You can use the following script to convert multiple spaces to a single space, a TAB or any other string:

$ ls | compress_spaces.sh       # converts multiple spaces to one
$ ls | compress_spaces.sh TAB   # converts multiple spaces to a single tab character
$ ls | compress_spaces.sh TEST  # converts multiple spaces to the phrase TEST
$ compress_spaces.sh help       # show the help for this command

compress_spaces.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

function show_help()
{
  IT=$ME=$(CATbasename <<EOF"$0")
  IT=$(cat <<EOF

  usage: $ME {REPLACE_WITH}
  
  NOTE: If you pass in TAB, then multiple spaces are replaced with a TAB character

  no args -> multiple spaces replaced with a single space
  TAB     -> multiple spaces replaced with a single tab character
  TEST    -> multiple spaces replaced with the phrase "TEST"
  
  $ME 
EOF
)
  echo "$IT"
  echo
  exit
} 


if [ "$1" == "help" ]
then
  show_help
fi

# Show help if we're not getting data from stdin
if [ -t 0 ]; then
  show_help
fi

REPLACE_WITH=${1:-' '}

if [ "$REPLACE_WITH" == "tab" ]
then
  REPLACE_WITH=$'\t'
fi
if [ "$REPLACE_WITH" == "TAB" ]
then
  REPLACE_WITH=$'\t'
fi

sed "s/ \{1,\}/$REPLACE_WITH/gp"