Tag Archives: Managed Print Services

Document Management, Managed Print Services, Managing Print Costs, Print Management, Secure Print Management

How managed print services cuts the cost of office printing.

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By implementing a managed print service strategy that saves time, money and is ‘green’.

I recently wrote about the differences between managing your print in-house V outsourcing/print management.

Here! Two similar sounding models yet distinctly different!

In the article, I refer to the management of print in-house often referred to as MPS (Managed Print Services)

The lines become easily blurred when talking about print management and MPS?

Many businesses don’t really understand or know the true cost of printing and often there is no method employed to manage and control print spend.

How can you take control of this seemingly mundane yet essential everyday business function?

Take Control of your print NOW!!

managed print services VS print management

Why implement an in-house print management  system?

Simple!

  1. To manage and recover costs
  2. Be able to print anywhere but with the right control mechanisms in place
  3. Reduce paper waste
  4. Increase productivity
  5. Reduce adminstrative costs
  6. Improve profitability by removing the hidden cost of printing and making it visible
Before I continue I should point out that a print management software/hardware solution employed in-house is not the same as print management and outsourcing all your finance/corporate printing.
Whilst the two sound similar and do cross paths, print management is a unique discipline that includes outsourcing anything from a business card, cheque to pens, mugs, mouse mats and all your finance/corporate print.
Managed Print Solutions are about managing the document process and print such as the printing of emails, photo-copying and document archiving in-house.
Implementation of an effective managed print program can see businesses reduce print costs by up to 30%.
Statistics can so easily be manipulated but for the purposes of this article let me provide an example of a US bank that implemented a strategic print management process and removed some 88 million print impressions, cut colour printing by just under 50% and paid for the initial investment within 8 weeks of it being set up. Impressive!

print management

How does it work?

A suite of print management software tools designed for companies, universities and commercial enterprises installed on your network that help you take back control of what you print by monitoring, measuring ongoing management of print activity.
The software is designed to gain a clear picture of what a company needs and then involves the deployment of the proper equipment to meet these needs.
It also helps employees become more aware of their printing habits and enforces print policies where necessary such as routing jobs to the most cost effective devices or by limiting the amount of colour printing.
Using print management software brings accountability and control of printed output to an enterprise, school, university, law practice, and accountancy firm.
User level reporting hi-lights awareness of print habits, costs and helps influence print behaviour to make employees think more before they hit the PRINT button.
It is a simple one step solution which keeps track of output from all connected printers and copiers by providing:-

Take control of your printed output!

  • Accurate – information for all print and copy costs
  • Secure – only releasing documents for output after users authenticate at the device
  • Mobile –  allowing users to send files to print from one location then pick them up across the building or campus
  • Green –  as it can discourage waste and enforces rules for  output
  • Reduce –  print/copy costs and waste around the organisation
  • Redirect –  large jobs +50 pages to a high volume multifunctional product (MFP)
  • Eliminate –  unnecessary printing by allowing users to delete jobs sent in error
  • Auto delete –  jobs in the print queue so they aren’t printed
  • Duplex printing – colour prints
  • Works with existing printers MFP’s and copiers
  • Adapts to any size

How do you regain control of your print spend and reduce print and paper costs?

managed print services

Easy. Click here and one of our advisors will call you.

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  1. What is Print Management?
  2. Secure print tracking software and why organisations need it.
  3. How a managed print service reduces print and paper costs.
  4. How print management saves time and money.
  5. Print Management Solutions for Professional Service Companies.
Document Management, Featured Posts, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management

What's the difference – Managed Print Services v Print Management Services

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Managed Print Services vs Print Management Services?

When two seemingly similar sounding service offerings actually mean completely different business models?

Although they sound the same and are often used in the same context, they are in fact very different from each other!

Here’s how?

Print Management Services

Let me start by describing what print management is! Back in June 2011, I wrote about print management services and the benefits it can bestow on an enterprise or company, a more detailed understanding of it is here!

Optimising print management enables a business or enterprise to “control” costs through an external service provider for all their document and print needs.

