Spiralling print costs? Try a DIY audit

Posted By Tom Willshaw June 19, 2013 in DIY, print management solution

It still amazes me, but I visit many organizations that have little or no idea what their current print environment consists of or what it costs. There are simple warning signs that your print environment is not as efficient as it could be, and you will do yourself a big favour if you recognize them as the red flags they are. How do you start the ball rolling when it comes to consolidation and controlling print cost. The answer is, you need to find out what you already have. The first step is a DIY print audit. Take some time to walk around a floor of your office, make notes of the model number of each output device that you find, keep going until you have found 20 printers or MFP’s, then look at the data you have collected. Are there more than three different models in this cross-section of your fleet? Why does this matter?

Each model number (made worse if you have multiple manufacturers) means different supplies for each device.
Are all these supplies purchased from one source or is there even a toner purchasing strategy or plan in place?
By reducing model numbers you increase users' comfort levels, they become familiar with how to quickly print exactly what they need, learn how to replace toner and clear any paper jams.
If you are buying a number of different supplies for each device, toner etc., how do you negotiate bulk rates for these supplies?
Different devices, especially from varying manufacturers often means different print drivers; this is difficult for users to adjust to when their first choice printer is not available.
Supplies become redundant if a device is replaced: using standard devices makes it easy to utilize just in time toner replacement.
Cost variance–each model has varying costs to print associated with it; how do you know if a printer is best suited to each department or workload?
I.T. workload is high, a confused fleet generates more service calls and tickets to I.T. for support, the time spent clearing these tickets is longer and therefore costly.