Develop a Print Strategy

Why would anybody bother developing a “Print Strategy”?

Surely it is merely a matter of going online or to a reseller of print devices and purchasing the latest technology available in mono laser printers, colour laser printers, multifunction or all-in-one devices that are recommended by your favourite vendor or computer magazine.

Not so!!

Lexmark describe it as the “Right Fit Print Strategy” process to developing a controlled approach to managing your print needs.

Statistics suggest that the majority of users only print simple A4 mono (black and white) documents – mostly initiated from a networked PC – with some requirement for colour and even less need for A3 print.

Sure, there are specialised needs for certain users in specific industry sectors – but generally 98% of print is A4 mono generated by one or other user across a computer network.

Immediately the need for copying is removed as it is more cost effective to print multiple prints on a printer rather than printing one copy and having somebody take it to a copying device and make copies from there.

Even more the ability to have “finished” print documents is now a reality – rather than that person making multiple copies of a single printed document and then collating them and stapling and hole punching that document – the advanced printers with finishing options can do it all for you from the control of your desktop – sorting (collating), stapling and hole punching - what a fantastic productivity saving.

It gets even better than that!

How many times have you printed your document to a shared print device only to go to that shared device and find that ten other people have also printed their documents to that device and you have trouble locating your document among the rest – at worst not finding your document at all as somebody else has taken it mixed with their documents – so you have to return to your desktop and print the job again.

Not necessary.

Lexmark in particular have made all of that unnecessary with the availability of print and multifunction device “mailboxes” where up to ten users can have their own location for their competed print jobs at the print device without them being mixed together with everybody else’s print jobs – you can even have security print accessed by a PIN so that you go to the print device and release your document using your own security code so the world does not see your confidential print jobs when they shouldn’t.

The possibilities are endless – it merely needs a planned approach to your print requirements – analysing exactly what print output you are most likely to generate and purchase the most cost effective mix of printers, faxes, multifunctions and all-in-ones for your office environment – not merely adding one device to the fleet as you think you have a need.

A simple 3 step approach as recommended by Lexmark may fit the bill:-

Step One -- consider the device to user ratio, that is, how many output-related devices are there for every user. The optimal number differs by industry, but on average it should be between seven to eight users per device.

Step Two -- Most businesses can analyse their recent paper purchases to determine their print format and volumes as well any special media requirements. It’s most likely that around 98 percent of purchases will be for A4 paper. Nonetheless, it’s important to quantify any unique requirements so you can determine how capital investment should be tailored to meet specific printing needs.

Step Three – Discussion with users will quickly determine what kind of printer they really need (opposed to what they might want). There’s no question that mono printers offer the lowest total cost of ownership and keep hardware purchase costs to a minimum but supplementing this by having additional print capability (scan, copy, fax & colour) where it’s needed is essential to a productive work environment.

By following these simple steps your business can create and implement a print strategy that will help save rather than spend; innovate instead of copy; and be noticed, not ignored.

Don’t just buy the most fashionable and well-promoted brand of mono laser printer, colour laser printer, multifunction or all-in-one device – take a little time and plan it before spending it!