This can be anything from a business card, USB stick, offset printing, wide format, apparel and promotional gifts to printed leaflets and magazines.

The benefits of working with a print management partner enables you to make gains financially as your print spend is centralised with one main supplier.

Their ability to locate and provide the print resources you lack in house such as buying power, print expertise, skill and cost budgeting are beneficial to the customer.

Most businesses have no idea what they are spending on print in fact many businesses view print as a necessary evil rather than an essential tool in their business kit and certainly one that can benefit from being outsourced to an external party!

Print management is about managing the purchasing. It really is a mixed print bag of stock control, logistics, distribution, storage, procurement of printed matter designed to deliver cost savings, time savings and controlled spending whilst providing a managed print solution.

Managed Print Services

managed print services

Managed Print Services or Print Management Service

Often abbreviated to MPS also known as enterprise printing services and managed document services.

MPS refers to the active deployment of a centralised management of a fleet or group of hard copy output devices such as photocopiers, digital devices, laser printers and scanners.

In effect it enables the company, school, university to take control of their printed output from any or all of these devices.

Thus controlling what gets printed on what device.

MPS affords the ability to manage and control the cost of the output by providing secure, restrictive, re-directional access to printing devices by setting up company wide rules for output consistently, automatically resulting in responsible printing and minimising waste paper and ink toner.

It is a simple solution designed to keep track of all output from connected printers and copiers by accounting for and recovering costs therefore ensuring convenience but without sacrificing security.

What are the benefits of both?

For example a University would make substantial savings having a managed print service and a print management service provider.

With many staff and students accessing potentially thousands of devices on a network tight control of what gets printed and where is warranted.

Equally a print management service takes away the headache of how to go about printing the Student HandBook or Prospectus as the print management company will have the knowledge and access to the best trade supplier thus ensuring the university gets the job done at the best price.

Both services are in effect managed centrally with MPS enabling an organisation to control their print budget and PMS (print management services) although externalised also managed centrally albeit printing is off sited but with control over monetary spend provided by the PM company who as part of the service provision will seek to manage your print costs.

Which service is better for me?

No hard and fast rule really. A school, university or a law practice could benefit from a combination of both services. A business who has a spend of £50k p.a. on print might well benefit from a PM service as they lack the time and skill to source printed items and may well be running a number of desktop printers and maybe 1-2 copiers.

Compare this say to a university or a big city based law firm where personnel print either from a desk top or remotely and there is no real control over what gets printed and where it gets printed i.e. a document printed in colour when black and white will suffice. An MPS will give them better control over costs.

Where print is ordered on a “when we need it basis” and is managed by different personnel then its highly likely a PM service will save the firm time and money!

managed print servicesBoth services can work in tandem or independently of each other! Both services have the potential to drive a business’ print costs down substantially making the management of print less fraught and time consuming!

By requesting a print audit we will be able to establish what service will benefit your organisation.

So call us now for a free impartial discussion and we will show you how to save money on your print!

 

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  1. What is Print Management?
  2. How can a print management services company save YOU time and money?
  3. How managed print services cuts the cost of office printing.
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  5. The best of 2012. All you need to know about outsourcing in one place.
Outsourcing

12 Reasons to Outsource. Key points to think about when outsourcing.

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Outsourcing

This is the second article featuring Reasons to Outsource.

When the word outsourcing is mentioned it conjures up fear, the prospect of moving to distant shores and the possibility of job losses but it’s not all doom and gloom.

Here are some points to consider when thinking of outsourcing:-

  • The incumbent supplier/provider is responsible for the management of the overall process but YOU the organisation need to actively be involved with the management of the relationship. It’s important you take your time when making decisions governing working with a service provider.
  • Establishing a good working relationship is paramount to ensure longevity of the service. Communication and regular review meetings throughout the set up process are essential.
  • The CEO/MD of the company intending to outsource should nominate a “champion”, a person within the organisation who has the responsibility to take control and manage the project through to completion.
  • It’s important that people within the business particularly within the area that is being evaluated for outsourcing have involvement with the project, they may have concerns over their jobs or the scope of their role within the new infrastructure so keeping them informed at all times minimises the fear factor.
  • If staff are being transferred to the outsourcing provider then you will need to consider employment legislation.
You are likely to get the best results when you are committed to staying with your service provider for several years because it increases the likelihood of building a successful and long lasting relationship.

