iClick has been working in the ecommerce industry for a while now and it’s one of those industries that everyone is trying to get into.
This is inspired by the Grow Traffic post Sexy, Fun and Addictive which is thinking about the world of online marketing. Read more…
For businesses in particular computer recycling has become a prominent issue in recent years, firstly because the need to be more sustainable in business is an ever growing area and secondly because of the onset of constant technology upgrades computer recycling has become a vitally important topic. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that if every business in the UK replaced their computer equipment every one, two or five years and sent their old equipment to landfills we would have a major environmental problem. An important figure to bear in mind is that 99% of all computers can be recycled meaning that even if old computers are not working and cannot be used by others – the parts in them can be broken down and used to make many other products and even new computers!
Many individuals and businesses do not take recycling seriously, however following the implementation of the EU’s Waste and Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive in 2003 businesses including schools and other educational institutions are forced to think about how they are going to dispose of their old electrical products in order to abide by the guidelines introduced. Computers are classed as hazardous waste because if they are burned toxins that are poisonous to people are put in to the air, or if computers are sent to landfill the internal parts within the systems that use substances such as lead and mercury can cause problems to plants, animals and humans in the form of water contamination when these substances are leaked in to the soil.
A great way to carry out computer recycling is to get in touch with a professional hardware buy it back company who can take the stress out of knowing what to do with your old equipment. They will buy back your old hardware products and ensure that all data is deleted from computers, they test them and recycle them by selling them to other companies if possible. As a last resort complete computer disposal will be taken care of from the company providing you with the correct certification for your records.
In summary ensuring that your business or school is on top of computer recycling is not only a cost effective way to enhance your IT budget it also ensures that corporate social responsibilities are met. I urge everyone to take computer recycling seriously in order to protect our environment now and help to sustain our natural resources by reusing products instead of constantly buying new.
Buying the correct ink cartridges for your printer can already be a confusing task without even looking at re manufactured cartridges or cheap imitations. The question posed here is does it make a difference what type of ink cartridges we put in our printer as long as they do the job?! – And that is print.
Re manufactured cartridge are those that have been cleaned and checked for damage before being recycled and refilled with a new batch of ink. The main benefits of these types of ink cartridges is that they work out cheaper, but also they are environmentally friendly as recycling cartridges prevents them being sent to landfill after one use. Re manufactured products entered the market a few years ago and are perfectly fine to use in most types of printers providing that the cartridges have been cleaned, checked and refilled properly. However problems can arise when companies do not take much care in cleaning and refilling cartridges which can result in unreliable cartridges that may break and at the same time damage your printer.
Cloned cartridges usually manufactured in Asia are copies of original manufacturers ink cartridges and have become attractive to ink consumers because of their cheap price tags. Even though the ink cartridges are made from scratch compared to re-manufactured cartridges they are still the cheapest type of cartridges on the market. However the low price tags has got to make you question their reliability – you will find with these types of cartridges that they do not print consistently well and the print quality is nowhere near as good as original ink cartridges. It is also believed that these cheap cartridges can damage your printer thus the cost of having to replace your printer will outweigh the benefits of purchasing these clone cartridges.
To ensure the longevity of your printer the best option is to purchase original or re manufactured ink cartridges. Both types will ensure you get the most from your printer model in terms of good, quality prints. As the ink found in both original and re manufactured cartridges is perfectly compatible the risk of damage to your printer is minimal ensuring that you will get the most out of it and it remains reliable for a long period of time.
To find suitable ink cartridges for your printer visit iClick Ink where we stock thousands of ink products.
Okay, so there has been a big hype about 3D printing this year in particular, but what is it and how does it actually work? I have done my research on this topic area and this article shares what I have discovered about the process of 3D printing, what it is used for and how it actually works.
3D printing, also widely known as additive manufacturing is the term given to making 3D objects from digital files. The whole concept is achieved by layering materials on top of each other by using additive processes. 3D printing is usually done by using a materials printer, in the last 10 years sales for these printers has increased dramatically, especially in the last couple of years proving the popularity of the concept. In simple terms the process of 3D printing works like this:
1. CAD (computer aided design) is used to create a 3D model design
2. IT software then cuts/slices this CAD model into many thin layers
3. Lasers found within the 3D printer then paints a layer of material about 1mm thick which is then hardened
4. The process of printing each material layer, allowing them to harden and then building them on top of each other basically continues until the model is complete. As each layer is extremely thin the process can take hours or even days.
