For anyone who is a print house manager, their facility impacts countless people.
It’s a location that supports print needs for personal and professional purposes. Since these print needs can support major projects and entire companies, the facility’s effect is far reaching in nature.
But it’s not just about the output a print house produces. As productive and efficient as they may be, there’s also another matter to consider – sustainability. Especially since they handle tons of print processes on a regular basis, their efforts can be massive on the environment.
For anyone who runs an operation like this, there are many ways to pursue sustainability goals.
Print Sustainability Strategies to Improve Print House Operations
Print houses usually keep their hardware running hot, and produce hundreds or even thousands of sheets per day. Some operations can handle individual jobs that account for that level of volume alone. When a business is this busy, the environmental impact is sizable – but here are five ways to reduce it.
1. Use Remanufactured Cartridges
The rise of remanufactured ink cartridges is changing the print world. Essentially, these cartridges represent recycled materials that are cleaned, checked for damage, then refilled and placed back on the market for sale.
Since cartridges are some of the most common costs that a print operation will have, going with remanufactured options can greatly reduce spending. And since these are made from refashioned materials, they allow a facility to drastically reduce their environmental impact.
Rather than sending old cartridges to a landfill, a print facility can use them continuously to power their fleet for months, years, or even decades.
2. Consider More Sustainable Ink
While a remanufactured cartridge is a smart solution for reducing plastic waste, it’s not just all about the cartridge itself – the ink that powers it will also play a role in various aspects of print operations.
Of course, ink quality can directly impact image quality. This, in turn, can help a print facility gain a reputation for crisp products, which is one of the qualities that customers look for the most. But ink quality can also be a major factor in sustainability progress.
When a print operation combines remanufactured cartridges with sustainable ink, they create the ultimate fuel source to power their environmental efforts.
3. Use Recycled Paper
Continuing on the subject of sustainable supplies, there’s always the topic of paper when it comes to print houses and print fleets in general. The impact paper production has on forests makes print hardware a chief target in sustainability conversations.
Recycled paper is a great solution, and the best part is that it can be just as capable of producing high-quality images. From standard sheets to modified options with gloss and other features for more detailed production prints, recycled paper is just as capable as its traditional alternative.
Thankfully for the forests of the world and the global population that depends on them, paper recycling processes are becoming the norm rather than an alternative.
4. Conserve Energy Usage
When a facility keeps printers running hot, it’s highly valuable for them to consider what type of supplies they use and how much waste said supplies produce or how many resources they consume altogether.
But there’s another matter to consider at a facility of this type. Print fleets can be energy hogs, as they require a tremendous amount of power to run with precision and accuracy – especially on a continuous basis.
Companies can invest in energy monitoring, low-energy mode print hardware, and other similar options to keep their overall energy appetite in check.
5. Implement Managed Print Services
If there’s one way to tie all of these energy-saving options together in a neat and sustainable package, it’s managed print services.
Since print fleets are such complex ecosystems of hardware and processes, more companies are turning to managed services to run them. For print houses where printing is their primary process, this is an easy solution to improve operations overall.
Managed print makes it easy to monitor supply and energy usage, while also controlling issues like security threats, preventive maintenance needs, software updates, and more.
Need a Print Partner to Support Your Print House?
Print houses have a lot of concerns when it comes to keeping business running smoothly and reaching their sustainability goals.
The good news is that you don’t have to choose between the two – you can have both. The great news is you don’t have to handle these needs alone. With Doing Better Business as your print partner, success and sustainability go hand in hand.
We’re a print expert that offers high-quality hardware and managed services to support even the busiest print environments. Contact us today to get started optimizing your facility toward greater efficiency.