Outsource

Should I Outsource?

The immediate benefits of outsourcing are fiscal but they can also lead to a better strategy for your company by divesting yourself of non core activities or processes that have outgrown your business and by removing these non core activities can reap substantial benefits.

Consider the following objectives:-

  • Will outsourcing free up your business to focus on its strategy irrespective of whether its selling widgets or providing services.
  • Is it going to improve the efficient running of an area of your business such as Payroll, Billing or I.T?
  • Will you gain a competitive advantage? Will you be better positioned to manage your costs by freeing up capital and having a better understanding of your fixed costs.

How to make outsourcing work for you?

Firstly there must be some form of measurement process and KPI’s (key performance indicators) to establish the success of the project from implementation through to completion of the project. On-going evaluations are key to ensuring continuing success and objectives are achieved.

Whilst financial benefits are important you might be outsourcing to improve a specific business function such as customer service, reducing errors in billing or decreasing the time taken to undertake your payroll.

  1. Know what you are getting into – these days you can outsource any area of your business – call centre operations, I.T. Payroll & HR, AR & AP, Corporate Print, Finance Accounting.
  2. Do you really need to outsource? Having covered this in previous blogs does outsourcing fit into your business plan – in other words do you have a function which has become a burden to the business and no longer fits in with your core business competencies?
  3. Selecting your service partner is also key in the successful migration of your business function. Note how I emphasise ‘partner’ rather than provider. If you are entering into a long relationship not too dissimilar to a marriage you need to take into account the culture, the background and the providers track record in providing similar services to the one you are seeking to outsource.
  4. Ensure you have an SLA that is flexible but at the same time articulates how performance is measured, what the pricing plan is, does it offer the flexibility to manage changes in your finances or industry, what happens if you introduce a new product or service and you are affected by a worsening of the economy your contract should also have an exit clause.
  5. Have a clear exit strategy too and make sure your SLA contains a clause to that effect, in the unlikely event the relationship ends prematurely or your company needs to bring the outsourced function back in house due to economic changes in your marketplace.
  6. Managing the process – the work or department that is being outsourced requires a period of time to understand and adjust to the process resulting in a change of roles for personnel and an increase in the time management spent in overseeing the migration. Are you prepared to spend the time managing the relationship?
    How to outsource

    Outsourcing what? How to manage the process of outsourcing anything?

  7. Work with an independent consultant who has knowledge of the process and will offer effective impartial advice and assist you in selecting the right outsource provider.

  8. What are the costs to your business if you choose not to outsource? Will your business be affected if you can’t afford to invest in the expertise or facilities required to drive your business forward?
  9. Weigh up the costs of administering the business function in house V outsourcing and this should include the costs of personnel and office space, consumables, equipment leased/hired etc
  10. What are your expectations? You need to be realistic and by having a good working relationship with your outsource partner you can set realistic and achievable deliverables right from the outset.
  11. On a final note, its always good to weigh the scales i.e. the FOR V AGAINST for outsourcing because when all is said and done its your business that will ultimately be affected by change and so outsourcing has to be a positive experience for both the company outsourcing and the service provider delivering the solution or service.
  12. An independent advisor will already have established a track record with a variety of service providers and solution specialists to ensure that customers receive the best service at the right price.

Unsure where to start or how to manage the process and need some advice?

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Document Management, Managing Print Costs, Print Management

How can a print management services company save YOU time and money?

