What’s the Deal with Copy Paper?

An Article That is Worth the Paper It’s Printed on…

Even in today’s digital world, most businesses go through a lot of paper. As you might expect, paper is the number one most price sensitive category in office supplies.

The so-called paperless office has yet to arrive, and it’s hard to believe that it ever will. So, no surprise then; a lot of businesses focus on how much they spend on paper. As a result almost all office supplies companies shout about their big splashy deals on copier and printer paper reams.

Why does this matter?

Chances are that your business spends quite a bit of money on paper. If your team is ‘on it’ it’s likely that they will be able to sniff out some (seemingly) good deals on paper for you.

But there may be a catch:

Paper pulp is a commodity which means there is a ‘bottom dollar’ price below which your suppliers cannot sell paper without losing money. Ergo, if your supplier wants to keep advertising big ‘discount’ deals on paper reams they might be promoting something of a lower quality in order to hit a price point.

In most cases there is nothing underhand going on – they will be honest about what they are trying to sell to you… but it’s important that you know what you are buying.

You might be happy with lower quality paper for some internal documents. But not for everything. And what happens if the paper doesn’t go through your printers properly?

But hang on. How confusing can it be? It’s only paper, right?

Well, yes. Fair comment. It’s not exactly brain surgery. However, let’s not be too dismissive. Paper comes in a lot of different forms. And having a little knowledge is not always enough. It’s not just a case of thinking “I know I want 80gsm A4 printer paper because that is what I have always used”.

Depending on other characteristics of the paper, you might find a 75gsm paper that goes through your printer and looks better in your presentation folder than the 80gsm you have been buying.

Here’s the bottom line:

To make life simple we thought we would produce this FREE guide to the basics of paper.

So, let’s have a quick rundown of different characteristics and types of paper, their qualities and benefits, and break through a bit of the needlessly confusing jargon so it’s easy for you choose the right type of paper for your business needs and your printer.

Five points to paper perfection - Coating, Opacity, Weight, Smoothness and Brightness:

A lot of people know that ‘weight’ is a thing to consider, just like the example above where we talked about ‘80gsm’ vs ‘75gsm’ paper. However, weight is just one of five key characteristics that can make a sheet of paper ideal for one job and completely unsuitable for the next. So, let’s look at what Coating, Opacity, Weight, Smoothness and Brightness might mean for your printer and your print jobs.

Coating:

Printer papers have different surface coatings. Most commonly there are matte, dull, or smooth. Smooth surfaces are most commonly used to create a glossy effect – ideal for printing images or photography.

Opacity:

What is opacity? Very simply, if something is opaque, you cannot see through it.

So, the greater the opacity of the paper, the less see-through it is. The opacity of a sheet of printer paper indicates how much the print will show through on the opposite side. Heavier weight papers often have greater opacity than lighter weight papers. So weight is an important factor, however it’s not always the only factor, so opacity is measured separately on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 representing transparent sheets and 100 representing completely opaque sheets.

Weight:

Although it might be hard to discern manually unless you are a real paper geek, printer paper comes in a range of weights. The weight results from the thickness of each individual sheet. Paper weights are quoted as grams per square metre (gsm).

As a rough guide to help you relate to what different paper weights mean, a book cover board would be something like 200gsm or over, whilst paper with simple text printed on it might range from 50gsm (a lightweight paper from a cheap paperback novel) to 170gsm (heavy paper that you might see in a top quality magazine or brochure).

For the paper you typically might buy for your printer or copier the weight will be indicated on the printer paper’s packaging. The weight of the paper is often the key factor in determining whether it is suitable for the job it is intended for. For example

·       75gsm bond paper – ideal for everyday print and copy tasks.

·       90gsm mid-weight paper – provides crisper images, would be ideal for important documents and also for double-sided printing.

·       150gsm poster paper – deal for signs, flyers and promotional prints.

The thicker the paper weight, the more durable it is. However, thicker paper goes through printers at a slower rate.

