Waste Busters! Tech tools to kill inefficiency

JBDC Business Dialogue

Regardless of the size of the business, waste can ravage the bottom line.   And waste can take many forms, weather it is the unnecessary late fees because the bearer paid the utilities bills late, or the ballooning stationary costs because of repeated print jams or the astronomical power bill because older equipment is burning electricity, poor waste management can break a business.

Fortunately, technology offers many specific tools to address the most common inefficiencies in the work place.

[Problem: Inefficiency | Solution: Technology | Area: Communications | Tool: VoIP]

Business operates on the back of clear and timely communication.  The team in the office or factory has to talk to the suppliers; the sales agents in the field have to be in touch with clients.  All the back and forth can prove costly.

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a robust yet cost effective option whether your business is a small shop or a regional operation.  The cloud based communication system is often offered on contract to remove capital costs.  Handsets can be rented or returned as needed thereby reducing waste.  Additionally, handsets can be upgraded to the latest models without purchase.

Once installed, the value of basic features like hold, transfer, forwarding, caller ID, conference calling and voicemail, pale in comparison to powerful features like: being able to use the same number and/or extension anywhere in the world once there is a reliable internet connection.  Dynamic features like integrated voice and video teleconferencing, flat rate international dialling, free on network calling and advanced voicemail further boost productivity.

[Problem: Inefficiency | Solution: Technology | Area: Printing | Tool: Pay Per Print]

Printers have the capacity to hog resources like few machines can; paper jams, power drain and excessive ink all contribute to increased expenses.  Not to mention the amount of lost time when a team member has to address printing problems.

All these problems can be virtually eliminated by Pay Per Print programmes.  Like VoIP, the capital cost to purchase a printer is removed in favour or rental.  Maintenance costs are reallocated from the business to the renter and with regular maintenance, paper jams, misprinted paper and lost ink become distant memory.

To further boost efficiency, the savvy business leader ditches the concept of one printer per desk in favour of networked printers accessible by everyone on the network and team members on the internet as well.   With internet and intranet networking, colleagues on the road like sales and service men, can send documents to print while away from the office.

[Problem: Inefficiency | Solution: Technology | Area: Energy Management | Tool: Digital Energy Timers]

Plugging out printers at nights and on weekends can reduce expenses even further.

If the thought of remembering to unplug printers and other office appliances and plugging them in again on a daily basis makes you shudder, instead install a Digital Energy Timer (DET).  The DET is easy to install, relatively simply to programme and highly effective in reducing energy costs with very little added intervention.  Even when off, a device may consumer electricity; cutting the power all together cuts energy costs.

Lights, kitchen appliances, office equipment and even factory equipment can all be controlled by a DET.

Set the timer to cut the power to devices multiple times a day, or week.  Set the time to randomise the power cycle based on a template, which is especially useful for lights.  It gives the impression of human intervention for persons watching from outside.


It is no secret that reduced costs can lead to increased profits.  Shrewd business leaders will employ technology to bust waste.

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Real Business In The Clouds

Many great business ideas are trumped by the reality of high capital costs; arguably one of the biggest barriers for micro, small and medium sized enterprises.  However, evolving technology has provided a solution for entrepreneurs who have their feet on the ground but business in the cloud.

The term cloud computing simply refers to the sharing computing capabilities of a large network of computers connected to the internet.

The ‘cloud’ offers a wide range of advantages, most notably of which is cost effectiveness.  Entry into the cloud is relatively cheap and maintenance costs are generally low.  Because the real computing power resides off site, only the most basic hardware is required to execute complex tasks.  On a related note, maintenance tasks are in effect outsourced, freeing the business owner from staffing costs yet ensuring reliability.

Finding capital is certainly a challenge, but finding capital on short notice is even more difficult.  However, cloud services are scalable on a dime.  Entrepreneurs can scale up fairly quickly, adding increased capacity as needed.  Additionally, a seasonal business need not carry the cost of expensive infrastructure during slower periods as cloud conversely allows businesses to scale down with little negative impact.

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The very nature of the cloud ensures mobility.  A young business often has to move to customers. This can be a challenge if data and data processors are back at the office, but the cloud makes data accessible anywhere internet is accessible.

By exploiting the sheer range of cloud based services available, business managers can truly maximize savings.  Storage, servers, phone, security and even software are all available through the cloud.

Even a small business generates a large quantity of data.  Physical storage is costly and hard to manage.  Access to physical storage may also be restrictive.  Further, physical storage requires backup; yet another cost.

There was a time that maintaining an email server required an expensive investment in both hardware and software along with an IT team to manage and maintain.  Today, cloud based email services virtually eliminate those costs while providing a high level of reliability.

Cloud can also be used to replace traditional PBX systems.  In addition to removing hardware costs of an expensive, static and hard to upgrade piece of hardware, cloud based phone systems can offer features and functionalities not previously available.  In effect, even the smallest enterprise can present a professional appearance to clients, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders.

Even some business software can be migrated to the cloud.  The purchase and/or annual licensing of expensive accounting, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software for individual team members can be replaced with a low monthly subscription.

In effect, capital resources can be deployed to profit centers.  There are however, some issues to consider before making the transition.  Whether one, or several, cloud service providers are engaged, executives must be aware of terms which affect data privacy, access, ownership and security.

Cloud service suppliers must adhere to strict privacy policies to protect clients.  They should provide reliable service 99.999% of the time (referred to as the five nines) while being well equipped to ward off a variety of malicious attacks.  Ensure that the contract does not transfer the ownership of the data to the supplier or a third party.  At the end of it all, the business owner should own the data, regardless of where it is stored.

All things considered however, the cloud enables the transformation of ideas into real business.

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