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print management

A print management services company takes the P out of paperwork. By consolidating your suppliers and using a print partner saves you time and money because the print management company has access to solutions and services that can be personalised to fit your needs

“We are a print management services company, not a printing company. We help customers streamline their printing costs by outsourcing print and reduce costs through our expertise and access to an extensive network of suppliers/manufacturers. It is through this network coupled with our expertise that enables us to source the right product and/or solution at the right price for the customer”. 

How can you reduce your print costs using a print management services company?

There are two distinct advantages of working with a print management company:

  • Experience
  • Versatility

A print management services company has the experience to manage the outsourcing of a simple print project to a full scale re-deployment of a company’s corporate print.

They are able to adapt to the evolution of a project and can source through its extensive network a manufacturer or supplier capable of delivering a highly customised cross media print solution, it’s what we call a best fit rather than a one size fits all.

Using long standing qualified and influential relationships ensures that the customer’s work is fulfilled at the right price with the right solution tailored to the customers needs.

print management

Print management companies offer free and impartial advice from the design concept through to the completion of a project.

So how does this save a company money?

It’s not rocket science.

It’s all to do with the relationships that have been built up over many years, the sourcing of specific products and solutions dictated by an ever changing market place that enable the print manager to deliver a whole suite of print and electronic solutions impartially and independently without you, the company having to source, learn, understand and do-it-yourself!

An experienced independent print management company will make the customers needs a priority and offer solutions from a variety of vendors to meet those needs giving them a distinct advantage over an in-house solution/service provided by a manufacturer who are only committed to the expertise and equipment they have to sell, which, in some cases, is an oversold piece of kit or a managed service way in excess of what the customer needs.

8 main reasons why you should use a print management services company!

  1. Time saved on sourcing print items and solutions
  2. One supplier – one invoice
  3. Print & production managed by one project manager
  4. On-line print ordering and viewing system, web2print – customer can view and place orders online, see his order status and update
  5. Skill and expertise not available in-house
  6. Accessibility to 1,000’s of unique print, electronic and promotional products; secure managed print solutions
  7. Continuity of service
  8. Storage of printed material now housed remotely with no on-going cost to you.

These are just a few simple ways a business can benefit from removing itself from the task of buying print and related solutions by using a print management consultant.

For an independent discussion on how outsourcing can work for your company please call us.

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  2. What's the difference – Managed Print Services v Print Management Services
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Managing Print Costs

8 Tips to consider when outsourcing billing

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Outsourcing

Outsourcing a business process is a viable and cost effective proposition for many businesses.

When you decide to outsource a business function such as outsourcing billing the risk can be minimised by ensuring you select the right partner.

I use this term because it has to be a relationship, one that works two ways, it’s not an association;  or “just the company we happen to use to do our billing, payroll, print function you are outsourcing it has to be a relationship designed to aid your business which translates onto your bottom line.

Your check list should include the following:

Outsourcing

Deciding which business process should be outsourced is defined by what has become a bottle-neck in your company.

What process/processes are you considering outsourcing? – outsourcing billing, payroll, HR?

What selection process/mechanism are you going to use to find such a company?

Who is going to be responsible for managing the task of selecting the provider?

What criteria of selection should be used to disseminate the good from the bad?

Please don’t make this solely size of turnover or accreditation driven; there are just as many small and large companies doing just a good and bad job of providing services to the end user. If, after an initial discussion a potential supplier can satisfactorily demonstrate in-house quality, policy and procedures that are integral to you and your requirement then don’t rule them out of the picture!

How do I evaluate the service provisions on offer?

I would recommend you think about what credentials the supplier has i.e. years of expertise, references and case studies of projects undertaken. More importantly a genuine gut feel of the person(s) and the company you are talking too!

What are you asking the incumbent supplier to do/provide service wise?

What will my decision making criteria be based upon?

I urge caution here as a decision should never be price driven in our experience this has always been to the detriment of the company seeking to outsource and you will end up by shooting yourself in the foot. Partnering with a company who does it “cheaply” implies that they don’t  have the infrastructure to follow through which means they won’t or can’t deliver what you really want or have asked for!

When is a good deal EVER A GOOD DEAL?

