NZ Office Print Statistics: Typical Hidden Cost Drivers and Waste Benchmarks (2026 Edition)

NZ Office Printing Costs: The Problem at a Glance

Office printing can appear to be a relatively small operational expense. The cost of individual pages, toner cartridges and desktop printers is often easy to see.

The hidden costs are much harder to identify.

For New Zealand organisations, unmanaged printing can create additional expenditure through unclaimed print jobs, fragmented printer fleets, retail toner purchases, excessive colour printing, manual consumables management, printer downtime, IT support and weak print governance.

Sharp NZ fleet-assessment data indicates that organisations can often identify significant opportunities to reduce unnecessary print expenditure by consolidating devices, improving print governance and establishing greater visibility over how and why documents are printed.

Key NZ print benchmarks

What these benchmarks tell us

The most important point is that the cost of office printing is not the same as the cost of producing a printed page.

A complete print-cost assessment should consider the total cost of ownership, including:

• Hardware
• Toner and consumables
• Paper
• Service and maintenance
• IT support
• Printer downtime
• Unclaimed output
• Excessive colour printing
• Device underutilisation
• Manual procurement
• Security controls
• Administration
• Employee productivity

For this reason, organisations considering managed print should establish a baseline of their current total print cost, rather than relying solely on printer purchase prices or cartridge costs.

Why Is Office Printing So Expensive?

The answer is usually not one single expense.

Print costs accumulate across the entire lifecycle of a document and the devices used to produce it.

For example, an organisation might have 100 printers across multiple locations. Some may be centrally managed while others were purchased independently by individual teams.

Each device can introduce its own:

• Toner requirements
• Supplier relationships
• Service arrangements
• Security configuration
• Software
• Procurement process
• IT support requirements
• Replacement cycle

The organisation may therefore be paying for printing in several different ways without having a consolidated view of the total cost.

This is one reason managed print services (MPS) are increasingly evaluated as a business-process and cost-management strategy rather than simply a printer replacement programme.

Benchmarking Hidden Print Costs in Aotearoa New Zealand

The following benchmarks illustrate common cost drivers that organisations should investigate when reviewing their print environments.

These figures should be treated as diagnostic benchmarks rather than guaranteed outcomes.

The actual financial impact will depend on factors such as organisation size, print volume, device age, colour usage, procurement arrangements, number of sites, user behaviour and existing service contracts.

The Hidden Cost of Unclaimed Print Jobs

One of the simplest sources of print waste is output that is produced but never collected.

An employee may print a document and then:

• Forget to retrieve it
• Send the job to the wrong printer
• Decide the document is no longer required
• Print it again because the original cannot be found
• Leave it in a shared output tray
• Discard it without using it

The organisation still incurs the cost of the paper, toner and device operation.

There can also be an information-security consequence.

A document containing personal, financial, commercial or confidential information may remain unattended in a shared printer output tray.

Benchmark: approximately 20% unclaimed output

A commonly used benchmark for print-waste analysis is that approximately 20% of office print output may go unclaimed or otherwise become avoidable waste.

This should not be interpreted as a universal New Zealand average. Actual waste levels can vary substantially between organisations.

The most reliable approach is to measure the organisation's own print behaviour.

How secure release can help

Secure-release printing requires a user to authenticate before a print job is released.

Instead of:

Print → document immediately appears in output tray

the process becomes:

Print → job held securely → user authenticates → document released

This can help reduce abandoned output while also providing stronger control over sensitive physical documents.

Shadow IT Printing: The Cost of Unmanaged Devices

Shadow IT printing occurs when printers or printing services are introduced outside the organisation's central technology, procurement or fleet-management processes.

Examples include:

• A department purchasing its own desktop printer
• An employee installing an unmanaged printer
• A small office purchasing a retail multifunction device
• A branch location independently sourcing toner
• A legacy printer remaining in service after a fleet replacement

One device may appear inexpensive.

The problem emerges when an organisation has dozens or hundreds of them.

Indicative cost premium

Sharp NZ benchmark analysis indicates that ad-hoc retail or unmanaged printing can cost approximately 2x–3x more per page than managed print in some circumstances.

The difference can arise from:

• Higher consumables pricing
• Lower cartridge yields
• More expensive emergency purchases
• Poor device utilisation
• Increased maintenance
• IT support
• Device replacement
• Lack of fleet optimisation

The appropriate comparison is therefore not simply:

Printer A costs $X

but:

What does Printer A cost the organisation over its complete operating lifecycle?

