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Paper Cuts

REDUCING PAPER USE WILL SAVE YOU MONEY - AND MAKE YOUR OFFICE MORE EFFICIENT.
by LEE GIMPEL - June 2009

Published in Business :: Business

ILLUSTRATION BY TRAY BUTLER

While the arrival of the "Infobahn" brought a utopian vision of offices without scattered files, the paperless office hasn't come to pass. In fact, emailing and downloading have paradoxically made the problem worse: Before the internet, printing an email or a web page was not an option.

There's no denying the convenience of paper. Even if you don't eliminate it, try reducing your use. It's better for the environment, it may lower costs, and it can increase your efficiency. (Flipping through piles of paper can be more time consuming than perusing digital files.)

Start with the office printer. Set the default to be double-sided, and if you don't have a duplex printer, buy one. Also cut down on printing copies of reports and handouts, and make information available digitally. Daniel Stein, CEO of Evolution Bureau, says in lieu of printing business proposals, his advertising agency gives prospects a branded USB drive.

A more drastic step is to digitize existing papers by using a document management system, whereby papers are scanned into an electronic archive. On the software side, Alex Stewart of ScanStore recommends the ABBYY FineReader 9 Professional ($399) for small businesses and the SimpleIndex Document Management Suite ($2,750) for mid-range firms. Xerox's DocuShare CPX is designed for larger enterprises (it starts at $18,000 for 50 seats).

When it comes to hardware, don't skimp on the equipment. Byron K. Patrick, CEO of Hosted Solutions, estimates that scanning may take up to three times longer with low-end equipment, which often costs more in the long run than a pricier machine (you'll be paying someone to scan, after all).

Even a one-person shop can get an inexpensive scanner. Stephanie Goldberg Glazer of Your Personal Manager recommends the Fujitsu ScanSnap because "it's quick, reliable and automatically creates searchable PDF files." Having the ability to search by characters and words is important, especially if you're archiving thousands of pages.

Don't scan in high-resolution color when lower resolution black-and-white will suffice; you'll need a lot more storage, resulting in greater costs. Patrick says other hidden costs are found in maintaining scanners, backing up data and shredding the digitized documents.

There are many companies that will do the scanning and document management for you (at the office or off-site), which will save you the time and hassle of buying the means to scan documents and train your people to do it.

If going digital seems too drastic, start using less paper by writing your to-do list on a dry-erase board. And don't forget to put buying a duplex printer on the list.

Published in Business :: Business

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