Xerox Rolls Out Calculator to Gauge Equipment Greenness

The Norwalk, Conn.-based equipment manufacturer's "sustainability calculator" evaluates how customers use their equipment and measures how much savings can be achieved in the use of energy and paper, production of solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Typically, printers and copiers are used between 1 percent and 2 percent of the time, drawing power even when not in use and requiring maintenance and repairs.

Saving Money

The calculator measures how much energy is used and the amount of waste generated by crunching data such as the weight of machines, pages printed per minute and patterns of use.

Xerox says the software will help customers save money by monitoring the amount of energy, toner, paper and other resources used, and tracking how the equipment is used.

Sue Lyon, research director at IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based market research company, said elements of the calculator will be valuable to Xerox customers.

"There's an increasing need for environmental information about their enterprises," she said.

Cutting Waste

Northrop Grumman used the calculator as it was developed, said Bill Haslett, manager of enterprise sourcing and logistics. It helped officials at the aerospace manufacturer cut waste and equipment use, reducing the number of printers, copiers and other office equipment from 2,000 to 1,100 at its southern California sites, he said.

Xerox said it doesn't expect to lose equipment sales from the calculator's rollout because the software gives the company the opportunity to boost the amount of service work performed on equipment.

Revenue from Xerox's document management services was nearly US$3.4 billion last year, up 8 percent from 2006. Total revenue for the company was $17.2 billion in 2007.