The Cost of Retail Toner and Ad-Hoc Consumables

Toner purchasing is often treated as a simple procurement activity.

In a fragmented fleet, however, toner can become an ongoing administrative cost.

An organisation may have to manage:

• Multiple cartridge types
• Multiple suppliers
• Different delivery schedules
• Emergency orders
• Excess stock
• Incorrect cartridge purchases
• Expired or obsolete consumables
• Manual approvals
• Staff time spent monitoring supplies

Benchmark: 30%–50% higher retail pricing

An indicative Sharp NZ comparison of retail toner purchasing against contracted/JIT supply arrangements has identified potential price differences of approximately 30%–50%.

The actual difference depends on printer model, cartridge yield, supplier pricing, contract terms and purchasing volume.

The key issue is that organisations should assess consumables management as part of total print cost, not as an isolated purchasing decision.

Abandoned Print Jobs Can Create Thousands of Dollars of Waste

Paper and toner waste becomes particularly significant in medium and large print environments.

An organisation producing thousands of pages each month can generate substantial avoidable expenditure when documents are:

• Printed and forgotten
• Printed twice
• Sent to the wrong device
• Printed unnecessarily in colour
• Reprinted following document changes
• Produced but never collected

Indicative benchmark

An industry benchmark used for mid-market print analysis places potential annual paper and toner waste from abandoned print jobs at approximately $500–$2,500.

The actual value will depend heavily on:

• Number of employees
• Pages printed
• Cost per page
• Colour ratio
• Paper pricing
• Print behaviour
• Secure-release adoption

Organisations should therefore calculate their own waste rather than assuming the benchmark applies directly.

Common Causes of Office Print Cost Blowouts

1. Forgotten Print Jobs

Documents are printed but never collected.

This creates paper and toner waste and can expose confidential information in unsecured output trays.

2. Fragmented Desktop Printer Fleets

Multiple small printers may be deployed across departments and locations without central visibility.

This can create unnecessary hardware, consumables, service and support costs.

3. Manual Consumables Ordering

When users order toner only after a cartridge runs out, organisations can experience:

• Emergency purchasing
• Device downtime
• Excess stock
• Duplicate orders
• Administrative overhead

A managed environment can use monitoring and usage data to support proactive replenishment.

4. Excessive Colour Printing

Colour printing can cost substantially more than monochrome printing.

Without print policies, users may print routine documents in colour unnecessarily.

Rules-based printing can establish:

• Black-and-white defaults
• Duplex defaults
• Controlled colour access
• User or department quotas
• Cost-centre reporting

5. Too Many Printers

More devices do not necessarily create a better employee experience.

A fragmented fleet can increase:

• Hardware costs
• Toner costs
• Service requirements
• IT support
• Security administration
• Energy consumption
• Procurement complexity

Sharp NZ assessments have identified 2:1 to 5:1 potential device consolidation opportunities in some fragmented environments.

6. Poor Device Utilisation

Some printers may be operating close to capacity while others are rarely used.

Fleet analytics can identify:

• Underutilised devices
• Overloaded devices
• High-cost devices
• Devices approaching end of life
• Devices in the wrong location

This enables organisations to right-size the fleet based on actual demand.

7. Reactive Printer Support

In an unmanaged environment, printer support often follows a reactive cycle:

Failure → helpdesk ticket → investigation → service call → technician → repair

A managed environment can introduce:

• Remote monitoring
• Automated alerts
• Proactive servicing
• Consumables monitoring
• Standardised hardware
• Centralised support

The objective is to resolve problems before they become significant interruptions to employees.

The Hidden Productivity Cost of Printer Downtime

The financial cost of a printer outage is not limited to the repair bill.

Consider a professional-services team that relies on printing contracts, reports, invoices or client documentation.

When a critical device fails, employees may spend time:

• Troubleshooting
• Contacting IT
• Waiting for assistance
• Walking to another printer
• Queuing for another device
• Reprinting documents
• Delaying business processes

The potential productivity impact can be calculated using:

Productivity impact = affected employees × time lost × loaded hourly labour cost

For some organisations, the resulting productivity cost can be substantially greater than the printer repair itself.

Indicative downtime benchmark

Industry estimates used in print business-case analysis indicate that operational downtime can create hundreds to thousands of dollars per hour in lost productivity, depending on the number and type of employees affected.

This should be calculated using the organisation's own labour costs rather than treated as a universal figure.