Smoothness:

Different printer types can benefit from different levels of printer paper smoothness. Laser printers have a thing called a ‘fuser’ in them. This is basically like an ‘oven’ inside the printer that ‘bakes’ the toner powder onto the page (that’s why pages are always hot when they come out of your laser printer). Laser printers often require smoother paper to produce the best results. Meanwhile inkjet printers mostly use water based inks, and they can benefit from textured papers, which are better suited to absorbing the ink.

Brightness:

You might be thinking, “I just want white printer paper. Surely that’s not difficult?”

Well, you’re right of course. But, although the vast majority of printer paper sheets come in a white tone, they are spread across a scale of brightness levels. This is usually labelled on the printer paper packaging, with the ‘brightness’ given a numerical value. In simple terms, higher numbers provide sharper images. The brighter the paper, the better a print will look. Most printer papers range between 80 and 100 on the brightness scale.

Worth thinking about for your documents – make sure you are showing them off to the best effect!

How can you actually use this?

In practical terms, it’s helpful to know what to look for on the packaging of different printer and copier paper reams, and also on the website of your chosen office supplies and stationery supplier.

Most often you will see paper listed by ‘type’ or its intended purpose. It’s not always quite as straightforward as finding something that has ‘Printing Paper – A4’ written on it but if you understand the qualities and features of paper, like the characteristics listed in the quick guide above, you will hopefully find it easy to select the perfect sheet for your current print job.

For example:

·       Inkjet paper – as you would expect, this is designed to work with inkjet printers… but there are lots of types of jobs you might use an inkjet printer for, so inkjet paper refers to photo paper, glossy paper, business card paper and greeting card paper, all of which have the qualities to go through inkjet printers… but not all of which are the same.

·       Laser paper - laser printers can benefit from specially designed laser paper (remember what we said about ‘smoothness’ above?)

·       Matte paper – this is most commonly used for everyday printing tasks like document printing. A matte paper has a white coating which allows the ink to dry quickly, so it’s good for document printing on an inkjet printer. The quick drying times reduce the risk of smudged or blurred images and text, but beware… images are often not as sharp as when printed on other, glossier, types of paper. If your document has a lot of images in it you may want to avoid a matte paper.

·         Glossy paper - this is traditionally used when printing documents with lots of images, or photographs, due to its ability to produce sharp, vibrant images. The glossy surface accurately absorbs the ink, creating images of high clarity and accuracy. However, a point to be aware of is that ink can be smudged or blurred with fingerprints. Glossy paper sheets can stick together and may even stick to other surfaces.

·       Photo paper – a heavy-weight glossy paper, photo paper is designed primarily for printing photography. Available in a range of different sizes and weights, photo paper has a glossy finish and a specially-designed texture which allows ink to dry quickly, producing high clarity prints. This is usually quite pricey, but it’s designed to produce good results for a very specific purpose.

·       Bright White Paper – with a smooth, non-textured, surface bright white paper is often ideal for double sided printing. The brightness of the paper ensures that both sides of the paper are printed on without the print affecting the other side. Obviously, this does require your printer to have a ‘duplex’ function (a function allowing double-sided printing).

·       Card stock – typically used to print business cards and post cards, card stock paper is significantly thicker than other types of printer paper. It is strong and sturdy but goes through printers slowly (and some printers cannot take it at all).

Finally, Size Matters:

Size is the final, and in many respects most important, factor when selecting the correct reams for your printer and the jobs you are looking to complete.

Here is a short guide to paper sizes and the jobs for which they are most commonly used.

·       A4 - 210mm x 297mm – everyday letters, files and documents.

·       A3 - 297mm x 420mm – twice the size of A4. Often used for small posters, print outs of spreadsheets or larger, more complex, documents.

·       SRA3 - 320mm x 450mm – slightly over the size of A3 allowing room for ‘bleed’ and trimming.

