Posts

Optimize Your Print Environment with Managed Print Services

Businesses must manage their printing department to keep up with order demand and increase staff productivity.

Many company offices are cluttered with stocky appliances and printer supplies. Staff working within these departments can’t meet print order demands from customers as a company continues to grow. However, with managed print services, any chaotic office can turn into a productive environment to streamline the printing process.

We’ll explore the reasons why printing departments fall apart and discuss ways a managed print service can benefit a chaotic office environment.

The Main Causes of Disorganized Print Departments

Companies with high-output demand for prints are often looking for ways to improve the flow of documents through the workplace and reduce printer waste. The rate at which staff struggles to keep up with business orders and restock supplies is why many offices seek to change their routines.

There are several reasons why an office with a disorganized printing department falls off track:

  • Slow or Faulty Printers: Many businesses in the country use printers with outdated technology and a slow output rate, even when the business grows past their printer’s capability. Upgrading printers with the help of managed printer solutions can drastically improve production rate.
  • Mismanaged Printer Supplies: Companies across the U.S. spend around $6,400 per gallon on printer ink, which amounts to the same price of getting 2,250 gallons of regular gasoline. By organizing printer storage supplies and restocking with more cost-effective material, companies can save more money per year on printer supplies.
  • Outdated Document Sharing Methods: Outdated printer technology and storage require office workers to jump from one end of the department to the printer to activate the print process. Businesses can save more time and clear up space in an office by upgrading to more advanced office equipment models.

Companies are turning to new business technology ideas to help transform a poorly-optimized print production process. If more businesses considered changing how they carry out print tasks, they might keep up with a rising flow of print orders.

5 Steps to Organize Print Departments with Managed Print Services

How can businesses optimize the workflow of a printing department? Here are six steps that can revolutionize a company and put it on a better track to growth.

1. Assign a Print Manager

A printer manager takes charge of assigning specific documents to workers and choosing which printers to use for each type of print. If the wrong document order is sent into a printer without the right technological features to handle the request, it may take hours out of a productive work cycle.

2. Assess the Printer Department Process

By watching where mistakes happen inside a printing department, businesses can get a better clue as to how to resolve the backflow of work orders. The entire printing process starts with the type of document and which machine they choose to do the job. Reorganizing the location of specific printers can also improve efficiency. This also involves the minimal tasks like printing ID cards fro staff – and getting lanyards for staff to keep their cards secure.

3. Evaluate Expenses

Many businesses fail to double-check their printing department expenses, and therefore, spend more on overhead. A couple of ways that companies can figure out how to rework their office budget is to source more efficient printer repair services, find out how much their monthly printer supplies cost, and examine the energy demand of all office equipment.

4. Swap Out Outdated Devices

Companies can reduce the time spent during the printing processing and save money by choosing energy-efficient printers. Consider the type and number of documents the business processes daily. Replace all outdated equipment with printers that have a 50 page per minute cycle and integrated storage systems.

5. Maintain Devices and Printer Supply Storage

If an error occurs while a printer is processing a document or supplies run short in the middle of a cycle, an office can experience delays. Therefore, the print manager should maintain all printer equipment, storage devices, and supplies so office workers can keep up with order demands.

Increase Printer Department Efficiency with Smile Business Products

Does the printing process inside an office require a complete transformation? There’s no better time than now to strategize a new office plan. Poor operational awareness inside a print department quickly leads to backed up print orders and print supply waste. With the implementation of organized print services, businesses can improve office workflow and reduce their expenses.

Smile Business Products understands that businesses in California can fall behind in print production for any number of reasons. Keep up with customer orders by reoptimizing the entire process in which the office completes print orders. Contact us today, and we can help you reimagine a printer environment that keeps up with your growing business.  

Why Businesses Should Consider a Print Fleet Assessment

 

A successful company is never satisfied with the status quo. Good business owners and managers are always looking for ways to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase profitability. Every part of the business has to be working as intended and this includes equipment like the printer fleet.

An inefficient print fleet can be a headache for employees and a major cause of inefficiency. These inefficiencies can cost businesses money and eat away at the valuable time their employees could be making a difference for customers. In today’s modern business world, there is simply no room for agile and forward thinking businesses to tolerate this kind of bottleneck.

That’s where managed print services and a professional print fleet assessment come in. Identifying problems and providing tailored solutions are the ultimate goal of every office print assessment.

See the Savings on the Balance Sheet

At the end of the day, every company has to earn revenue and turn a profit to continue operating. This is the most basic aspect of doing business. If expenses like printer management and supplies are eating up a disproportionate piece of the budget then, quite simply, that printer fleet is not working for the business.

A print fleet assessment looks beyond just the devices being utilized and pinpoints the biggest areas of concern for individual businesses. This professional print assessment includes monitoring usage by individual users, the layout or deployment of devices, the workflow of employees, and more. With all of this data, recommendations can be made that will ultimately help to reduce costs.

Providing solutions that reduce the need for printing, deploying devices to areas where they are most needed, and optimizing device selection are just a few areas where an office print assessment can help make a difference. Since paper waste makes up 50% of office waste, reducing that waste can be a big boost to the bottom line.

Make Every Employee More Efficient

A print fleet assessment and managed print services can help make every employee in the office more efficient. With digital workflow management, some employees may be able to reduce their printing and streamline their workflow with digital solutions that allow for faster sharing and better collaboration. IT staff will be able to spend their time more effectively by focusing on other issues in the office rather than assessing and monitoring print usage themselves.

These solutions can extend far beyond the walls of the office too. For example, 77% of adults now use smartphones and many of them use smartphones for work. With managed print services, mobile staff can have instant access to the documents they need without stopping by the office just to pick something up. This allows them to use their time more effectively, get face to face with more clients, and build strong relationships rather than use their time for administrative tasks.

As mentioned above, a print fleet assessment does more than simply analyze devices. A professional assessment will take into consideration how staff work, how they complete tasks, and make recommendations on how to improve those workflows.

Don’t Forget About Data Security

This past year has put a microscope on data security with some big companies suffering damaging breaches that hurt their bottom lines as well as their reputations. Hackers are only becoming smarter which means that businesses have to stay one step ahead when it comes to securing data. However, printers often go overlooked when it comes to network security despite the important and confidential information that may pass through these devices.

A print fleet assessment can identify areas of concern and provide data security recommendations. With many users now scanning and storing digital documents, this security is more important than ever. Plus, with managed print services, businesses can feel confident in the ongoing security of their devices and the important information they hold.

Going Green is Cool Too

Seeing tangible financial benefits as a result of an office print assessment is nice, but there are less tangible results which are still important. Today, may businesses and their customers are pursuing more environmentally friendly strategies. A major part of this strategy for any business should be to reduce print waste, look for digital workflow solutions, and focus on recycling waste whenever possible.

As more and more people become aware of environmental concerns, businesses that are ahead of the curve will have a unique competitive advantage. Going green can help businesses save money today and position themselves for success in the future.

It All Begins with a Print Fleet Assessment

Reducing costs, cutting back on waste, and enabling employees to do their best work are some of the most important ingredients for success in the business world. Putting all of those ingredients together takes the experience and professionalism that a managed print expert from Smile BPI can deliver.

Smile Business Products specializes in print fleet assessments as well as managed print services. To learn more, please contact them today.