How much do you like reading statistics? I have spent entire days, and always find the numbers astounding. Today, let's talk about the overall cost of managing a file cabinet.
Allow me to start with the obvious, the price of paper by itself. The average United States office worker uses 10,000 + sheets per year. That equates to about 2 cases of paper per employee per year. With the average price of paper equating to $40 per case, paper doesn't seem too costly on an individual basis. But just how many employees work at your job?
A study by Xerox shows that for every dollar that a company spends on printing paper, they incur another $6 dollars in handling and distribution. For office space, the average cost in the U.S. is 15-20 dollars per square foot. That equates to between 250-300 dollars per filing cabinet just for the space it consumes. A study created by IDC Research found that an organization with 1,000 knowledge workers, those who "think for a living" such as architects, scientists, and software engineers, will waste 2.5 to 3.5 million dollars per year re-printing lost documents and searching for misfiled information.
Taking into account all of that wasted capital on physical documentation, do you still believe paper is the way to go?
That is very wasteful. I wish we could use chalkboards or dry erase boards to write on, and then take pictures with our cell phones. Hey that is a pretty good idea. I might be on to something. What would you suggest an individual to do to cut back on their personal paper usage?
ReplyDeleteThe Iphone already has free document scanning apps that use the phone's camera. I use Genius Scan and the document quality is pretty good. It is helpful on service calls, when I have to email the signed paperwork off to my maintenance distributor.
DeleteIt would depend. What exactly does your paper usage comprise? Anything that you are currently writing on can be transferred to an online format; journals, applications of all kinds, sports tickets, memos, notes taken during work meetings, etc.
I would like to be a paper-less office myself. Storage takes up so much space aside from the cost. Do you have any recommendations on what type of electronic storage for documents to use? Or, the best way to scan them into your computer. I have thought about trying the "NeatDesk" scanner I have seen on store shelves.
ReplyDeleteThe NeatDesk scanner is decent for the price. One major drawback for most office users would be that it only scans 24 pages per minute. Fujitsu will be releasing a new scanner that is approximately the same size, but scans 70 pages per minute. That scanner is still confidential but it may be released by the end of the year, and if you find the right dealer (Graphic Imaging Services Inc.) the price shouldn't be too much more for three times the speed. Plus Fujitsu will be shipping that scanner with their brand new scanning software, Paper Stream Capture, that I had the opportunity to test in beta, and found it to be very easy to use. It also comes with scanning profiles, so you do not have to create them yourselves.
DeleteThere is little to no reason for physical documentation to be so widely used to this day. However, there must also be a labor cost associated with converting everything to a digital format for a larger organization. Though it makes sense financially in the long run, I can see why the initial cost is off-putting at first. A small business though really has no excuse to still be sticking with physical documentation.
ReplyDelete