The city of Cerritos, in Los Angeles County, has made workplace modernization a priority. Digitization, updating software systems, developing an artificial intelligence policy — it’s all outlined in the city’s strategic plan for improving staff performance and efficiency of citizen services.
Not specifically mentioned in that modernization roadmap but essential to Cerritos’s daily operations: the 112 printers it uses to support workflows where ink on paper remains a necessity.
“You can always cut back on paper,” says Aaron Benjamin, innovation and technology manager for the city, “but you’re still going to have certain forms and contracts that require someone to provide a real signature.”
There are also city commissions and committees with participants who prefer to work with hard copies, and then there’s the need for citizen-facing communications such as printed bills, posters and mailings. There’s even a print center on the second floor of the Cerritos Library where patrons can do their printing for a small fee.
Cerritos stands out for its pragmatic approach to reducing print volume without creating friction for staff, while the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida — a state trial-court system spanning four counties — is a great example of a printing environment shaped by decentralization and the need for operational efficiency. Their experiences showcase how printing remains an important part of the modern workflow for government officials.
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Speed and Efficiency
More than a decade ago, when Cerritos installed its library printers — five HP Color LaserJet multifunction devices — the machines were chosen because they were energy and cost efficient and included features that reduced paper waste. Today, Benjamin notes, the city’s entire printer fleet is standardized on HP all-in-one models, a decision informed by years of steady performance and the city’s confidence in the technology’s enterprise-grade security.
“The MFP features and speed of printing are the most important must-haves” for city operations, he says. “Fast printing, fast scanning, fast copying — nobody wants to stand there and wait for whatever it is they need from the machine.”
You’re still going to have certain forms and contracts that require someone to provide a real signature.”
Aaron Benjamin
Innovation and Technology Manager, Cerritos, Calif.
Fax use by the city is minimal, Benjamin adds, but printer faxes are still occasionally sent and received in instances (such as transactions with the Department of Motor Vehicles) where organizations require them.
Over the past five years or so, Cerritos has experimented with printer consolidation and internal messaging as it’s looked to curb printing where it can. It considered implementing a quota system and setting hard limits on print volumes, but ultimately decided that would only slow productivity and potentially frustrate department leaders and staff.
The approach the city took instead — digitizing paper documents, enabling digital signatures, and expanding the use of online forms and applications — “allowed us to achieve the same goal,” Benjamin says. “We’ve minimized printing, and we’re saving on costs by making it easier to choose not to print.”
Part of the Workflow
Digitization is also front and center at the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, says Court Technology Officer Sarwar Siddiqui. The court’s print infrastructure — mainly, networked MFPs from Dell and Toshiba, used for printing, copying and scanning — is provided and managed by the counties where its courthouses are located.
79%
The percentage of printer technology vendors that also offer managed print services
Source: thecannatareport.com, “Are Managed Print Services Still Relevant in This Era of Declining Page Volumes?” March 13, 2025
Like Cerritos, the court does most of its current work using a selection of cloud-based technologies. Judges and staff access electronic case files across courtrooms, chambers and office settings, while paper documents are typically scanned into the electronic record to reduce physical storage and improve access. For document sharing, the court uses Microsoft SharePoint, an approach that drives cost and time savings and “helps us lessen our dependence on paper while maintaining consistent workflows,” Siddiqui notes.
Despite its preference for paperless processes, the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court, like many organizations, has accepted that some printing will always be required. With that in mind, it has established printing standards that are shared by its courthouses, prioritized secure and efficient printing defaults, and decided to make printing part of its broader workflow strategy rather than a stand-alone service.
Moving forward, the court’s focus will be on reducing print volume, further controlling costs and limiting the risks that come with handling and storing paper, Siddiqui says. “Aligning print decisions with a long-term paperless mindset will improve consistency and efficiency across the system.”
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