How much you spend annually on document output?
Approximately €6000 per annum is spent on document output in our organisation. This covers the document output from faxes, scanners, printers and copiers in Cork. Analysis of this cost on an ongoing basis allows the organisation to understand where costs are and is critical to streamlining the workflow of print document output in such a way as to minimise these costs to the company and make efficiencies in print policy.
How many separate document output devices are used in your organisation each day?
Our organisation utilises several document output devices including computers, print servers, printers, copiers, scanners, faxes, binders, shredders, laminators, folders.
How each device is used?
Computers are used to run applications from which document output arises. This is sent to a print server to networked printers or multifunction devices for printing. Multifunction devices allow one machine to perform multiple tasks within the organisation and improve cost control on document output to the optimum. Printers are used for printing of accounts documents such as invoices, credit notes, statements. Copiers are used to copy contractual documentation for filing hard copies, while scanners are used to keep soft copies of documentation on file. Shredders are used to destroy confidential files and information such as bank details to conform with data collection procedures.
How much it costs to operate each printer or copier?
The cost of operating the various devices differs from device to device. Generally the printers and multifunction’s will be more costly to run than the copiers and scanners. Printing costs would run at €4000 per annum while copying costs and paper would come in at 50% of that figure.
How much you spend on consumables and supplies?
Printers have possibly the highest cost in the process of document output as they require the highest level of consumables, toners, waste toners, drums, fusers etc, along with service to keep them running to the optimum. Typically colour printers in Ireland have a higher cost than mono machines due to the requirement to have different colour toners kept at levels to ensure printing can continue, whereas mono machines require only one toner and typically cost one tenth of the colour print. Scanning devices are more cost efficient as they do not require toners, fusers etc., Having a service & maintenance contract on the devices used for document output makes it more viable as costs can be analysed on a per page basis. This cost can be broken down over the range of devices and the cost of paper added to give an overall spend and to see where efficiencies can be made. Some devices may only be covered for service with toners having to be sourced separately, this can be costly and take time. This can make your printing management difficult. It is vital that these costs are monitored to ensure that efficiencies are kept to the optimum for the organisation.
Conclusion
It is vital to understand the workflow of the organisation and the documentation outputs to ensure that the most suitable machine is sourced for the organisation taking into account, user count, functionality and future proofing to minimise the capital outlay for the organisation as well as having the most efficient document output process in place.