Print Management

In my last post, I mentioned that I did a little research on HP. While I think that HP missed an opportunity to further the discussion with their customers, I think that they do many things very well.

One of the areas they have been very successful in is print management.

I thought I would take a moment to define print managment a little and how you can reduce your operating expense by employing an effective print management strategy.

The Challenge in Printing:

It is interesting to me that most organizations simply underestimate their cost of operation for their printers and copiers. According to a recent Gartner Group study, organizations underestimate their costs by as much as  50% and will spend up to 3% of their total annual revenue on document output. Fortunately, the bulk of my business is web development, so I use very little paper and print very little, however, I have found that most companies that claim to be paperless or who have employed an electronic document management system find they may even exceed those numbers.

The Solution: The key to successfully getting your costs in line is by developing a strategy that can reduce operating expense and increase your overall operational efficiency. There are three key areas that can help you to increase productivity and decrease costs.

Standardization
The larger your organization the more likely it is that you will have multiple printer/copier types on your network. You may have the "free" printer that came with the Dell computer, the printer you brought from home, the multiple inkjets, the departmental printers and of course, the ever present copier. Each of these devices have different maintenance requirements. Each of these devices have different toner and supply requirements. When maintaining these devices, costs can range. The costs for color printing can be as high as $.60 per print or for b/w printing as high as $.10 per print... and that may be for toner only. Standardization can help you to provide the same maintenance and support for all your devices, plus limit the differing toners and supplies that you have to purchase.

Consolidation
Your employees love personal convenience. Interestingly enough, everyone who has their own print device "needs" that print device. The accountant who claims that security is paramount... "No one should be able to see my prints." The sales rep who says, "I can't waste time by walking across the office." The marketing professional that says, "What I print is so much more important that my device should be reserved for my use only." While there may be legitimate reasons for users to have a personal print device, most of the time they are simply bogus. With the technologies available today for document printing security or quality of color output at a reasonable price, most of the devices that organizations use to print from don't need to be private and personal. Often, the higher the volume that you put on a print device, the lower the cost per print. Consolidation helps you to make sure that you optimize your print volume across your print devices.

Location
As mentioned above, the more volume that is placed on a printer, the likelihood is greater that it is more cost effective. Fewer departmental printing devices (and where volume warrants it a full service copy center in your office) can help to contain costs. Fewer devices are easier for IT to manage, easier for supplies to be maintained and easier to reallocate as necessary. The key, however, is to make sure that the devices are located appropriately. You don't want a $50 per hour employee spending 10 minutes to pick up a print. Make sure that you appropriately analyze where those devices are located so that you can make sure that you optimize their location going forward.

How do you do this?

Well, start by doing an analysis of your print environment. Know what your costs are. Know what it takes to produce your documents now. Know how people are using your devices. Understand your current problems... only then can you solve them. Many people find it beneficial to ask for help. Find an organization that will do the analysis for you. Some will do it for free with the hope they can sell you their product. Some will charge a fee and give you a great report in the end. Some just do a bad job. I used to provide these services, so I understand them, but don't provide them anymore. If you need a reference of where to go, drop me a line and I'll put you in touch with someone in your area that can help you out.