it is the way it will be in the future. Of course, you need a good filing or retrieval system, even with digital documents, and you also need a good backup.
I know that first hand, since last night I had a major computer malfunction and lost a lot potentially (still need someone to come assess the damage). Well, I guess you live and learn, right?
Posted by Another Deb - 03/03/2009
I am not ever going to be paper-free as a teacher, but have saved a lot of paper this year by having students write in a journal rather than give them handouts. I am setting up a “virtual classroom” website for things like lessons, handouts, even testing. The administration sends information by e-mail and we see Powerpoints rather than have packets of information for professional development.
Technology is helpingsave paper. On the other hand, spelling and handwriting have been degrading. Texting has changed the spelling and the loss of legible handwriting. I had a student ask me this year if I could read cursive!
Posted by L. - 03/03/2009
Apropos of Sherri’s comments–the need to print out (because it’s hard to read on a computer) is one reason I just bought a Kindle. My work involves a lot of documents that I might need to read once or twice, and which are too long for me to read on the computer. Printing them out is both wasteful and expensive, and then I have to get them shredded. Now I can transfer them to the Kindle for free (privately as well, if I prefer) and read them there. I don’t know how much of an impact this will have on my life since I just got the thing, but I’m really looking forward to increasing my paperless-ness.
Posted by Alicia C. - 03/03/2009
I work for a landscape architecture/civil engineering firm. I dont think we will ever be paperless. Hopefully at some point municipalities will allow plan submittal in .pdf form. But in the design process paper is still used. As well as in the redline process. We have always had a recycling policy and instead of print full sheets (24″x36″ or 30″x42″)we print sheets for in house review on 11×17. It isnt ideal, but its the best we have come up with right now.
Posted by chica and jo - 03/03/2009
IBM is leader of the pack when it comes to being paperless. I have worked at the company now for almost 9 years and have gone from a small, two-drawer filing cabinet to nothing. My entire office is in my laptop, where it should be. All work related forms are online and almost 100% of those can be filled out and sent electronically. It boggles my mind to go to other offices and see stacks of needless paper. What a waste!
Posted by Andy - 03/03/2009
The big push in the 90′s was towards a completely paperless office, but the fact remains that for the time being it is just a dream. In another decade it may be a reality, but for now we will have to do with the Document Management Solutions that are available.
Posted by Allison - 03/03/2009
I am not completely paperless, but the amount of paper in work life has decreased significantly. I started a new job in September and am one of two employees in my company’s DC office. The person who previously had my job worked out of the Chicago office and I did not inherit any paperwork. She’d been gone for over a year when I started so all relevant information was in computer files. I work at home 3 days per week and I have 3-4 hanging folders in my file cabinet with reference materials. When I go into the office, the only paperwork is that which I carry in a small folder.
This set-up works for me due to going back and forth between offices and because I travel quite a bit. I know that anything I need is on my laptop so I’m not worried about leaving a folder behind.
Posted by Lori Paximadis - 03/03/2009
I will never be able to go entirely paperless, although I am making a concerted effort to do so where I can. But my main gig is editing and project management, and there’s just no way to go completely paperless there. I catch totally different kinds of errors on screen versus on paper. I make a first pass on screen, then do a second pass on a printout. But I do change the size and line spacing of the type and use recycled paper for these printouts, so at least I’m trying to be efficient about it.
Posted by Battra92 - 03/03/2009
I L<3VE Xerox! We have these awesome machines at work from which I can scan to PDF or print on double sided paper and reduce paper used. I can also reduce the number of machines I have to service and support (thus less electricity used as well)
But yeah, scan to emailed PDF is awesome. We’ve deployed CutePDF as well to help reduce paper. Sure it only costs us about $0.007 per printed page but that adds up. Plus it reduces our waste and disposal fees so it just makes sense.