Looking at the internationally recognised ‘A’ paper sizes, a simple way of understanding them is to think of a sheet of A4 as the most standard document size. If the ‘A’ number is higher than 4, the paper will be smaller than A4. If the A number is lower than 4, the paper will be bigger than A4.

So, A5 is half the size of A4, and A3 is double the size of A4.

International A paper sizes
	Millimeters	Inches
A0	841 × 1189	33.1 × 46.8
A1	594 × 841	23.4 × 33.1
A2	420 × 594	16.5 × 23.4
A3	297 × 420	11.7 × 16.5
A4	210 × 297	8.3 × 11.7
A5	148 × 210	5.8 × 8.3
A6	105 × 148	4.1 × 5.8
A7	74 × 105	2.9 × 4.1
A8	52 × 74	2.0 × 2.9
A9	37 × 52	1.5 × 2.0
A10	26 × 37	1.0 × 1.5

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

Managing Your Print Costs Effectively

Could Managed Print Services Save Your Business 30% on Printing Costs, and Give You a Greener Footprint?

You may have heard of Managed Print Services (MPS). They are a sophisticated way of making sure your business does not pay more than it should for what it prints.

MPS solutions are based around a ‘pence per page’ subscription model and software monitoring the energy consumption of the printers you have on your network.

MPS solutions come in all shapes and sizes, and it is very likely that there will be a Managed Print Services solution that is fit for your business – no matter how big or small you might be.

89% of SMEs in the UK have fewer than nine employees, and they have an average of 1.4 printers on their network. There are MPS solutions that can work to save money and environmental impact even for these small businesses.

Most of the larger printer providers (such as Xerox, Kyocera, Brother, Epson, HP and so on) offer some sort of MPS solution, with some of them (notably Brother and Epson) specifically tailoring solutions for even the smallest SME.

The aim is simple – to give you control and visibility of what your business is printing, to improve your environmental sustainability, and to enhance your document security.

Whilst MPS is not just for big business, bigger companies can certainly get huge benefits from it. When you look at your total print costs (the total cost of managing your printers, their output and the people and processes that support your entire print ‘fleet’) it can make up a very significant chunk of your total office supplies spend – often around 15% of your total expenditure.

If you think that’s an over-estimate, start to work it through as a rough approximation in your mind, and factor in:

·       The physical pages printed by office workers, mobile workers or production print operations;

·       The cost of running the desktop printers, multifunction printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines (yes, some people still have them) and high-volume printers;

·       The materials you are outsourcing for quick print jobs, mailing, distribution etc.;

·       The cost in IT resource (tech support, installations, move and change requests); and, the biggest factor of the lot,

·       Ink and toner consumables.

You can see how the cost soon mounts up.

How does it work?

For any credible MPS solution, a piece of software will be loaded on to your network to assess and audit your current print ‘fleet’ (your print ‘fleet’ is comprised of the printers you have on your network). The software will produce a report showing the current levels of usage and energy consumption from the printers you already have, regardless of what brand they are.

Most solutions will provide you with a suggested roadmap to reduce the number and types of printing devices you have, and optimise your supply of consumables, whilst meeting the needs of your business. This will help you to make informed decisions about whether the printers you currently have are working efficiently for your business.

The subscription model is set up based on a forecast of your likely toner or ink consumption and, instead of buying toner and ink cartridges on an ad hoc basis, fresh cartridges will be ordered automatically for you by the software on your system.

The bottom line:

You never run out of ink or toner, and you never have more than you need.

You reduce your environmental footprint – less paper, less energy consumption, and less waste.

Rather than just paying (often a lot of money) for cartridges whenever you run out, you simply pay for what you have used on a ‘pence per page’ basis which is calculated over the life of a contract – typically three or five years – which can save you as much as 30% on your printing costs.

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.

To find out more, click here

Managing Your Office Supplies Spend - a Simple Check List

There Are a Lot of Office Necessities, But Are You Wasting Money on Your Office Supplies?

