What’s stopping businesses from moving to a paperless future?

The rise of word processors, workflow software, and the cloud fueled the adoption of paperless offices. Yet decades later, entire sectors are still struggling to ditch paper and printers.

The pandemic has given a boost to paperless plans, accelerating the phase-out of physical printers in favor of digital tools.

Enrique Lores, HP CEO, informed investors in May that the number of pages printed had dropped by 20% since the beginning of the pandemicwhat he attributed to hybrid work.

According to IDC, shipments of document printing peripherals, which include printers and copiers, declined 12.8% from 2019 to 2023.

Remote and hybrid work has made offices less reliant on paper through email, digital file sharing and the eventual move to the cloud, he said Kathleen Wirth, vice president of Wirth Consultingresearch company.

During the Great Recession, reducing printing was one of the first steps companies took to keep costs under control, Wirth said. “Since then, the number of pages has been gradually decreasing.”

The pandemic also forced more workers to use cloud-based, digital workflow systems that eliminated the need to print everything, Wirth said.

Still, some industries have not gone paperless, relying on physical copies to meet regulatory requirements or customer expectations. Some employees still prefer to print paper copies. These factors have prevented the office printer from being phased out altogether.

Healthcare’s Dependence on Printers

The healthcare sector is among the industries most dependent on printers, along with financial services, education and government, it said. Geoffrey Wilbur, research manager, imaging, printing and document solutions, IDC.

Traditional processes and customer service standards mean printers are still a mainstay in the healthcare industry, experts say.

Providence Health System is headquartered in Renton, Wash. in recent years he has been working on reducing the number of printsTechnical Director Wasif Jamal he said. The health system plans to reduce its printer count by 40% between 2022 and 2026 as it cuts costs and reduces Providence’s carbon footprint, he said. The hospital system has centralized printer contracts as a way to cut costs.

However, the manual nature of the medical profession means that hospitals still generate a large amount of printed paper. For example, when patients are discharged, hospitals provide printed visit summaries, and correspondence with insurance companies about claims requires paper documentation, he said.

Insurance companies also prefer paper documentation when processing claims, which may include information about the type of treatment and insurance code.

“We see millions of patients a year across the system, so it’s becoming an important print medium,” said Jamal, who noted that the hospital needs to provide records to all types of patients — including those from underserved communities who may not have access to digital tools.

The healthcare system hopes to make greater progress by reducing the printing of non-clinical documents, including when physicians choose to print paper copies of documents.

“You’re talking about changing human behavior,” he said. “A lot of that human behavior is just giving them a sense of security to say, ‘I printed something out and I have it,’” when they can digitally consolidate documents as PDFs without printing them or upload them to document-sharing platforms like SharePoint.

The health system is currently analyzing the print system analytics to better understand which applications are generating the majority of print volume. Secure printing, where users tap their card to initiate the printing process, has helped reduce printer throughput, according to Jamal. Providence is also exploring the possibility of automating the processes, including the possibility of consolidating documents into PDF format.

The demands of politics and the force of habit

FinTech companies often boast about their ability to conduct transactions digitally, but in some cases, digital signatures are not enough

Amir Har-El, COO in a wealth management company that uses technology Wise wealththe two situations mentioned typically prompt printing. Some senior clients prefer to view and sign physical documents; and third-party trustees, annuity providers, and insurance companies may require paper signatures—or what’s called a wet signature—for some documents.

Because printing isn’t as common, the company’s New York office, which serves about 20 employees and 1,000 customers, keeps a single printer with limited features. Still, he’s optimistic that the day will come when printers won’t be needed in office operations.

“Of course, I think that’s a given at this point,” Har-El said. “In our lifetime, there will be a world where offices won’t need printers at all.”

Corporate law departments also struggle with paper dependency.

Brad Blickstein, Director of Legal Services, Blickstein Grouptold CIO Dive that some courts and government agencies require paper forms of documents, which means legal departments still rely on printers, although there are fewer of them than there used to be.

“The legal function is rapidly digitizing, but not as quickly as many other industries,” with a shift toward scanning printed documents, often with direct connections to electronic document management systems. “The bigger problem is that some (lawyers) still prefer to work on paper.”

The Printing Industry’s Reaction

Companies that make printers and printer consumables, such as toner and drums, say they are evolving their business models to accommodate enterprises’ shift to digital workflows.

For example, HP said it envisions a continuing role in helping customers redesign their workspaces and document workflows across physical and digital channels. It is also focusing on digitally transitioning industries, including healthcare, where vendors are working to digitize patient records.

“Almost every IT customer I talk to today is thinking about redesigning their workplaces,” he said. Aurelio Maruggi, President, HP Office Print Solutions“This is a huge opportunity to help our customers redesign their document workflows with the right combination of devices, software and services.”

Xerox, taking a similar perspective, suggests it can play a role in enabling organizations to “connect the physical and digital worlds” Terry Antinora, head of product and engineering for the company.

Ricoh, which also sees its role in helping customers with document workflows, says a key opportunity for the printing industry is production printing, which is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 4% between 2023 and 2028. Scott Dabice, vice president of commercial strategy and operations, Ricoh USA.

According to Wilbur, the printing industry is not succumbing to the recession as quickly as previously predicted.

“Printing processes are still embedded in the workplace,” Wilbur said. “Some mission-critical processes still rely on printing. It’s a mature industry that’s slowly declining.”