Posted by Doug Ransom - 03/03/2009
I have had good experiences with shared printers because they tend to be higher quality. The downside is people get annoyed when I print 10 envelopes, and the colour multifunction device (with a great scanner) is a 60s walk away.
Posted by Jacki Hollywood Brown - 03/03/2009
I don’t think it is just the paper. In greening the office we also need to consider the cost of printers themselves and the ink cartridges they use.
I know that I pay quite a bit of money for printer cartridges that can’t be recycled or refilled. Less printing means less ink used so less money spent and less to the landfill.
Hire a professional organizer to help you manage online documents and create/use document sharing systems as well as an efficient archiving system.
Posted by Whimsy Girl » Blog Archive » Positives from the economic downturn… - 03/03/2009
[...] Unclutterer has a post on Xerox pushing paper reduction for offices. [...]
Posted by John - 03/03/2009
My Kindle has helped me go paperless at work. I used to print long documents to read (too tiring to read them on-screen) but now I just email them to my Kindle (word or PDF formats) and read them there (which is a whole lot more like paper than my computer screen).
Posted by JenK - 03/03/2009
I find I print less now that I have 2 monitors. When editing, for example, I can have my notes on one monitor and make the updates on the other.
I’ve also found that some eye conditions, like astigmatism, seem to affect “screen reading” ability more than others. Funny how getting new glasses makes screens so much easier to read!
Posted by Tim at Home Document Manager - 03/03/2009
@Sherri – There is something intensely personal about one’s relationship with paper. When I get a letter, statement or something else that I need to keep, I resent its presence, so I don’t even read it until it’s scanned and shredded. Viewing it on the computer is a more serene experience for me, it’s not taking up space, I can read it later without leaving clutter.
On the other hand, when I’m jotting down notes or doing something creative, I much prefer to work *with* paper – just because I find it often helps to get the juices flowing.
@Taylor – I feel your pain. Recommend Jungle Disk for backup.
Posted by susan - 03/04/2009
It is funny- at work we have a joke that you would think with computers it would be easy to go paperless, but we find that with computers and new technology, the paper output in work places has INCREASED!
A paperless existence is a nice idea. I can’t see it happening any time soon.
I myself am making a concerted effort to try to reduce the paper in my life. Paper accumulation is my biggest clutter obstacle in life. At work, I used to print out the day’s reports, and other documents every day (about 10 pages a day- not much, but over time, and with 1000′s of people in the company all doing something similar), and now I print out 4 pages a day…crucial documents that I need to write on and that I need to access instantly in an dire emergency.
We got the two screen setup at work 2 years ago, and I agree with the other poster, that cut down on the need to print big time. Now we can keep our main application open on one monitor, and reference docs, email, etc. on the other one.
Now, I only print out the pages I need to write on…sort of like worksheets. Some of my colleagues don’t even do that- they modify the original docs right on their computer and resave it. I still find it easier to have the physical paper in my hand, and to write everything right there. In my line of work, if the $$%^& hits the fan, I need certain information instantly, and “my computer froze” or “let me find that doc” just don’t cut it unfortunately.
Also another caveat with a paperless society– make sure you back up your data…ruthlessly. One computer crash can ruin the paperless office in a second.
I am trying to reduce my paper considerably (honest!!), but can’t possibly go truly paperless. I am trying!!
Posted by Eleanor W. Craig - 03/05/2009
The medical recruiting firm for which I work converted to PSCs several years ago. One of the features I most enjoy is being able to scan a document and send it straight from the PCS to the recipient.I can also send it to myself, add comments, then send. This allows me to send all documents electronically without a fax printout on the other end.
Posted by Claire - 03/05/2009
As a corporate accountant, I will never be paperless. The amount of documentation from different sources that we have to reconcile & then print out for verification purposes is a lot. Everything has to be physically signed for approvals and to show items have been audited. And then we also have to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley…don’t even get me started on how much paper we use related to that!! I wish I could be paperless, but it’s impossible to do in corporate finance.
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