When is a good deal ever a good deal? The cheapest price should never be your main criteria for selection.

When is a good deal ever a good deal? The cheapest price should never be your main criteria for selection.

Has a budget been set for the process OR what cost savings are you looking to achieve?

What timescales are you looking at to implement the project?

Right from the outset you must be clear that once a decision has been taken to outsource you determine a live start up date otherwise the time you spend investing in moving the project forward is worthless and the supplier feels frustrated as they have also invested time and goodwill in assisting with the outsourcing process!

What are your next steps?

Digital Print Management aim to provide an independent outsourcing services for electronic & paper billing, payroll, cheques and secure print management.

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  4. How managed print services cuts the cost of office printing.
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Managed Print Services, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management, Secure Print Management

How print management saves time and money.

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20 pund note

A managed outsource printing service = savings for your business

Easy really, the majority of businesses don’t have a clue how much they actually spend on corporate print such as letter-headings, invoices, paper, consumables in fact, anything print related. This is because there is no methodology to managing the process from purchasing, stocking and re-ordering.

A print management company can provide a fully automated and customised print management service which will help measure and control your printing costs.

The first step in the process is understanding how much your current spend is on print this is achieved by carrying out a print audit of the various documents used by the business.

A print management company seeks to understand why and how documents are used, what the order cycle is and whom the suppliers are? From the information gleaned determines the total print spend!

A project manager oversees the whole process from start to finish culminating in a proposal detailing current print costs V cost savings on the various print items ordered.

Emphasis will be to demonstrate cost savings through efficiency driven processes.

Each quarter, a review of the usage of the various items is undertaken to see where further cost savings can be made. Managing your company print, usage and spend should be an on-going process of analysis and review.

Managed Print Services is at the other end of the spectrum to print management and enables companies to manage the flow of print in an organisation.

Equitrac print management allows you to automatically control and manage how print flows through your organisation – improving productivity and maximising time.

Using print management software organisations are able to set up automated print controls and rules to optimise the way print moves around the company.  Employees can be denied printing certain applications such as email by automatically routing jobs to the most cost-effective printer for that task.

For example a solid ink colour device is more cost effective to print obligatory emails and letters rather than a colour-cartridge-guzzling desktop printer for colour runs, colour print can be prevented altogether unless user authorised.

Industry analysts estimate that 44% of printing is unnecessary

  • People are printing things more than once which is wasting huge amounts of money
  • They may send a document to print, then notice an error on screen
  • A document is not at the printer when they go to retrieve it
  • The toner is low or there is a paper jam

This results in wasted paper, consumables and larger electricity bills. Print management software enable a more efficient, leaner and greener print environment.

What do you think? Have you implemented one or both solutions? How have they worked for you? Please do share your success or disaster stories.

To learn more about how you can regain control of your office printing costs, contact us today.

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How a managed print service reduces print and paper costs
Managing Print Costs, Print Management, Secure Print Management

How a managed print service reduces print and paper costs.

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How managed print service reduces print and paper costs

Managed print services allows user authentication,reduces print/copy costs and reduces paper waste.

Installing a managed print service solution offers substantial cost savings by re-routing and managing the amount of paper and printing processed in your office.

One of the frustrating challenges for organisations is reducing the volume of print and paper processing.

The management of paper, print and print devices cost money but often overlooked because they are seen as essential for modern-day offices and not perceived as a true cost reflected on the bottom line.

Recycling paper, implementing a duplex print strategy (printing both sides) or using recycled paper as part of a company’s drive to go green won’t save a company money in the long term.

Dispensing with mountains of paper often secure or confidential information requires the services of a secure disposal company but that all adds to the costs of managing your paper flow.

Many companies believe that office print is necessary and stockpile paper, re-print if there is an error on the printer or PC without any consideration for the environment or the cost implications to the company.

When an organisation analyses when, where and how often paper is used and what the re-ordering frequency is, do the printing costs then become visible?

Implementing a managed print service strategy does help reduce print costs, removes unwanted printing and enforces print rules such as using black rather than colour or simplex/duplex printing.

