The PrintSaver™ Challenge
All businesses have a need to control expenses, but in today’s economy the need is of an elevated importance as profits shrink because of decreased sales. Our Managed Print Services program, PrintSaver™, is intended to control expenses associated with internal office printing and management of a company's print fleet.
It’s difficult to control something if by its nature it doesn’t stand out or present itself as a problem. When this logic is applied to office printing, we find that there are numerous instances that can create uncontrolled expense. Most often the expense of printing is based on the initial outlay of the print device without regard to cost of operation. Since print costs are encountered over a long timeframe, the costs may not be apparent until the Total Cost of Operation (TCO) is revealed by an operations assessment.
One issue all printers have in common is that they consume supplies. I’m referring to the ongoing costs of toner, ink, imaging units, transfer rollers and fusers. Most printer owners don’t understand that true cost of printing is not judged by the initial cost of the printer, it’s the cost of operation or running costs. The impact of the running cost is not realized until supplies are replaced. Only when $80 is paid for the color ink jet cartridge or $1,200 for the set of color toners for a large-format color laser printer does one realize the costs of supplies. Many times the replacement of the supplies costs more than the printer itself. The cost of the $49 inkjet printer at the discount store really isn’t just $49. One must look beyond the purchase!
Supplies are just one aspect of the running costs. Let’s also consider remedial repairs. How do you budget the cost of repair or is every problem solved by the purchase of the newest printer model? Does your company have the technical staff onboard to handle all the different makes and models purchasing has bought over the years? Support of the print fleet can be an overwhelming expense and yet the costs are not realized until they are incurred.
If you’re a small company you may not have a technical support department that handles the administration of the print fleet. So how does the task of ordering supplies and requests for service get accomplished? Usually the task is delegated to the office manager or another whose primary responsibility and skill set does not include printer management. Are you getting the best deal on supply purchase, and does the purchaser understand the difference in OEM and compatible cartridges and their impact on print quality and service repairs?
Supply inventory is another issue associated with printing. Most companies have been in the situation that they need to print a big job or proposal only to find the printer is out of toner. In this case, the solution was overnight shipping of the supply and afterwards the decision is made to inventory the supplies. Depending on the model of the printer this can be thousands of dollars of additional expense. For larger companies this expense can be become a multiple number impacted by diverse campuses or separate floors with supply rooms located throughout.
In reviewing the costs of printing, there are the upfront capital expenses of the printer then recurring costs of supplies, service, and administration and supply inventory. Are there other expenses? Well yes, if you have an older print fleet or have printers older than five years old, they most likely do not employ “Green Technology”.
To focus on the direct cost of not using Green Technology in the print environment requires the understanding that office devices are powered by electricity. To conserve power draw, Green Technology is used to allow the device to go into a sleep or standby mode. The power requirements between the operational state and standby can be considerable, as much as 500% between the states. If devices that are not “Green” are in the environment, then the penalty is in higher power consumption and its associated cost.