The printers work similarly to inkjet printers but obviously use different materials to create the 3D models, materials such as molten plastic, waxes, powders and other materials. The process is very clever and 3D printers are now becoming more and more popular with manufacturers, engineers, designers and many other industries due to the development in recent years of different technologies that greatly aids 3D printing. There are many different methods used in 3D printing however they all use the same process of building objects layer by layer which is why 3D printing is in professional terms referred to as additive manufacturing.
As the concept is becoming more well known and popular it is not just businesses that can benefit from 3D printing technology, individuals can use it in creating models owing to their hobbies or to test out a new idea allowing for a small model to be produced quickly without the need to wait for design agencies to produce.
If you would like anymore information on 3D printing and how it can turn your ideas into reality take a look at iClick 3D Printing.
A quick guide to changing printer habits in the office with two goals in mind:
Printing is seen to be a key area within business practices that can involve unnecessary costs and result in environmental waste. Printing is an expensive business considering the cost of ink, toner cartridges and replacement drums, so it’s necessary for all businesses to keep a track on this and look at ways to reduce these costs by printing effectively. Interestingly in the past, there was talk about ‘the paperless office’ where it was thought the onset of PC’s would reduce printing levels enormously. However, this has not seen to be the case with employees being able to access more information than ever before on the internet and then printing this off to read as well as the printing of emails, printing levels have in fact increased by 36% over the past three years..
Considering the above here are 13 tips to cut the costs of printing in your business.
1. The most obvious tip is to just NOT PRINT documents unless you really need to.
2. Communicate this message to employees and try and get everyone to print in an environmentally friendly manner, by letting everyone know the costs involved in printing unnecessarily.
3. Duplexing is a major way to reduce the amount of paper being printed, this means printing on the front and back of each piece of paper and this could reduce annual printing costs by 30%.
4. Using the Print Preview function can give you a clear idea of what is about to be printed and so can prevent printed documents being put in the bin due to errors.
5. GreenPrint software technology has been developed to manage printing waste – it shows users exactly what they are about to print, it detects pages that will probably be classed as waste and shows these on the print preview and it also guides employees to the most cost efficient printer in the office. This can be downloaded for free and can display actual cost savings from more efficient printing.
6. Researching the printer market before purchasing can be a great way to cut costs, look for printers that work out cost effective in the long run taking into account the price of ink cartridges for different models.
7. Set the default setting on your printers to ‘Fast Draft’ for internal printing, so that employees save ink every time they print but can change the settings if better quality is needed.
8. Use Microsoft Word’s shrink one page option which will try to shorten a document by one page by altering the text size and spacing. Internet explorer also has a shrink to fit option on its print preview page which will shrink the content of a document down to fit on less pages.
9. Only print the selection you need; a useful tool when you just need to print a paragraph from a webpage or a small section of a large document, do this clicking by the selection button in the print box.
10. Printing to PDF instead of paper is a good way of getting documents in a user friendly format that can be shared around via email.
11. When printing Powerpoint slides, make sure at least 3 slides are printed to each page to save paper, this can be done by selecting handouts in the print box.
12. Only print in colour where needed, for example when printing a webpage change the print settings to greyscale. Printing in black and white will greatly save the amounts of ink being used.
13. Use old printouts as scrap paper, i.e. use the back of sheets to make notes on – don’t waste paper!
For all your printer ink and toner requirements check out iClickink.
A really interesting new application for 3D printing has been uncovered by San-Diego based startup Organovo: Media Research! Read more…
You may be wondering how to make a printer run faster. Printing jobs can really slow down your business if you let them, so by optimising your processes you can make sure your business is running at peak performance Read more…
After my recent blog post about the possibility of printing a house, we’ve had a kind reply from an expert in this field. Brunel University London’s Dr P Smith is one of the world’s leading experts in the exciting sphere of 3D printing. Read more…
Just a few years ago a question like can you use a printer to build a house would have seemed ridiculous. In the modern era of 3D printers which are getting more sophisticated by the day, it’s not beyond the realms of reality to imagine that in the future we’ll be using printers for construction purposes. Read more…
Through iClickShredders.co.uk, iClickStores supplies a variety of market leading brands of home and office shredders. One such shredder manufacturer is Martin Yale, who have recently announced they will be increasing the cost of their shredders, which unfortunately will be passed through to iClickShredders.co.uk customers. Read more…