Problems with printing can go beyond common annoyances like paper jams and delayed print processes.
Inefficient enterprise print management can result in a loss of time and productivity in the IT department, a lack of focus on critical functions, a lack of proper equipment maintenance, an increase in overall printing costs, and greater stress for enterprises.
[/fusion_text]Here’s the summary of Factors Affecting Enterprise Print Management:
- Employees from working for a vendor who bills them out based on the number of pages printed in a month.
- Businesses need to invest in technology to improve efficiency and reduce risk according to the report but a more reliable and efficient MPS provider.
- According to International Data Corporation (IDC), a company’s IT staff typically spends 15% of their time on printing issues.
- Printer problems like the printer being unresponsive, the printer won’t print, too many paper jams, printing too slowly, etc, all have a substantial impact on staff effectiveness and overall company operations efficiency.
- It is very important to gauge whether your existing MPS provider is providing value in terms of ROI, and improvements for print efficiency & cost.
- When it comes to the level of service you deliver to your clients, the printers you use are important. It also has an impact on your company’s overall revenue.
- Factors like document and device security, monitor usage, central administration, maximizing uptime and availability, etc. are equally important for your enterprise print management.
- And according to Keypoint Intelligence, 90% of companies fail to track their printing costs.
Let us understand the factors affecting your enterprise print management and how to fix them.
a. Vendor Employee Leakages:
When a vendor and an employee team up to make money for themselves, it costs the company a lot of money. Consider the following scenario.
Essentially, page counts in MPS are evidence of the number of pages printed by the organization. The vendor raises the page count with the help of an employee. As a result, there is an excess of billing.
The vendor will provide you with the invoices for any cartridges that have not been delivered. This has an impact on the vendor’s service quality as well.
Because he has the support of a company employee, the vendor is not concerned about providing good service and high-quality prints.
So, the question arises is “How to solve this problem?”
- You’ll need to implement tight anti-corruption policies.
Communicate to employees and vendors that our company is a “Zero Tolerance Company” when it comes to bribery and corruption.
b. Selection of MPS Vendor:
Many businesses that have switched to the new MPS system have done so without fully comprehending the concept.
Their sole objective is to reduce costs, which is sadly a short-term gain that will never provide long-term meaningful benefits.
Your print service supplier should be able to assist you to flourish by proactively offering solutions, enhancements, and services. Let us understand the various characteristics of high-performing MPS providers.
c. Loss of time and productivity in the IT department:
An IT department is composed of many skilled professionals, so it’s not the best use of their time to analyze printing equipment.
IT departments are typically made up of many skilled professionals and they have better things to do with their time than analyzing printers.
When they are working on these tasks, it means they are not working on improving your networks or bolstering your cybersecurity or other critical IT functions.
A managed print solution can keep your print fleet running smoothly with service and supply without jeopardizing the productive workflow of your team.
They will create a custom-tailored program specifically geared toward helping you reach your goals, ultimately streamlining your operations, and boosting productivity.
d. Proper Equipment Maintenance:
It’s important to your operation to have functioning tools and equipment.
Stopping to fix something takes away from the resources you need to stay on task and keep productive.
Printer problems like the printer is unresponsive, the printer won’t print, too many paper jams, printing too slowly, etc, all have a substantial impact on staff effectiveness and overall company operations efficiency.
There is a cost associated with downtime when a printer is down for maintenance or a part needs to be replaced.
Part replacement, repair, and preventive maintenance are all things that an MPS supplier should undertake to improve printer performance and reduce downtime.
The longer the outage lasts, the higher the cost of lost operation time.
e. Service Provided by your Existing MPS Vendor
Even if you’re happy with your existing MPS vendor, be aware of whether they provide the greatest overall value (not just the lowest price).
Every organization should also determine whether the current vendor is best suited to meet your specific printing requirements and provide overall value.
One of the simplest means of doing an audit of your existing vendor is first, to get a list of your top 10 or top 20 printers which are being printed more and more.
Make a list of that printer in an excel sheet with the model number, serial number, and the number of pages printed for the preceding month.
Compare your data with that of the MPS provider at the end of the month and you will come to know the real picture.
f. Quality of your printers used in the company
Old and obsolete devices are a huge waste of time and money due to paper jams, error messages, running out of ink, and outright malfunctions.
Consider how much time you spend dealing with malfunctioning hardware, waiting for repairs, and ordering replacements and supplies.
There are two types of printers. Original box pack printers and refurbished printers. Refurbished printers are end-of-life printers that are again brought back to life by trying to change some key parts.
The initial cost of deploying the original box pack printer may be greater, however, the benefits are available.
It becomes pretty challenging when these refurbished printers are deployed at remote locations.
Now, let us understand the challenges when we use these refurbished printers.
- Escalated calls
- Frequent requests for printer replacement
- Delay in work
- Loss of time as well as productivity
Therefore, it is advisable to deploy an original box pack printer.
The initial cost of deploying the original box pack printer may be greater, but the other benefits make it worth the investment.
Keep these points in mind the next time you deploy a printer and request the original box pack printer from your vendor for your MPS needs.
g. Print Management Software:
Factors like document and device security, monitoring usage, central administration, maximizing uptime and availability, etc. are equally important for your enterprise print management.
Unmanaged printing expenses can add up to between 1-3% of an organization’s total revenue.
Print management software, on the other hand, is the finest approach to keeping track of your printing environment.
The print management software integrates easily with your work environment and offers numerous advantages.
h. Management Cost of Your Color Prints:
If you are using a refurbished color printer, the per-page cost of printing will be in the range of Rs. 4 to Rs. 5. And if you are printing from an original cartridge, the per-page cost of printing will be in the range of Rs. 8 to Rs. 10.
If you are using a Laser printer, your printing cost can be thrice as expensive as black-and-white ones.
A document is deemed to be a color copy even if only one word or logo is colored. Regularly reviewing these reports can reveal cost-cutting opportunities.
Figure out what printer you are going to deploy and set rules for who will get access to these printers.
It can be a department, a selected person, a project, etc. This way you will be able to reduce the printing cost considerably.
Make sure your printer’s default settings are set to black and white to avoid needless color printing.
A Managed Print Service can conduct quarterly audits of your printing habits and make recommendations for reducing unneeded color copies.
Now, if you want to buy a color printer then ask your team, whether you really need a color printer.
If the answer is yes, figure out what number of prints you would require on a monthly and weekly basis. Accordingly, you may decide about the specifications of buying the color printer.
The next question should be, can the color printing be managed on an inkjet printer instead of a laser printer?
If the answer is yes, there are some very good Epson Inkjet Printers or Ink Tank printers available where the cost is lower and the quality of printing will be at par with that of the laser printers.
Inkjet printers are a modern marvel that is able to print high-quality printing. The ink supply is healthy, so your printing costs will go down and you’ll save money!
Apart from the benefit of cost savings, productivity, security, and environmental benefits, the solution frees up a significant amount of time for IT employees to focus on proactively upgrading their IT infrastructure and identifying methods to make IT offer value to the company.
Once you start compiling data from these many sources, you’ll see how wasteful printing habits and outdated equipment have a detrimental impact on overall organizational revenue.
Requesting a free evaluation from a Managed Print supplier is one of the best and most accurate ways to calculate your total print costs.
