The office print environment
Printing and copying costs can have a large impact on a company’s bottom line. Print environments in small to medium sized businesses can gobble upwards of 10% of company revenue. At Com Pro, our team of experts help you understand the whole picture including business needs, print costs, leasing and purchasing options, training and support as well as repairs and maintenance programs.
If you have been tasked with sourcing a new MFP, printer or copier for your office, this guide is for you. It considers ALL the important things to think about when investing in office equipment and is not simply about finding any MFP (Multifunction printer) that can print, copy, fax and scan. After reading this guide, you will be left feeling equipped and confident when approaching service providers and office equipment dealers.
Defining the company needs for office printers and copiers
Would you go to purchase a new car without first asking yourself “what do I need in a vehicle?” A similar question needs to be asked of office equipment. By understanding what you need, you will be able to narrow down options and confidentially communicate these needs to any sales representative.
Investing in proper equipment will put more money back into the business where it can be better utilized towards company goals. Below are considerations and questions to ask yourself when searching for the right equipment and the right service provider:
- What are you currently using for printing and or copying?Are you currently using a consumer desktop printer or a large business MFP.
- What do you like about it?
- What do you NOT like about it? Asking others is a great way to get a full understanding of what the machine needs to be able to do.
- Are there capabilities or features you want to have?
- Do you prefer new equipment or used? Choosing a service provider or dealer that offers certified pre-owned equipment can potentially save thousands of dollars. Check out our post on the different options for previously used equipment.
- Do you require black and white output only? Or do you need a colour option too?
- Do you need to print on 11 X 17 paper? Read about the differences of A3 and A4 print output.
- What is the monthly average volume for printing and copying? Not sure? You can assume based on the number of reams (packages) of paper you go through per month – see below on calculating the cost of operation.
- Do you outsource print jobs? If you could potentially print in house, would that save you time, money and resources?
Total Cost of Operation (TCO)
Understanding how much you are actually spending rather than estimating your print cost can be simple when you understand the basics of cost per page. First, you need to understand manufacturer cartridge yield. Cartridge yield is defined as the estimated amount of pages that will be printed per cartridge. To understand that yield, one needs to know how much coverage will be printed per page.
Manufacturers use a standard coverage percentage of 5% despite the industry average being 12% coverage. This is what 5% coverage looks like in the real world:
Publishing lower estimated coverage (thus a higher number of prints) gives the appearance that your toner cartridge will last longer and cost less per page than you think. You may ask yourself, why would they do this?
Another way to illustrate the importance of yields and true print cost is through examples:
Consumer Printer TCO Examples
1) A Black & White printer with a toner cost of $298 where the manufacturer yield is 10,000 at 5% coverage, equates to just under 3 cents per page to print. However, you know you are getting approximately 5,000 prints (because your coverage is more like 12%) from one toner cartridge. The true cost is almost 6 cents per page, a significant difference.
2) A Black & White MFP with a toner cost of $498 where the manufacturer yield is 40,000 at 5% coverage. Simple calculation of $498.00 / 40,000 = $0.01245 per page for toner.
However, with industry average of 12% coverage looks like this: $498.00 / 22,250 = $0.02238 per page. More than double the cost.
Are you confused yet?
Want to understand your total cost of operation? Contact our team for a full print environment evaluation.
Managed Print Services TCO Example
It is easier to understand print costs when you have a service provider. A colour MFP with a monthly volume of 2500 B&W prints and 700 Colour prints on a service contract where copies are charged at $0.01 for BW and $0.07 colour. The total monthly printing cost would be $67.00 that includes all parts, labour and toner, providing you with peace of mind.
Let’s look at a high volume print example:
A colour MFP with monthly volume of BW of 8,500 and colour of 2,300. Contract copies are charged at $0.01 for BW and $0.07 for colour. Simple calculation looks like: (8,500 * $0.01) + (2,300 * $0.07) = $246 per month. Again, this includes all toner, service repairs, labour and parts.
A common misconception is that it is more cost effective to manage something yourself, rather than utilizing a value added service. In the print management industry, service providers are able to leverage their relationships with manufacturers to source toner, supplies and parts for significantly less than what consumers can get from a retailer. These cost advantages for service providers enables them to take care of your print environment (toner, supplies, service) for less than it costs you to self-manage your print environment.
