Think Your Printing Is Efficient? A Print Audit Says Otherwise

You work hard to control costs and keep teams productive. Printing often feels like a minor detail. Toner gets ordered, devices hum along and pages come out on time. Yet many organisations run print environments that hide waste, risk and avoidable delays. The simplest way to find out what is really going on is a print audit. It shines a light on how much you print, where it happens, why it happens and what it costs in money, time and carbon. Most of all, it gives you a clear plan to fix what is not working.

What is a Print Audit

A print audit is a structured review of your entire print environment. It captures device inventories, page volumes, usage by team, job types, security posture and running costs. We combine live data with quick interviews so we can see the full picture. You get simple recommendations that align to your budget and service goals.

You can call it a health check if you like. The aim is the same. We uncover facts you can act on, then we help you deliver those gains without disruption. A print audit brings clarity to an area that often grows without central control.

Signs Your Printing is Not as Efficient as You Think

If any of these feel familiar, your organisation will benefit from a print audit.

• Toner orders arrive in bursts because devices run dry with little warning
• Users walk to distant printers to collect jobs and lose time in the process
• Colour usage creeps up even when black and white would be fine
• Confidential pages sit on output trays
• Invoices, picks, labels or letters misprint and need rework
• IT spends time fixing driver issues and jam-prone devices
• You pay for devices that no one uses because they sit in quiet corners

You do not need to guess. A short discovery uncovers where waste and risk sit today. A print audit turns assumptions into measurements.

What a Print Audit Covers

A thorough print audit answers clear questions that tie back to cost, control and service.

1. Devices and locations
   We map every device. Make. Model. Age. Duty cycle. Meter readings. Location by floor and room. That shows gaps and clusters that drive cost and inconvenience
2. Volumes and job types
   We look at who prints what. Simple pages. Labels. Reports. Booklets. Large format. We separate colour from mono and A4 from A3. We track peaks and troughs so your fleet match’s demand
3. Costs
   We calculate cost per page by device. We include consumables, service contracts, energy and waste. We show the true total, not just the headline toner price
4. Quality and rework
   We document misprints, reprints and returns to print. We check driver defaults and template quality. You see where jobs go wrong and why.
5. Security and compliance
   We check pull printing, authentication and job release. We review storage of print files and shredding routines. That keeps sensitive data away from uncontrolled trays.
6. Sustainability
   We translate volumes into paper, energy and carbon. We highlight steps that cut environmental impact without slowing work.

The Simple Business Case You Can Take to Your Board

Leaders approve changes when the numbers add up. Your print audit provides those numbers with conservative assumptions so you can act with confidence.

Try this quick model and adjust it with your own data.

• Pages per month across all sites: 500,000
• Average cost per mono page across your fleet: 3.0p
• Average cost per colour page: 9.0p
• Share of colour pages: 30%
• Reprint rate due to jams, errors or misfeeds: 3%
• Time to collect and release each job on a mixed fleet: 45 seconds

Now apply typical changes that audits often support.

• Reduce colour share by 5 percentage points through default rules
• Cut reprints to 1% by fixing drivers and retiring poor devices
• Trim volumes by 10% through follow me release and better templates
• Save 15 seconds per job through better device placement and queue design

For a typical month this model delivers five to six figures in annualised savings once you include energy and service reductions. Your print audit replaces guesswork with your actual volumes, your device rates and your team’s working patterns. That way the case is solid and the returns are measurable.

Why Most Teams Leave Money on the Table

Printing grows organically. New teams arrive. Projects start. Someone adds a low cost device to get through a peak. No one owns the full view, so small inefficiencies multiply. Without a print audit you miss:

• Old contracts that charge high rates per page
• Desk printers that drain expensive cartridges
• Colour defaults when black and white would do the job
• Devices placed for convenience years ago that no longer match how teams work
• Outdated templates that force extra pages and manual edits

None of these are hard to fix. You just need facts and a plan. A print audit supplies both.

Quick Wins That Follow a Print Audit

Most organisations can act within days. Here are changes that tend to land fast.

• Default to mono and two sided for standard queues. You still allow colour where the job needs it
• Enable secure release so uncollected jobs auto delete and sensitive pages do not linger
• Retire high cost desk printers and move volume to efficient shared devices
• Fix driver defaults and templates to remove banner pages and forced blank sheets
• Rebalance the fleet so people reach a device in under 30 seconds on busy floors
• Standardise consumables to simplify purchasing and reduce waste

A first wave like this can fund further improvements. Your print audit will show which steps return the most in your environment.

How a Print Audit Improves User Experience

The aim is not only to cut cost. It is to make printing simple and dependable.

• Users send a job and collect it from any nearby device with a quick tap
• Queues are clear and jobs release in seconds
• Colour and finishing are available where teams truly need them
• Service calls drop because devices match duty cycles
• Staff spend less time hunting for printers and more time on the work that matters

Happy users stick with new habits. That supports long term savings.

Security and Governance Without the Hassle

Printing touches sensitive information. HR letters. Finance reports. Client records. A print audit checks how jobs travel from laptop to device. We look at authentication, encryption, job storage and disposal. We design simple rules for who can print what and where. You gain traceability by user and job type. You also reduce exposure from uncollected output. Strong controls do not need to slow the day. Good design keeps them almost invisible for the user.

Sustainability You Can Measure

Boards expect progress on carbon and waste. Printing provides a visible win. Your print audit converts volumes into paper and energy. It shows the impact of duplex defaults, reprint reduction and right sizing the fleet. You can track those gains each month. It is practical sustainability you can stand behind, not just a slogan.

Your Next Step

If you suspect waste in your print environment, you are probably right. A print audit will confirm it and show you how to fix it without fuss. Start with one site or one division if that feels easier. Gather last quarter’s volumes, bring your current contracts and give us a call. We will agree scope, capture the facts and share a plan that saves time, money and stress.

You do not have to carry the pressure alone. CDP is here to help you run printing that is reliable, secure and cost effective. Book your print audit today and turn hidden costs into measurable gains.