The Audit Difficulty Gap

Print creates a unique governance challenge because it converts digital information into a physical asset.

Digital systems can often provide detailed audit information showing:

• Who accessed information
• When it was accessed
• Which system was used
• What permissions were applied

Once information is printed, the organisation needs additional controls over the physical document.

In an unmanaged environment, IT teams may have limited ability to establish:

• Who printed a document
• Who collected it
• Whether it was left unattended
• Whether it was copied
• Where it was taken
• How it was disposed of

This is the audit difficulty gap.

Print Security and the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020

The Privacy Act 2020 provides the overarching privacy framework for organisations handling personal information in New Zealand.

Print environments should therefore be considered as part of the broader information lifecycle.

Potential print-security controls include:

• User authentication
• Secure print release
• Access controls
• Print auditing
• Device authentication
• Encryption
• Device security
• Secure document disposal
• Controlled access to multifunction devices
• Print policies for sensitive information

These controls can help organisations reduce the risk associated with sensitive documents being printed and left unattended.

Important distinction

Implementing managed print does not automatically make an organisation compliant with the Privacy Act 2020.

Rather, managed print can provide technical and operational controls that support an organisation's wider privacy, security and information-governance framework.

Can Managed Print Reduce Helpdesk Demand?

One of the potential benefits of managed print is a reduction in the number of printer-related support requests reaching internal IT teams.

An unmanaged environment can generate tickets for:

• Printer offline
• Toner replacement
• Paper jams
• Driver problems
• Device configuration
• Network connectivity
• Printing to the wrong device
• Consumables ordering
• Hardware failure

Sharp NZ benchmark: up to 40% reduction

Sharp NZ benchmark data indicates that print-related helpdesk tickets can potentially reduce by up to 40% within an initial 90-day optimisation period following the implementation of managed print governance.

This is a benchmark rather than a guaranteed result.

Actual outcomes depend on the starting environment, device quality, monitoring capabilities, user behaviour and the scope of the managed print programme.

What Is Managed Print Services?

Managed Print Services (MPS) is an approach to managing an organisation's print environment as a complete system rather than managing individual printers separately.

A managed print programme can combine:

• Print fleet assessment
• Device optimisation
• Hardware management
• Consumables management
• Proactive service
• Print security
• User authentication
• Print policies
• Usage monitoring
• Reporting
• Fleet consolidation
• Cost analysis

The objective is to move from:

"We have printers that need fixing."

to:

"We have a measured print environment with defined costs, controls and performance targets."

Managed vs Unmanaged Printing

How Many Printers Should a New Zealand Organisation Have?

There is no single printer-to-employee ratio that applies to every organisation.

The right fleet depends on:

• Employee numbers
• Print volumes
• Number of locations
• Workplace layout
• Accessibility requirements
• Business processes
• Department requirements
• Colour requirements
• Security requirements
• Device capabilities

However, fleet assessments can reveal significant consolidation opportunities where organisations have accumulated multiple underutilised devices.

Sharp NZ benchmark: 2:1–5:1 consolidation

Sharp NZ fleet assessments have identified potential 2:1 to 5:1 device consolidation ratios in fragmented print environments.

For example, an organisation operating 50 devices might discover that a future-state fleet could potentially deliver the required capacity with approximately 10–25 appropriately located devices.

This is an opportunity range, not a recommended universal ratio.

Any consolidation programme should account for workflow, accessibility, location, print volume and business continuity.

How to Calculate Your True Print Cost

A basic print-cost calculation is:

Cost per page = total print expenditure ÷ total pages produced

However, this can underestimate the true cost if important expenses are excluded.

A broader total-cost-of-ownership model can include:

TCO per page = hardware + toner + paper + service + IT administration + downtime + other print costs ÷ total pages

Costs to include in a print audit

Hardware

• Printer purchases
• Multifunction devices
• Replacement hardware
• Depreciation

Consumables

• Toner
• Ink
• Paper
• Waste cartridges

Service

• Maintenance
• Repairs
• Technician visits
• Service contracts

People

• IT support
• Procurement administration
• Facilities support
• Employee time

Operational

• Downtime
• Reprinting
• Abandoned jobs
• Excessive colour printing

Security

• Secure-release technology
• Authentication
• Device management
• Security administration

Build Your NZ Print Baseline

Before changing a print fleet, organisations should establish a baseline.

Financial baseline

Operational baseline

Security baseline

The 30–90 Day Managed Print Opportunity

A successful print optimisation programme should establish measurable outcomes.

