With every step that we take towards a digitalized world, we think of a paperless environment around us. From education to corporate culture and beyond, the printing industry has been central to our development. But, with advancements in technology, a significant part of this industry is replaced by digital media. Whether it is educational material like textbooks or office documents like contracts, letters, proposals, and other business stationery –digital printing has set its footprints in the market.
Are WE ready to immerse fully into the world of paperless printing? – Read below Office Printing Statistics
But, in the future, entirely paperless? Are WE ready to immerse fully into the world of paperless printing?
Absolutely no.
Office print is expected to be at the core of business transformation by 2025, and that too is paper-lite and not paperless. Be it your internal processes or external limitations that require paperwork. Business printing can never be a thing of the past. However, with time, the process has become more intelligent and will continue evolving to make business printing more economical, waste less, and environmental-friendly.
Now, the question is – how many of us have joined hands with this evolution and started implementing the new processes? Well, not all of us. Considering the numbers that we have gathered from our research – we think there’s still a gap to be bridged between businesses and paper-lite office printing.
For your reference, we have compiled some Industry printing stats here.
Shocking Office Printing Stats to Know in 2021
The following office printing statistics show some unprecedented figures that indicate how fast we are drowning in a paper dump.
- A survey by Quocirca uncovered a generational twist concerning the importance of print in a business environment.
More than 70% of 18-34-year-olds and IT decision-makers think office print is essential today and will continue to be important in 2025. On the contrary, 82% of IT decision-makers aged 45-54 believe in the importance of print today, but 54% of them doubt its essence in 2021
- Following is the Government Printing Office (GPO) workforce composition under the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
| Name | Total | Men | Women | Asian | Individuals with Disabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Workforce | 2,281 | 58.48% | 41.52% | 2.50% | 1.40% |
| MISC PRINTING & REPRODUCT | 271 | 60.15% | 39.85% | 0.37% | 0.74% |
| Printing Services | 245 | 53.06% | 46.94% | 1.63% | 0.41% |
- The revenue in the US printing industry was expected to decrease by 14.4% in 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decreased demand for printing was expected to continue over the next five years, even when the pandemic was allegedly about to pass in 2021. The decline in the print industry is due to the rise of eCommerce and digital marketing worldwide.
- The market size of the printing industry in the US is expected to decline -1.9% in US.
When the clients asked about the industry’s growth rate, we measured the market size in 2021 as $68.7bn by revenue. Organizations also reported that the market size has declined between 2016 and 2021 at a rate of 4.5% per year. The decline in the printing industry was faster than the overall economy of the US.
- The printing industry is the 151st largest industry in the US.
It is also the 15th Manufacturing industry by rank when measured by market size. There’s indeed a high competition in the industry but a declining lifecycle stage that negatively impacts it. For steady growth and increased revenue, the printing industry needs a hike in the demands for magazines, newspapers, book publishers, and databases.
- An average employee or worker prints 10,000 pages in a year.
This typically amounts to 27 pages every day. 17% of these papers are not used at all. Additionally, 10,000 printed pages a year amount to 725 dollars as employee printing costs. Hence, by eliminating this wasteful printing and employing an intelligent print management solution in your office, you can quickly reduce your operational costs.
- The third biggest business expense after rent and payroll (and other business utilities) is printing.
Printing cost consumes 1 to 3 percent of a company’s total revenue and leads to a significant increase in the business operating costs. Moreover, document and print-related inefficiencies eat up 14% of business revenue. These document costs (adding 5% to 15% of the expenses) represent a dire need for office managers’ effective print management.
- 65% of the documents are not used the same day they are printed.
These documents are either thrown away or recycled to fulfill some other purposes. That said, 7.5% of the documents can’t find their way in the document storage, and 3% of all the papers are misplaced in files.
- Broken document processes have led to severe business risks and compliance issues.
Low document management processes have caused businesses to experience unforeseen losses, as reported by 3 out of 4 companies in their surveys. These losses take the form of lost business reputation, revenues, and lawsuits, and waste. Hence, businesses need to understand and create strict regulations and compliance policies while ensuring the entire company adheres to the rules.
