Printer paper waste reduction method and computer program product

1. A method of reducing waste from a point of sale printer the method comprising:

establishing a length of paper available (PA) estimate during loading of paper into a point of sale printer;

tracking a length of paper used (PU);

continuously updating the PA by subtracting the PU from the PA;

alerting an operator to replenish paper in the printer in response to the PA being less than a desired length of paper wasted (DPW);

measuring an actual length of paper wasted (APW) by measuring the length of paper fed out of the printer after the alert was signaled; and

adjusting a new roll length of paper available (NRPA) estimate for a new roll of paper based on the difference between the APW and the DPW on a previous new roll of paper used.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

requesting an operator to acknowledge a request to replace the paper roll.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating an amount to adjust the NRPA based on a comparison between the APW, the DPW and the preceding adjustment made to the NRPA.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

increasing the NRPA for a new roll of paper based on the APW exceeding the DPW on a previous roll of paper used.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

decreasing the NRPA for a new roll of paper based on the APW being less than the DPW on a previous roll of paper used.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating the PA from a measured diameter of a paper roll.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

setting the PA to be equal to a NRPA stored in memory.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alerting includes adding length to paper output from the printer.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alerting includes printing a low paper alert message on a printout.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alerting includes displaying a low paper alert message on a display.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically feeding out all paper remaining in the printer in response to an operator not manually feeding out the paper remaining in the printer after a preset length of paper is used once the operator is alerted to replenish the paper.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying the PA.

13. A method of reducing paper wasted with a point of sale printer, the method comprising:

receiving a desired paper waste value;

setting a length of paper available for a new roll of paper installed in the printer to a stored new roll of paper available estimate;

monitoring paper used by the printer;

subtracting the paper used from the paper available estimate;

comparing the subtracted result to the desired paper waste value;

signaling an alert in response to the subtracted result being less than the desired paper waste value;

measuring an actual amount of paper wasted by measuring the length of paper fed out of the printer after the alert was signaled; and

adjusting the stored new roll of paper available estimate based on an actual amount of paper wasted as compared to the desired amount of paper wasted for a previously used new roll of paper.

14. A computer program product for reducing paper wasted by a point of sale printer in a computer environment, the computer program product comprising a storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for facilitating a method comprising:

establishing a length of paper available (PA) estimate during loading of paper into a point of sale printer;

tracking a length of paper used (PU);

continuously updating the PA by subtracting the PU from the PA; and

alerting an operator to replenish paper in the printer in response to the PA being less than a desired length of paper wasted (DPW);

measuring an actual length of paper wasted (APW) by measuring the length of paper fed out of the printer after the alert was signaled; and

adjusting a new roll length of paper available (NRPA) estimate for a new roll of paper based on the difference between the APW and the DPW on a previous new roll of paper used.