Introduction
Whether you’re an independent contractor, running a small business, or heading a large company, office printers are vital tools for any modern business - even in the digital age. Printers have been a ubiquitously essential appliance of the office for around 50 years now, transforming the way businesses operate by offering a fast and easy method of replicating documents. Modern Wi-Fi enables workers to print directly from their desktop, laptop, tablet or phone, and then a printer can quickly transpose any digital document into a tangible hard copy, using a variety of materials such as paper, ink cartridges, and toner.
Print-outs are most commonly used for the internal and external dissemination of documents, and for archival purposes. In fact, as we move through a concerning age where even larger companies’ computer networks are vulnerable to external security hacking, many businesses are choosing to archive their more sensitive information on hard copy print-outs, marking the humble office printer as an invaluable instrument of the digital age.
Unfortunately, the average cost of printing in Australia is expected to increase throughout 2023. This is due to a number of external price increases for the materials needed in the various markets that contribute towards printing; chiefly the paper market, the resin and petrochemical markets, the corrugate market, and the freight market. These factors, compounded by the broader effects of the cost of living crisis, have made it hard for business owners to justify the costs of printing, and inferior or infrequent printing maintenance can have a negative impact on a company’s productivity and morale.
Fortunately, there is a solution; Managed Printing Services - or MPS for short - are being used by offices who wish to retain the ample (and often necessary) benefits of printing while reducing the overheads of printing costs. Print service companies like DDS offer managed print services, also known as print management, to help you increase productivity and cut costs. We can assist you in managing all facets of your company's printing with our print management service, including the printing equipment, consumables, regular maintenance, and other repairs as necessary. You may save your print operation costs by as much as 28% with a dedicated print plan in place. You'll also benefit from increased management, accountability, and significant time savings. This gives you more time to concentrate on other, more crucial company activities and duties.
The Benefits of Reducing Printing Costs for your Small Businesses
- It Will Save You Money: Look, it’s the most obvious point, but it’s probably the one you care most about. Companies - especially small businesses - can make significant financial savings by lowering printing expenditures. Costs associated with printing can stack up rapidly, particularly for companies that print a lot of documents. Businesses can lower their costs and boost their bottom line by reducing the amount of printing that is not essential.
- It’s Better for the Environment: Being both more selective and more precise about what needs printing definitely has an environmental impact. Most of us have been to meetings where someone has printed an extra two dozen copies of a brief that no one needs. And even more of us have had a physical altercation with a subpar printing machine that’s printed 100 copies of the wrong thing. Printing requires both energy and materials, so businesses can lessen their carbon footprint and contribute to environmental protection by cutting back on printing, and/or using a printer or a printing service that can reliably provide the precise quantity and quality of print out that you require.
- It’s Better for Productivity: An effective office is a happy office, and vice versa. Businesses can save time and effort by avoiding the process and subsequent maintenance of excessive printing, and as a result, corporate procedures can be streamlined and productivity can be increased.
The Benefits of Reducing Printing Costs for your Small Businesses
First and foremost, if you sign up for a managed print service, you won't have to pay the upfront expense of buying brand-new printing equipment. This will allow you to better plan and manage your cash flow as the financing of your device will be incorporated into your monthly fee along with the other consumables and servicing costs. To help you keep a clear and archivable track of your printing habits, the monthly Digital Document Solutions invoice includes all charges for upkeep and repairs, cartridge replacement, and other consumables.
This also means that you won’t be required to buy or update to new equipment; but if you do wish upgrade so as to stay ahead with the latest printing technology, Digital Document Services will gladly facilitate so that your office can make full use of cutting edge features, such as intuitive interfaces and enhanced data security.
Digital Document Solutions offers real time monitoring of the machines as well as automated reordering of consumables, so as to prevent our printers from running out of paper or ink in the middle of a big printing job.
We also do routine and preventative maintenance as part of our managed print services to keep your equipment in tip top operating order. Should a printer malfunction, our local tech experts will immediately respond and fix the issues, minimising any downtime, ensuring that your office workflow can continue to run unhindered.
Reducing the Cost of Printing - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I reduce the cost of printing in the office?
You can do your part to reduce printing costs around the office by making easy but actionable choices in your day to day routines. Always remember to take a moment to preview the print order before you hit ‘print’. When possible, save paper by printing double-sided copies, and/or print two pages on the one sheet. Use economical fonts, and print in black and white as often as you can, and only print when you really need to.
How can we reduce printer usage?
The simplest solution is to opt for digital options as often as you can. The benefits of living in a digital age is that smartphones and laptops and tablets are fairly ubiquitous in most business settings, and such devices may be used for documents rather than print outs. However, digital alternatives may not work for every circumstance, so sometimes printing is still a necessity for most businesses.
Which printing is the most cost effective?
The answer to this is ultimately going to depend on your specific business requirements, but broadly speaking, inkjet printers are typically cheaper and consume less energy than laser printers. However, inkjet printer cartridges can be costly, especially if your printing needs are frequent. The benefits of laser printers is that while they are typically more expensive upfront, they can be more cost effective in the long run, especially if your company does a lot of printing (and they also generate excellent text and pictures if such image quality is instrumental to your business practices). And of course, outsourcing your printing needs to a managed print service is an excellent way of lowering costs and increasing productivity.
What should be the average printing costs for a small business?
This is very much a “how long is a piece of string” question, as there are many variables across many businesses (eg. a small accounting firm will probably do significantly more printing than a Taekwondo instructor). But if you’re looking for an extremely broad estimate, small businesses can typically expect to lose between 1% and 3% of their total revenue on printing costs.
Conclusion
Digital Document Solutions are industry leaders when it comes to providing a wide range of printing services that can save your business money both in the long term and the short term. We offer a wide range of services including photocopier and printer rental, and managed print services. You can check out our website here, and for all inquiries, you can get in touch with our friendly staff here.