- A full-time employee spends more than 20 minutes on average, searching for a document in the office.
Besides, every dollar spent on print results in an extra expense of $9 to manage the document lifecycle. The average time and budget dedicated to looking for misplaced documents can be reduced by adequate document storage and employing the office’s best print management practices.
- The companies completely ignore 40% of printing costs, and two-thirds of these companies never track these costs.
They have no idea that 40% of their budget is spent and wasted on print. Further, 9 out of 10 North American companies don’t give heed to their annual expenditure on print costs, including printers, printer consumables, printing equipment, copier, cartridge, to name a few, and the time on printing.
- 90% of companies have no idea how many printers do they have in their office.
Not knowing printing costs is one thing, but being completely unaware of the printing equipment or printer count in the office is a big concern. Further, 37-41% of print-related expenses are not approved formally. That means the organization’s print strategy lacks formality regarding spending on printer consumables, including small printers. These statistics are irrespective of the business size that indicate how wasteful print has become these days.
- 50% of all the help desk calls are related to print and its services.
These calls take 15% of the help desk time in a company. Most of the concerns are related to technical support for machine issues, paper jams, faulty prints and scans, print management, software failures, and more. In-house IT staffers are equipped with small print related needs the whole day while affecting your overall IT strategy in the company. Also, it has a direct impact on your company’s payroll.
- The amount of paper used in printing increase by 21 per cent every year.
In an age where we worship technology at its best, papers’ usage must decrease with every new step we take towards digitalization. But the printing industry is experiencing a completely different scenario. The number of documents used in print is growing exceptionally.
- 100 pounds is the annual amount of waste generated by laser printers.
At a glance, the quantity of 100 pounds seems enormous in itself, and it indicates the amount of wasteful printing being experienced by companies using laser printers. Don’t you think waste management is the need of the hour? At one place, when companies are trying to save money, landfills are eating up all of that.
- 10-30% of potential savings are missed while ignoring printing costs.
The Gartner Group has noticed a potential increase in savings up to 30% if companies concentrate on their financial waste and adopt print management solutions to reduce the waste generated by print.
- Every one copy now requires four prints.
Earlier in the 1990s, your office copier was enough to produce 80-90% of print in the form of output, that too, at a meager cost per page. With the advent of desktop printers, the volume of printed documents increased along with an increase in the cost per page. The prices are inclusive of the toner coverage.
- Gap Intelligence reports 60,000+ different supplies part numbers in the market.
These part numbers are available with device associations and range from laser printers to inkjet devices. That said, small business owners spend most of their time managing printer consumables.
- Xerox manages 2 billion impressions every month across the globe, both directly and through partners.
Half of the impressions are made on non-Xerox devices. Also, Southern Solutions have recorded 900 black and 400 color impressions every month on an average on their low-end devices. The number is 500 on black and white desktop printers.
- Managed Print Services (MPS) can reduce a company’s operating costs by 30%.
Finally, there’s something that can improve an organization’s print strategy and reduce the waste produced by printers and related products. Outsourcing print management solutions to an MPS partner can help you reorganize and redevelop your print processes while saving 30% of your budget. The list of reduced costs is compiled from:
- 25-60% reduction in hardware costs
- 10-15% reduction in the output waste
- 30% and 20% reduction in energy and toner consumption, respectively.
Adding up the amount leads to overall savings in your revenue. Supplier agreements provide highly-qualified technical staff to troubleshoot issues, offer software maintenance, and prevent unforeseen downtime of your printing equipment.
The Bottom Line of Office Print Stats
The printing industry is not going anywhere. Neither the use of print and documents is declining in the near future. The only thing that needs transformation is the approach towards print and printer consumables. Companies need to managed print services to overcome increased operating costs and reduce the dent in their budget due to ineffective printing practices. The shocking statistics mentioned in the post are a red signal to your current print strategies if a revenue loss is bothering you.
A smart and intelligent print management solution is the only gateway to reduced expenditure and effectiveness in an organization’s overall print strategy. After all, by 2025, we will seamlessly integrate office print into your business with some of the best automation tools.