Purchasing or leasing office equipment
Deciding to purchase or lease office equipment can be as simple as choosing what socks to put on in the morning. However, each company is different and there is no single best answer. Outlined below are benefits to both leasing and purchasing to help you better understand what may be best for your organization.
READ MORE: Benefits of Leasing Office Equipment
Benefits to Leasing:
- Minimal first payments. Custom structured payment plans for seasonal business for example.
- Upgrading technology. Easily upgrade to stay up to date with technology.
- Cash flow. Leave money to invest on other and more important things.
Benefits to Purchasing:
- No interest. You can save money on lease interest – unless you need to take a loan out to purchase.
Talk with your sale representative help determine what is best for your business.
Time & Materials VS Service Contracts
Printers, copiers and MFPs require toner, parts and supplies. Choosing to go without a service contract and go on time and materials can affect the bottom line significantly. Time and materials essentially means you are responsible to pay upfront for all toner, repairs and parts when you need it. The machine has many individual parts that can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars if and when they need repair or replacement.
With service contracts the machine is remotely monitored for toner levels and preventative maintenance issues. Thus freeing up time for employees to focus on what’s important, business tasks.
Differences between leading office equipment manufacturers
Truth be told, there are no significant differences between MFP, printer or copier manufacturers. All major brands offer a large array of basic features including print, copy, scan and optional fax. They all offer varying output speeds and colour or black and white options. A few additional options can include the size of the screen, ease of use, hard drive capacity, processing power and/or finishing options.
Some organizations and people choose to stand behind one brand or another for various reasons. However, it can be beneficial to do a side-by-side comparison on options and costs. More importantly, it may be wiser to find a trusted service dealer that can handle multiple brands for service, maintenance and supplies.
Contact Com Pro today for a comprehensive print analysis
MFP Security
Security technology comes pre-built in printers and copiers, however, consumer devices can be susceptible and vulnerable to security breaches and or hacks. Legislation is in place to help protect businesses and consumers and their business grade office equipment. Ensuring that the best practice of either a manufacturer or service provider of data stored in the device is properly removed is important to mitigate risks of customer and private company data. When dealing with a reputable dealer or manufacturer your private data stored on the machine can be readily removed at life’s end to mitigate risks.
Employee training and support for new office equipment
When a new MFP goes into any office, it is imperative that there is support and proper training for all team members. Knowing how to utilize all features will help productivity and workflow as well as diminish the likelihood of frustrations. Having adequate training can also mitigate calls to a service provider, thus freeing up time in your office for the important things that matter.
It has been reported that our sales team have encountered potential customers whom are with our competitors and not having sufficient training. These organizations were looking to upgrade their equipment because they needed a particular feature. As it turned out, they had that feature but were not aware of it.
Com Pro’s extensive support and training can be in person, telephone or email – whichever serves you best. Contact us for more information.
Printer repairs and maintenance of office MFPs
High-volume printing on office equipment requires regular maintenance. It is inevitable that from time to time, the machine will need repairs. The impact on business when a machine goes down is twofold. Soft costs incurred due to losses of productivity and employee moral as well as direct costs incurred to repair or even replace the equipment. The following are important considerations when working with a service provider:
- Do they offer a preventative maintenance program? Not all dealers offer preventative maintenance. Here at Com Pro we work with you on maintaining the machine at your convenience to help keep your office equipment up and running optimally.
- What is the average response time on service calls? Some service providers constitute a call back to inform when they will come as a response time gauge. Here at Com Pro, we take our response time seriously. We track the time from a call to being onsite or phone resolution. In 2018-2019 our average response time is 2.87 hours.
- Is the machine digitally monitored for maintenance and toner? Eliminate human error by having your MFP report service and toner counts automatically without the intervention of staff.
Find the perfect solution
When searching for your next piece of office equipment, ensure you balance equipment functionality, total cost of operations and your service expectations.
Since 1998, Com Pro has been the leading sales, service and supplies dealer in the Lower Mainland and Western Canada. Com Pro’s sales representatives have extensive experience, totally over 50 years combined. They are committed to your organization receiving the best possible experience while saving money and making the process simple. Contact Com Pro today for a comprehensive evaluation and quote.