Simply installing new printers does not demonstrate ROI.

A stronger approach is to establish a baseline and measure changes over time.

Days 0–30: Establish the Baseline

Measure:

• Device inventory
• Print volumes
• Colour ratio
• Cost per page
• Toner expenditure
• Paper expenditure
• Helpdesk activity
• Service incidents
• Device utilisation
• Downtime
• Security controls

Days 30–60: Implement Priority Controls

Potential actions include:

• Fleet consolidation
• Device right-sizing
• Secure print
• User authentication
• Duplex defaults
• Colour controls
• Automated consumables management
• Proactive monitoring
• Standardised device configurations

Days 60–90: Measure the Results

Compare the new environment against the baseline.

Measure:

• Total print volume
• Print cost
• Cost per page
• Colour usage
• Helpdesk tickets
• Device utilisation
• Toner expenditure
• Printer downtime
• Security-control adoption

This creates a before-and-after evidence base for ongoing optimisation.

Methodology: How Sharp NZ Establishes These Benchmarks

Transparency around methodology is important when using benchmark data.

The Sharp NZ benchmarks referenced on this page are based on aggregated observations from print fleet assessments and related analysis.

Sample size

250+ fleet assessments

Organisation size

Approximately 10 to 5,000+ users

Geography

100% New Zealand-focused

The assessment population includes organisations across:

• Auckland
• Wellington
• Christchurch
• Other New Zealand locations

Benchmark timeframe

July 2025 to June 2026

What the data represents

The data is intended to identify patterns, ranges and potential areas of inefficiency in New Zealand print environments.

It should not be interpreted as a statistically representative survey of every New Zealand organisation.

Why context matters

A benchmark without context can easily become misleading.

For this reason, Sharp NZ identifies:

• The geography
• Sample size
• Time period
• Organisation size
• Whether a figure is internal or industry-derived
• Whether the figure represents an observed result or indicative estimate

This allows organisations to understand how a benchmark should be used when developing their own business case.

What Should a Managed Print Business Case Measure?

A strong business case should go beyond a simple claim of "cost savings".

Financial outcomes

Measure:

• Current annual print expenditure
• Future-state print expenditure
• Total cost of ownership
• Cost per page
• Annual savings opportunity
• ROI
• Payback period

Operational outcomes

Measure:

• Fleet size
• Device utilisation
• Print volumes
• Downtime
• Service incidents
• Helpdesk tickets
• IT support hours
• Consumables administration

Security outcomes

Measure:

• Secure-release adoption
• User authentication
• Print auditability
• Device security
• Access controls
• Sensitive-document handling

Strategic outcomes

Consider:

• Fleet standardisation
• Workplace productivity
• Sustainability
• Digital document workflows
• Document-management integration
• Business continuity

Why Print Problems Are Often Difficult to See

The challenge with print is that the costs are distributed across the organisation.

Finance may see toner invoices.

IT may see helpdesk tickets.

Procurement may see hardware purchases.

Facilities may see device placement.

Employees may see printer downtime.

Security teams may see information-handling risks.

No single team necessarily sees the complete print-cost picture.

Managed print brings these components together.

The result is a more complete view of:

Cost + Usage + Support + Security + Productivity

That is the basis for making an informed print-management decision.

Frequently Asked Questions About NZ Office Printing Costs

What are the biggest hidden costs of office printing?

Common hidden costs include unmanaged printers, toner and consumables, abandoned print jobs, excessive colour printing, unnecessary devices, printer downtime, IT support and manual procurement.

How much print waste is typical in an office?

A benchmark of approximately 20% unclaimed print output is commonly used when assessing print waste. Actual waste varies by organisation and should be measured using the organisation's own print data.

How much more expensive are unmanaged printers?

Sharp NZ benchmark analysis indicates that ad-hoc or unmanaged printing can cost approximately 2x–3x more per page than managed print in some circumstances. The actual difference depends on printer model, volume, consumables, service and procurement arrangements.

How much can retail toner cost compared with contracted supply?

An indicative Sharp NZ comparison found retail toner pricing can be approximately 30%–50% higher than contracted or just-in-time supply arrangements. Actual pricing varies by cartridge, supplier and contract.

How many printers should an organisation have?

There is no universal printer-to-employee ratio. The appropriate fleet depends on workflow, print volume, workplace layout, location, accessibility and business requirements. Sharp NZ assessments have identified 2:1–5:1 potential consolidation opportunities in some fragmented environments.