Whether it’s stationery, furniture, office machines, paper, accessories or just the tea and coffee in your office kitchen, it can be hard to keep track of all the supplies you need to keep your office going.

This stuff is as basic to your office as lighting, heating and having air to breathe, so it can be hard to keep an eye what your business is spending.

Why does this matter? It’s only a few pens and pencils, right?

Not necessarily – like a lot of businesses, you could be spending far more than you need to. Precisely because many businesses don’t see office supplies a significant overhead, they don’t regulate their spending particularly closely. Office supplies can easily become a big hidden cost in your business.

If employees want to order in a few extra toner cartridges, so be it. An extra tin of coffee or two for the kitchen? Where’s the harm in that? If the warehouse manager wants to keep a stock of health & safety notices ‘just in case’ they are needed, what’s the problem?

Well, the problem is, it soon mounts up.

What’s the real story?

Tracking and managing office supplies might seem to be a challenge, but only because it’s one of those things that tends to get forgotten about in a lot of businesses. The good news is, it is reasonably easy to get a grip of the expenditure. Like a lot of things in life, it’s a matter of applying common sense.

Just run through the checklist of ten simple questions below:

1.       What items do I need to keep in stock at all times? (What are the basic requirements that I need to have to ‘keep the trains running on time’?)

2.       How much of each item should we keep in stock?

3.       Which department or person is requesting this item, and how much do they need?

4.       What is the purpose for the request? (Think about the example above of the warehouse manager ordering H&S signs ‘just in case’).

5.       What is the urgency?

6.       How reliable is the supplier?

7.       Have we benchmarked the costs?

8.       Can I get this on a next day delivery if it becomes urgent?

9.       Have I received it and, if so, when?

10.   Was it out of stock, do I need to reorder it, is there a reasonable substitute that will do the job, or can I go without?

The bottom line:

Getting started on the questions above might seem difficult. How do you even answer question one?

After all, as we said earlier, ‘Office Supplies’ is a broad church covering almost everything you use on a daily basis in your business. From wastebaskets and filing cabinets, through kitchen and janitorial supplies, to paper, pens and pencils; almost all of the stuff you need to keep your business running comes under the heading of ‘Office Supplies’.

But if you compile a simple office supply checklist (and keep reading, because we have got something FREE that can help get you started), you can track what your business is buying, and start to see trends of how often items are being ordered.

When you have done that, you can start to drill into the information and use it to manage your capital spend and your stockholding more effectively.

·       Are you seeing waste?

·       Could you even have a theft problem?

·       Are you stocking the right amounts? You may have too much of some items and not enough of others.

You can track whether you are receiving all the items you order. You can identify if you are having a problem with your supplier, including seeing how long it takes for an order to arrive. Then you can start to buy smarter – for example, if your supplier can get stock to you quickly and efficiently, do you need to keep as much in stock? You may want to reduce your stock holding on some items, unless there is a cost advantage to ordering in bulk.

Here’s the deal:

To get you started Office Prime Supplies have produced a FREE officesupply checklist in a simple adaptable template. The link takes you to the document which you can download in Excel; a nice, clear, easily adjustable, and printable format. It’s ready populated with 440 commonly-ordered products.

Okay, it’s not rocket science, but it helps to get you going. The Excel document is only an example. It’s intended to be a useful base that you can build upon so adapt it or come up with your own. Just download it and edit it for your business’ specific needs.

Other things to consider:

You may want a manager’s signature for approval and date line at the top or the bottom of the final form if management approval is part of your process (and if it isn’t, maybe it should be?)

Of course, if you open an account with Office Prime Supplies we can help you with this.

Our simple, secure online account ordering structure allows you to set user access privileges for your employees. You can give some people in your organisation the ability to create an order, but not the authority to place that order. Very simply, the order will go to you or to a user you appoint (like a buyer or someone in your finance team) to be authorised before it is submitted to us as your supplier.

Thanks for reading, and if you think that this information will be of use to someone else you know, please don’t hesitate to share it.