Feb
The take-up of the iPad in the office is bringing positive changes to the green footprint of the corporate world, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley. The survey results suggest tablet use, and especially use of Apple’s iPad, is reducing the amount of printing in companies.
So instead of, say, printing a reference manual for a project or a series of briefing notes for attendees at a meeting, or even color brochures for sales executives, companies disseminating information to employees are relying more and more on tablet software.
Admittedly screens are a bit smaller than the standard A4 printed size, but full color functionality is available at no extra cost and battery life is good enough on premium tablets to last a full working day. In addition, information can be updated and modified via software to avoid a second print run, and hefty documents spanning hundreds of pages can be sent to employees on the other side of the world at virtually no cost. Search functionality is also a great deal easier thanks to integrated tools available on most document formats.
Morgan Stanley conducted a survey of 700 tablet users to examine printing practices and found that 46% of respondents said they now printed less since adopting the tablet as a work tool. It seems the effects of the tablet are yet to be fully felt in stationery departments, though – only 13% considered that they now printed 16% less.
Obviously less paper and ink is being used, so companies’ efficiency is improving, but it’s important to remember that right now the workplace tablet revolution is only in its infancy; the majority of companies using the tablet as a standard tool are still only doing so in pilot projects as they explore the capabilities and applicability of tablets to their particular workflow. On the downside, print manufacturers and the pulp and paper mill industries might end up the way of coopers and thatchers – ultra-costly niche services.
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