Sharp’s New Printer Technology Provides Businesses Simple Way to Reduce Cost

• New Eco-Driver for Multi-Function Printers encourages employees to adopt eco-friendly print practices
• Simple print settings can easily provide paper savings of around 67% or more 

Sharp has introduced the first version of its new Eco-Driver for its Multi-Function Printers (MFPs) in the Middle East and Africa region. The printer driver informs users of their ‘eco-balance’ – their environmental impact associated with printing – helping businesses to reduce costs by saving paper and printer resources while boosting their eco-friendly initiatives.

The tool can form an integral part of an office’s best practice print policy, aiding users to save huge amounts of paper by selecting smart printing options. These allow multi page documents to be printed duplex, or even layout four pages on one side, all with a simple selection on the user friendly interface. Large paper savings can be made easily using these options, such as a three page document printed in duplex and 2-pages-on-1-side layout will achieve a paper saving of 67%.

The Eco-Driver prompts the user to select environmentally friendly settings at every print, always giving them the option to save paper by a pop-up window. The driver also reminds the user of the current amount of paper they have saved through a graphic, so the employee’s ‘eco-balance’ can be monitored.

“Companies are looking for smart ways to help become greener and save money at the same time, and paper consumption is one area that can impact on both,” says Shaun Andrews, Business Development Manager, Sharp South Africa.

“The Eco-Driver tool is an ideal way for businesses to get their staff to monitor paper usage and to begin cutting costs. It gives a tangible, visual way of seeing how much paper has been saved by using particular settings, and will allow employees to see the positive resource saving effect they’re having in their office. This promotes green thinking and being conscious of the cost of using consumables,” he adds.

The simple Eco-Driver also frees the need to configure complicated driver settings, making the set up and integration of Sharp’s latest Eco-Driver equipped Multi-Function Printers (MFPs) easy and less time consuming for company IT specialists.

An additional feature is the option the driver gives to select colour or black and white printing before each print job, saving on colour toner usage when full colour printing is not required.

“All users of printing solutions, from schools to hospitals and corporate entities to government departments can take advantage of eco-friendly tools such as Eco-Driver, seeing a reduction in costs and improvement in the economy of their paper usage while establishing a best practice print policy,” concludes Andrews.