The Bruske Method

The Bruske Method is a special technique of using a photocopier to improve the speed of copying.

When using a photocopy machine to produce double-sided copies, many machines can automatically print both sides by feeding a sheet of paper through once, and then reversing the feed to print on the reverse side. However, the amount of time needed to reverse the feed is significant when making a large number of such double-sided copies.

Alternatively, a user can print a single side of piece of paper and then place the finished copies back into the copy machine paper tray, where blank sheets of paper would normally go. Although the photocopier must still print both sides of the copy, the step of reversing the feed after printing the first side is avoided thereby saving time. This is known as the Bruske Method.

The Bruske Method is particularly useful when many copies need to be made with an impending deadline.

Problems with the Bruske Method

There are several potential problems when using the Bruske Method. Users must be careful to place the one-sided copies into the paper tray with the proper side facing up to avoid printing the image of the second page on top of the image of the first page. Paper trays often include a small diagram that lets the user know which side of the paper will be printed on. There may be written directions, but they are often in Japanese. A less serious issue is placing the paper with a 180 degree rotation that causes the two copied images to have reversed tops and bottoms.

There is another potential issue with modern photocopiers that are networked to computers and capable of being used as printers. In such scenarios, it is possible for someone to issue a print command from a remote computer after the first one-sided papers are fed back into the tray, but before the second side print command can be entered. Such a mishap will result in the pages from the remote printer to have unrelated text from the initial copying on their reverse sides as well as leaving the Bruske Method user without enough double-sided copies. As the Bruske Method is used most commonly when the user is concerned with taking too much time to print, a small setback can have magnified consequences. If this is a potential hazard, it is recommended that a Bruske Method user make a few extra copies of his or her initial single-sided batch as a buffer.

The Amount of Time that the Bruske Method Saves

Use the following formula to calculate the amount of time the user can save by using the Bruske Method.

x = number of copies to be made d = amount of time (in seconds) required for the photocopier to make a double-sided copy s = amount of time (in seconds) required for the photocopier to make a single-sided copy u = amount of time (in seconds) required for the user to move a stack of papers from the output tray to the input tray B = amount of time (in seconds) saved by the Bruske Method

: $B\; =\; xd\; -\; (2xs+u)$

To take into account the probability of a co-user disrupting the Bruske Method, use the following formula with the two added variables to calculate the expected value of B.

p = the probability that the Bruske Method will be disrupted by a co-user of the photocopier w = amount of time (in seconds) wasted criticizing the co-user for being stupid and canceling his/her photocopying job

: $E\; [B]\; =\; xd\; -\; [(1-p)(2xs+u)\; +\; p(2xs\; +\; u\; +\; w)]$

If a user's calculations yield a negative result, the Bruske Method is not recommended.