Don't Supersize, Optimize: New Strategies For Document Management Solutions

By Dan Waldinger, Director of Marketing, Solutions & Services, Brother International Corporation

All businesses relentlessly seek new strategies to reduce costs and increase productivity. Every dollar saved goes back to the bottom line to fuel growth. Costs can be recovered in many areas across the business.

One of the most common sources of unnecessary spending is found in the misallocation of office technology. Hidden losses can occur with underused printers, multifunction printers (MFPs) and document management systems. This has a number of cost and productivity implications that can be easily remedied by identifying these underused devices and deploying printing and input resources more effectively.

Hardware resellers, managed services providers (MSPs), and others can seize this opportunity and provide guidance to their clients by showing them how and where their printing infrastructure can be improved.

The primary culprits of organization inefficiency include the following:

• Reduced Demand For High Capacity Machines. Studies show a steady decline in printing. Many organizations have MFPs capable of printing at least 100,000 pages per month. However, data shows that many typically print no more than 10,000 pages per month. This 90 percent underuse wastes valuable capital.

Reduced print volumes can be attributed to a number of factors. Many employees choose to work from smartphones and tablets rather than from printed documents. And automated workflow systems usher electronic documents between decision-makers without consuming paper. Most print jobs are now five pages or less, and the decline in print volumes will persist as more operations and workflows move from paper to digital.

• Underused Features. Hardcopy booklets and presentations are rarely printed, in favor of digital white papers and online presentations. This leaves MFPs idle with unused “finishing features” such as stapling, hole-punching and folding — features that are becoming nearly obsolete. For example, reports show that many businesses utilize color A3 (11 x 17) booklet-making features only about 10 percent of the time.

Alternate paper formats such as 11 x 17, also known as “Ledger” and “A3,” are infrequently used by most workers. In fact, a recent study finds that only 2 percent of all office jobs are printed in A3 size.

• Unbalanced Print Fleets. One of the most overlooked areas of waste comes through the ineffective deployment of devices. The trend of managed print services and printer fleet optimization has resulted in many consolidating their fleets, acquiring MFP devices and centralizing the placement. In many instances, this strategy produced an unforeseen downside, creating an environment that hinders worker productivity.

More workers are sharing devices than ever before. In the past, the closest printer may have been just a few feet away. Today it may be more than 100 feet away, hindering the speed of business and the demand for anytime, anywhere access to information and technology. The ineffective deployment of devices can result in higher costs and productivity losses.

• Financial Implications. The under-usage and poor deployment of office devices also have significant cost and productivity implications. MFPs with unnecessary features are more expensive to purchase and lease than machines that workers actually need. Further losses occur when bloated devices are under contract, as pricing is often based on an expected level of monthly print volume that does not match the needs of most business.

In most cases, dispersed, unnecessary, and underutilized devices are not the most financially appropriate option for many businesses, however these resellers can recommend the appropriate devices and deployment strategies that can help address these issues.

Stats from InfoTrends research show that employees waste more than 4,000 hours and nearly $130,000 per year walking to and from copiers and printers. Further loss is incurred as unnecessary, large-footprint devices consume additional energy, require maintenance and consume extra space. These devices also tend to require more staff intervention, further burdening productivity.  Knowledgeable and consultative resellers can help businesses increase employee productivity and reduce costs simply by improving device allocation and re-thinking existing purchase strategies.

• Optimizing For Efficiency. Armed with this knowledge, there are a number of ways that a business can significantly reduce device-related waste. It begins by assessing organizational needs. Once identified, underutilized MFPs with unnecessary features can be replaced with lower cost devices that can easily address the organization’s specific needs, and then be deployed throughout the organization. Arranging these devices in key locations can help businesses achieve significant productivity gains as well as cost savings.

For example, an enterprise with large MFPs can move to just one color laser printer for the marketing department, an A3 device for legal affairs and a number of low-cost black-and-white machines closer to employee work areas. This strategy would save in every area, from leasing costs to energy usage as well as through increased employee productivity.

MSPs and hardware resellers can also recommend software and services that improve business processes to maximize cost savings and productivity. For example, intelligent print management/cost recovery solutions can oversee a range of tasks, including activity tracking, cost allocation, quota setting/enforcement, secure printing, job redirect, and reporting. Other productivity tools can capture scanned documents, route them to the proper destinations and retrieve scanned information for use at a later date.

Software solutions are also available to meet security and compliance requirements. For example, healthcare organizations can utilize software to securely integrate MFPs with electronic medical records (EMR) or claims management systems, enabling jobs to be properly transmitted to the appropriate repositories.

It’s important for MSPs, ISVs and hardware resellers continually evaluate all aspects of each client’s IT environment, including print devices. Cost and productivity savings can be achieved when the organization’s print infrastructure is optimized for current business needs. An assessment of an organization’s existing infrastructure, leading to a balanced deployment of devices better able to meet the company’s current needs can create savings and efficiencies that can help the businesses succeed and prosper.

Data source: InfoTrends whitepaper “Device Underuse and Unbalanced Fleets”

Dan Waldinger is the director of services and solutions marketing for Brother International Corporation. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Waldinger leads the Brother SMB initiative, Don’t Supersize. Optimize. Under his leadership, Brother provides resources, self-assessment tools and solutions for SMBs to reduce document-related costs and increase efficiencies.