What’s the Cost of Paper to Your Business
More and more businesses are switching from paper forms and documents to digital for their company needs. Why are they opting for digital? The answer is clear – the environment and cost savings.
It is true that overall the paper industry has become more environmentally responsible in the paper production process. Today, 39 percent of papermaking comes from recycled paper, which is a noteworthy improvement from the past. But, that does not entirely take away from the fact that papermaking still accounts for a considerable amount of deforestation in the nation. Each year, $18 million acres of trees are cut down and more than one-third of the timber harvested in the U.S. is harvested for paper. The amount of timber harvested each year in the United States continues to exceed the forest growth. The negative impact on the environment could be reduced in many cases by choosing digital alternatives.
In addition to digitizing for environmental reasons, businesses have begun to move away from using paper for another reason: cost savings. Businesses care about the bottom line, and therefore more businesses have opted for digital versions of the everyday documents they were once using. Paper itself may not be very expensive, but the costs add up as you factor in storage, copying, printing and postage. When people are finished using paper, you must also spend money to dispose or recycle it. Studies estimate that associated paper costs such as these total to roughly 30 times the actual purchasing cost.
The Bank of America reduced its paper consumption by one-fourth by merging to digital for forms and reporting, by copying and printing on double-sided paper and by using lighter-weight paper. By digitizing, businesses are also able to free up space that would otherwise be used for filing cabinets and storage and save time that employees would typically be spending on searching for documents.
There will continue to be situations where paper is the best option, but for those looking to reduce spending, the switch to digital could pave the way to a greener future, save businesses money, as well as free up space and time in the office which translates into saving money as well.
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The Cost of Paper
Many companies have switched to digital, opting for e-billing, apps, mobile forms, and similar solutions to run their businesses. Why are they making the switch?
The top two reasons are to: reduce Costs and be more environmentally friendly.
PAPER COSTS IN AN OFFICE
Paper costs involve more than the purchase cost of the paper. Recycling, storage, and other associated costs are around 30X the paper purchase costs.
- $20 – Average spent on filing each month.
- $1.500 – Average filing cabinet costs each year.
- 9 sq. ft. – Area of space a filing cabinet takes up.
In addition to monetary savings, reducing paper consumption at an office can:
- Improve productivity
- Increase efficiency
According to research, 35 percent of an employee’s time at
work is time spent locating information and documents. By having documents in a central place and digitizing, time can be cut down.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
- 18 Million forecasted acres lost each year
- 60 percent of timber is harvested for paper and pulp each year.
INDUSTRIES GOING PAPERLESS
According to Canvas, a tech-based company that provides mobile apps and forms for data collection and sharing, the top industries going paperless are:
- Construction
- Repair and Improvement
- Transportation and Warehousing
- Retail, Sales, and Wholesale Distribution
- Repair and Maintenance
- Professional Service
Top Departments that use GoCanvas: Operations 62%, Sales 25%, Safety 27%.
Most used types of Apps & Forms: Work Orders 35%, Inspections 54%, Checklist 43%.
THE FUTURE OF PAPER
“Personal printing, such as printing out boarding tickets
or directions, is on a downward trend, but commercial
printing is maintaining its pace.”
The switch may be taking longer to catch on than anticipated but companies are very much interested in digitizing and the popularity of digitizing is predicted to continue to increase.
“While some businesses have moved away from the use of paper, sectors like education, government, and health care remain extremely paper-intensive.”
Many organizations have experienced firsthand the benefits of digitizing and have accepted a new mindset of using digital means day-to-day for what they were previously using paper for. There continues to be a strong interest in organizations to replace paper records.