Can managed print reduce helpdesk tickets?

Potentially. Sharp NZ benchmark data indicates that print-related helpdesk tickets can reduce by up to 40% during an initial 90-day optimisation period. Results vary according to the starting environment and controls implemented.

What causes printer-related IT tickets?

Common causes include printer connectivity, paper jams, toner replacement, driver problems, device configuration, hardware failure, incorrect printer selection and consumables management.

How does secure printing reduce risk?

Secure-release printing holds a document until the authorised user authenticates at the printer. This can reduce the likelihood of sensitive documents being left unattended in shared output trays.

Does managed print guarantee Privacy Act compliance?

No. Managed print can support privacy and information-security controls, but it does not by itself guarantee compliance with the Privacy Act 2020. Organisations need a broader privacy and information-governance framework.

What should be measured during a print audit?

A print audit should examine device numbers, print volumes, colour usage, device utilisation, consumables expenditure, hardware costs, service incidents, downtime, helpdesk activity, security controls and total cost of ownership.

How quickly can improvements be measured?

A 30–90 day measurement framework can provide an initial indication of changes in print volume, costs, helpdesk activity, device utilisation, downtime and security-control adoption.

Calculate Your Organisation's Print Baseline

The first step in determining whether managed print could benefit your organisation is to establish the current state.

Start with these questions:

How many printers do we operate?

How much do we spend on printing each year?

How many pages do we print?

What percentage is colour?

How much toner do we purchase?

How many printer-related helpdesk tickets do we receive?

How much employee and IT time is lost to printer issues?

How many devices are underutilised?

How much output is never collected?

Can we identify who printed sensitive information?

The answers create the foundation for an organisation-specific print business case.

Continue Your Managed Print Assessment

Managed Print Services Business Case: NZ Template

Build a structured business case covering print costs, operational requirements, ROI and potential savings.

Explore the Managed Print Services Business Case: NZ Template:
https://www.sharp.net.nz/mps-business-case-nz-template

CFO-Ready Managed Print ROI Model

Use a financial model to quantify the potential impact of managed print and develop a business case based on measurable NZ scenarios.

Explore the CFO-Ready ROI Model:
https://www.sharp.net.nz/mps-roi-cfo-business-case-guide

Request a Print Fleet Assessment

A Sharp NZ print fleet assessment can help establish an organisation-specific baseline covering:

• Print devices
• Print volumes
• Cost
• Device utilisation
• Consumables
• Service requirements
• IT support
• Security
• Fleet consolidation opportunities

The objective is to identify realistic improvement opportunities and establish measurable 30–90 day success milestones.

Key Takeaways: NZ Office Print Statistics

The key findings from Sharp NZ's 2026 print benchmark analysis are:

1. Approximately 20% of office print output can be unclaimed or become avoidable waste, although actual rates vary by organisation.
2. Unmanaged or ad-hoc printing can cost approximately 2x–3x more per page than managed print in some circumstances.
3. Unmanaged devices can create $300–$1,000+ in hidden annual expenditure per device, depending on the environment.
4. Retail toner purchasing can be approximately 30%–50% more expensive than contracted or JIT supply arrangements in indicative comparisons.
5. Abandoned print jobs can create $500–$2,500 in annual paper and toner waste in a mid-market environment, depending on print volumes.
6. Unmanaged fleets can generate 10–12 print-related helpdesk tickets per month in some multi-site environments.
7. Managed print assessments can identify 2:1–5:1 potential device-consolidation opportunities where fleets have become fragmented.
8. Print-related helpdesk demand can potentially fall by up to 40% within an initial 90-day optimisation period following implementation of managed governance.
9. Print security should be considered alongside privacy and information governance, particularly where printed documents contain personal or commercially sensitive information.
10. The strongest print business cases measure total cost of ownership, rather than looking only at printer purchase price or toner cost.

The Bottom Line

Office printing is rarely just a printer and a toner cartridge.

For New Zealand organisations, the real cost can include hardware, consumables, paper, IT support, downtime, employee productivity, unnecessary devices, abandoned documents, procurement administration and security requirements.

The first step is therefore not necessarily to buy new printers.

It is to measure the existing environment.

Once an organisation understands how much it prints, what it spends, which devices it uses, where waste occurs and how much support is required, it can make a more informed decision about fleet consolidation, print governance and managed print services.

Managed print turns a fragmented and often invisible operational cost into a measurable environment that can be governed, optimised and continuously improved.