Print Management

From day-to-day tasks to big projects and presentations the office printer is a staple for productivity. Businesses count on print jobs everyday and it seems there are only problems when you are in a hurry. Keeping your printers functioning properly and regular cleaning will reduce the need for maintenance calls and draining your budget by replacing expensive office equipment.  Printers range in size and functionality but here are some common tips to helps improve the printer lifespan and reduce poor print quality in the office.

Tips to improve print quality on any printer:

1. Keep an eye on expiration dates; ink and toner can dry in the cartridges if not used regularly causing lower quality prints. While dried ink will not harm your printer it will harm print quality.

As businesses expands so does the amount of office equipment and supplies. If you have multiple brands of printers, it can become confusing and hard to remember how many printers of what brand you use. The good news is you can stop stressing out about brand names. Printers will accept and use multiple styles of cartridges including recycled cartridges, refill kits, and name brand cartridges. Always consult your equipment manual to learn what type of ink and toner you need and ask an expert about different cartridges that are available that match your needs.

Most big name brands will try to bully you into only buying and using their brand name equipment that cost extravagantly more money for the same ink. Some brands have even gone a step further with their scare tactic to say that using other brand names with the same ink type is violating the buyers’ warranty and charge customers more for maintenance if they suspect you have used other brands; but this is not true nor is it legal.  Here is why:

Printing in house isn’t just for charts, reports and figures. Think about the areas in the office you use signage: bathroom labels, fire exits, out box/in box, etc. When you have the resources to print in the office you can make your office more work friendly and also fun! Communication is key in any size of workplace and sometimes printing could be the key player.

Ways to use print to add to the office:

• Proper Labels – Having proper labels in the office makes finding and replacing office resources more effective. Stop spending time looking for the printing paper or the “outbox” for mailing; have the location labeled for everyone to see.

Printing is an expense that companies can’t avoid. The printer may be a large up-front cost but most printing budgets are spent on ink cartridges and paper. Most printer manufacturers urge you to buy a new name brand ink cartridge for your printer or it may cause problems. After shopping around for your specific ink cartridge you will find places that advertise amazingly cheaper prices for re-manufactured, refilled, and discounted off brank ink cartridges; but what is kind of damage could these products do to your printer and your budget.

Let’s break down your options:

Original - These are the cartridges that are specifically made from your printers’ manufactures for your style of printer. These cartridges are name brand, top quality, and usually the most expensive option. Large name brand printing companies will sell printers at a discounted price and sell the ink at a much larger price. Printer manufacturers can afford to sell you a printer at $45 because they will recover any loss in the cost of ink ranging from $40-$115 per cartridge. These are great for big print jobs but not long time use.

Companies of all sized face this decision all the time. Large companies may differ from small companies budget wise but both will have to make the decision. What will cost more up front? What will cost more in the long run? What will fit your company and your budget? Can I write this off on my taxes? These are all good questions; here are some things to keep in mind when you need to make large office purchases even if you are just updating your office machines:

• How much do you print? How much do you print per month? When it comes to copiers, scanners, printers and multifunctioning machines you will need to have a very good idea on the number of pages your company prints per month. Keeping an eye on your printing not only helps you see any misuse of office supplies but also helps you see if you print enough to buy. There is no hard number to say if you print enough for a purchase but a good rule to follow is if you print less then 700 pages a month it may be affordable to just use a medium size desk top machine. If you plan on doing more then 700 a month it would be best for you to lease a machine.

By: Antonio Sanchez Navarro, Nubeprint

When looking for an MPS tool you must be clear on first determining what problems do you anticipate or what problems do you want to solve. It is appropriate to involve your organization at this stage. In general, companies may take one of the following two approaches: commission the order fulfillment and account billing organization, or commission the IT team. 6 out of 9 take the second approach. But this reveals as an error over time due to the nature of the MPS business. In this article we will help you to identify how to use your team when evaluating an MPS tool in order to ensure the success of your MPS business medium and long term.

When evaluating an MPS tool it all starts by answering to the core question: what are you looking for? It seems that nowadays there is a consensus on the following three aspects: accuracy for an automated order fulfillment, ease to bill pages and vendor agnostic to manage any device from any vendor.

While we do encourage being environmentally friendly by using green printing habits we also know how important print is to any business and we encourage using print to advertise and market your company and products.

Your company should use print advertisement along with electronic forms of advertising to see the best results.

According to recent research, campaigns combining direct mail and Internet yield up to an additional 25 percent response rate and nearly 80 percent of households read or scan advertising mail sent to their household and were directly influenced to purchase an item or service.

NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, together with co-organizer the Indian Printing Packaging & Allied Machinery Manufacturers' Association (IPAMA), will hold the Print Business Outlook Conference 2014, on February 18, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai, India.

Following the success of the NPES Print Business Outlook Conference 2013 in New Delhi, this second annual program, themed "Printing Business Beyond Boundaries," will bring together more than 200 print leaders representing commercial printers, newspaper publishers and package printing markets for a full day of timely education sessions.

A Multifunction Printer (MFP) is a piece of office equipment that combines a printer, a copier, a scanner and fax into one machine. MFPs consolidate assets, reduce costs, and improve workflow.

Every office has the need for printing. According to Forbes, scanning and faxing are essential to a firm's operations.

The publication stated that: "More companies rely on scanning and faxing than you would imagine, despite the prevalence of online and digital solutions."