Whether you’re starting a business or running an existing one, you may not have given much thought to how much your printers are costing you. Between the number of printers you have, the cost of the toner and paper, and the time spent by IT on troubleshooting issues, your printing costs can add up quickly.
Print management services can help you to streamline and manage printing solutions, and provide the tools that you need to reduce your costs and allow your IT teams to focus on more important projects. By using a print management service, you can outsource management of your printer hardware, toner and maintenance, and even gain the ability to track printing behaviour down to individual employees to identify where cost saving measures could be implemented. (1)(2)
Let’s explore some of the key benefits that your business could experience through a print management solution:
1. Cost reduction
In a recent survey of North American companies, two-thirds reported that they did not keep track of printing costs, indicating that this could be an easily overlooked source of expenditure. A study by The Gartner Group found that companies who switched to a print management service were able to reduce their hardware costs by up to 60%, and they also experienced savings of up to 30% on their overall printing costs. (3)
A major benefit of print management services is that your equipment, consumables, and maintenance costs are included in your regular management fee, so you can manage your budget with ease. Optimise your savings by asking questions about your printing system during your consultation with a printing partner, to ensure that you have a streamlined solution suited to your needs. (1)
2. Set and forget solutions
Managing your own printers, particularly in larger companies, can be time-consuming and inconvenient. Printers, like any machinery, are prone to breakdowns on occasion, and may need repair by a specialised contractor; the average office worker likely doesn’t have a sufficient understanding of how to fix burnt out resistors or failed cartridges. Your print management partner will have the ability to get a skilled repairman to your premises quickly, to fix any technical issues that you experience and minimise printer downtime. (4)
Additionally, printers require regular top-ups of toner and ink cartridges; unless you’re paying close attention to your printer each day, you may not realise that you’re low on these until it’s too late. A reputable printing partner can monitor your printer network remotely, and have your supplies restocked before you even know that you’re low, ensuring that you don’t experience any business interruptions as a result of unavailable printers. (5)
3. Reduced strain on IT teams
A recent study indicated that 50% of all help desk calls are related to office printing, and IT consultants can spend up to 15% of their time resolving these calls. Chances are that your highly skilled IT team could better utilize their time on tasks other than paper jams and faulty printing. (3)
Your print management service may be able to take on the workload of print-related concerns from your employees, and also prevent them occurring in the first place through constant process streamlining and early issue detection. This has the two-fold benefit of allowing your IT team to work on tasks better suited to their skills, and enabling your employees to improve productivity through decreasing the number of printing issues that they encounter. (1)
4. Enhanced data security
Depending on your business model, document security might be a concern. Three quarters of businesses recently surveyed indicated that they had experienced unforeseen losses due to poor document management processes; these losses included damaged reputations, revenue loss, and even lawsuits. (3)
If any employees at your company are printing documents with restricted information, print management services can help to implement systems to ensure that no sensitive papers are left unattended in printing trays. One example of a process which helps to protect your data is the implementation of token or code systems, where employees must confirm their identity while physically standing at the printer before their documents are released.
5. Flexible solutions
If your employees are geographically dispersed across different office buildings, print management services can provide you with solutions which enable your employees to access printers wherever they are. By placing all your printers on the same network, and using uniform processes, you can ensure that your employees can work uninterrupted, even if they travel between offices frequently.
You can also scale your printing solutions up or down with your printing partner depending on your business needs. Many businesses are moving to a combination of print and digital marketing, which could reduce your printing needs, or if you expand your business and hire more employees, you may need a boost in your supplies. Whatever support that your company needs, your printing partner can adjust the solution to suit your circumstances.
6. Reduce wastage
The average employee prints 10,000 pages per year, which equates to approximately $725; a cost which seems exorbitant when you consider that 17% of printed pages are never even used. When you utilise a print management system, they can provide you with the tools to identify which employees are printing more frequently than others, allowing you to eliminate unnecessary hard copy creation and to save on paper costs. This may also help you to identify departments in need of additional training on digital alternatives to printing paper, which can reduce waste further and potentially save your employees time. (3)
Recent surveys showed that businesses who started utilising a print management system were able to reduce their waste output by up to 15%, which, when combined with other waste reduction measures, could go a long way in helping your company to achieve its green goals. (3)
Final thoughts
While printer supply and maintenance costs can be easily overlooked in the workplace, their financial and practical impacts can have a big effect on your bottom line. Engaging the services of a reputable print management company can help to ensure that your processes are streamlined, and that you have the right solution for your needs.
Discuss your business model with potential print partners to identify how you could save costs, reduce waste, and free up your IT teams for more important projects.
References
- “Affordable Managed Print Services (MPS) In Australia”, Source: https://www.forumgroup.com.au/managed-print-services/
- “Print Management Solutions And Software”, Source: https://www.xerox.com/en-us/services/insights/print-management#:~:text=Print%20management%20provides%20a%20central%20administration%20point%20for,management%20options%2C%20including%20print%20management%20solutions%20and%20software.
- “Office Printing Statistics in 2021”, Source: https://scanse.io/blog/office-printing-statistics/#r
- “The Most Common Cause Of Printer Failure”, Source: https://www.inkhub.com.au/ink/the-most-common-cause-of-printer-failure/
- “The Advantages Of A Print Management System”, Source: https://www.bbcdigital.com.au/the-advantages-of-a-print-management-system/
- “The Different Types of Electrical Resistors Explained (And How They Are Used)”, Source: https://www.electrical4u.com/types-of-resistor/
