Printing is an essential part of every business. But if not properly regulated and controlled, it can also be a hidden drain on the profits of small business.
According to our 2016 Customer Survey, 22.06% of small businesses rate cost as their biggest printing headache, which is understandable considering that 94% of respondents in the same survey said that they still use printers in the office and 68% print up to 10 reams of paper per week.
Finding solutions that reduce these ongoing costs are essential to a healthy bottom line for small business. Thankfully there are simple steps you can take to better manage your print costs.
1. Review Your Current Setup
The first step you can take is to review your current setup. Older printers typically cost more to run, and newer devices have higher yield toners and relatively lower running costs.
There is a quantifiable cost of doing nothing, and that’s paying more than you should on consumables. Fuji Xerox can audit your current printers and copiers to give you a “current state”, and also provide you with projected savings based on newer devices with lower running cost. This gives you a baseline from which to work, in addition to the productivity, efficiency and workflow benefits that a new device offers.
2. Install A Device That Can Incorporate An Affordable ‘Follow-me’ Printing Function
Follow-me Printing allows users to print to a shared print queue, roam and release their print job from any enabled output device. This ensures printing is confidential to the user and reduces printed waste, from documents left uncollected at the printer. If a printer is out of service, users can release their print jobs from the next available printer, without disrupting productivity.
Traditionally, this has been out of reach for SMEs as it has historically relied on using expensive server software. At Fuji Xerox Printers, we have re-engineered this technology to make it affordable for smaller businesses. The SMART Series range can connect up to five printers on a network without the need for server software.
3. Adopt A Capture, Monitor, Control philosophy
If you’re running or managing a small business there are three simple things you can do to slash those unchecked printing costs and pour those profits to the bank balance, not toner or ink cartridges. We call it Capture, Monitor, Control.
Capture
Tap ’n’ Go printing means that each job can be tracked back to an individual, department or even client or job code. It also affords staff the convenience of collecting their prints from any device on the network, reducing time wasted going to and from the printer. This technology can be enabled on most Fuji Xerox devices and it can take print management to the next level.
Monitor
Once you’re able to capture details on who is printing what and when, producing an activity report will provide valuable insights into the business’ printing habits and trends.
Printing activity reports can offer an overview of print volumes, colour versus mono pages, the cost per page, and the name of documents printed for a specified period. You may also be able to organise information by date, printer, employee, department or client code. Once you understand the business’ requirements, you can create custom reports to provide a better understanding of printer usage.
Control
Using the insights you’ve gleaned from capturing and monitoring print behaviour, you can introduce changes to the print policy that can deliver significant cost savings for the business.
4. Invest In Wireless Printing
Wireless printing essentially means you can print from an electronic device without physically having to connect a wire to the printer. Simply set up your printer, log in to the Wi-Fi connection and send your documents to print. It’s a wonderful boost to office productivity, while meeting the demands and working preferences of the modern employee.
Our Consumer Insights Survey showed that 71.81% of employees are already printing wirelessly. However, of the 28.19% of employees who aren’t printing wireless, 39% is because they don’t have access to a wireless printer.
Wireless printing allows a busy manager or sales rep to race into the office between appointments to print a contract for a customer to sign, or design proofs for another client to approve, easily and quickly.
5. Always Use Genuine Consumables
Sourcing cheaper consumables is one of the most common tactics businesses use to save money. Many are lured by the cheap shelf price and promises of ‘compatibility’.
But non-genuine toners, inks and cartridges actually cost more in the long run. The lower page yield, susceptibility to damage and leakage, machine downtime and loss of productivity, not to mention the lasting damage to your device, make non-genuine toners a more expensive and costly option.
Genuine toners will provide you the best possible quality output. If you’re printing sales proposals, presentations, quotes, management reports, or any other sales and marketing documents, then the quality of the print will support the quality of the content. By using genuine toners your sales and marketing collateral will stand out from the competition and help you win new business.
Only genuine Fuji Xerox Printers consumables offer the integrated design and strict quality control your business needs to reach its peak, and save money in the long run.
6. Sign Up To Managed Print Services
Imagine having all of your toners, drums and general printer maintenance managed for you. It’s possible with a Managed Print Services solution.
By expertly managing your print environment, Fuji Xerox will help you achieve cost savings in areas of printing such as supplies, maintenance, service and process improvements. This kind of service can reduce print related costs by up to 30% while improving the productivity of your printer and copier fleet.
7. Look To The Cloud
Cloud connectivity increases employee mobility and makes it easy for employees to print from anywhere. Contactless connection between printer and device also means that employees can connect to the printer fast, even from a new device. That increases worker efficiency, a clear benefit for your business.
These seven strategies will help you to reduce your printing costs and allow you to monitor your actual printing costs across the office. From streamlining processes, to allowing your employees more time in their day, and decreasing the amount spent on toner and paper, these seven cost saving strategies will boost your bottom line.