Companies are overburdened with many print devices – desktop printers, scanners, photocopiers with employees territorial and protective of their printers.

Cost reductions are achievable with a reduction of 3:1 by implementing modern MPS (managed print services) and MFPD’s (multi-functional print devices).

Include sizeable reductions in consumables used across an organisation and the cost savings are evident.

With a mobile workforce, employees want to be able to print anytime and anywhere.

One critical issue that halts the adoption of MPS is security.

Securely printed information runs the risk of being visible to prying eyes without MPS implementation and the management of how and when printed documents are managed in the paper flow is critical.

How a managed print service reduces print and paper costs

Secure print tracking software eliminates confidential information being left on the printer.

  • How do you prevent wasting paper prints?
  • How do you keep printer consumable costs down?
  • What happens to unclaimed documents?
  • How do you print off secure documents without a desktop printer?

By removing the need to rely on a single printer, users are able to divert their print jobs to the most cost-efficient printer and not have to worry about a device being out of service or having to wait for I.T. to resolve the problem.

Using secure print technology with user authentication ensures that the right device is selected, when it is printed and by whom as the print job can only be released when the user authenticates the print job at the device.

A secure document release application and secure print tracking software encourages user mobility, minimises paper waste and protects personal information and customer confidentiality.

Intelligent print rules and routing software removes the burden of the user to decide which printer is best for each job because when the user hits “print” a window pops into view advising the user which printer and what the cost is for the printing of the job.

Implementing an MPS solution will save you time and money in the long term and there are some easy to implement solutions that can be put in to practice without delay in addition to utilising a managed print services solution:

How a managed print service reduces print and paper costs

Managed print services reduce print costs, removes unwanted printing and enforces print rules

  1. Duplex (double-sided) printing get more out of each of the pages you print, print the odd pages first by setting your printer and then print the even pages thus reducing the number of sheets you use; particularly useful for when you want to print notes.
  2. Print using a smaller font/typeface – as long as you can read you will find more content will fit onto an A4 sheet.
  3. Check before you print – the print preview button ensures you see what you are printing. Changing the margins or scaling the document ensures you optimise the whole sheet for printing.
  4. Print only the pages you need – using the print preview button you only print the pages you want. In the print dialog box enter the page ranges required.
  5. You can adjust your page settings by reducing the header and footer and left/right margins enabling you to fit more content onto the page reducing the number of pages printed.
  6. Print multiple pages onto a single sheet of paper using font size 12 which tends to be the default setting, the document is still legible.

Finally, you can significantly reduce your print costs by working with a print management specialist who will evaluate your print requirements and understand your MPS requirements.

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Managed Print Services, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management

Outsource Printing V Printing In-House

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Outsourcing print saves a company time and money.

 

In the years I have been involved with outsourcing print one question that always comes up is the case for and against outsourcing print!

Print Outsourcing or outsource printing is not a new phenomenon by any means however, there are still many UK companies that manage their print in-house, in fact as I write this article I will be meeting with an independent foreign bank to discuss this very topic!

I am very biased of course, it’s a no brainer to me. I know that over the years we have saved companies thousands of £’s which has translated onto their bottomline!

However, I like to consider the customers perspective and fears, for example: “It’s too expensive!”, “Will I really see cost savings?”, “Just the thought of talking about it sends me into a cold sweat!” “I don’t want to give up control!” “The M.D. wants us to do our own!”

These are some of the comments that actually make me and my team cringe and have cropped up in our exploratory discussions over the years we’ve been promoting the argument for print outsourcing.

Come on, I bet you already do some form of outsourcing; take the domestic situation, maybe you outsource the ironing, or you have some domestic help with the cleaning all with the aim of saving YOU TIME. This is called domestic outsourcing. You are entrusting a service provider to deliver a specific service to suit your needs. So what’s the difference?

Whether to print in-house or not is an important decision for a lot of businesses.

But the real issue is the true cost of printing in-house?

When I refer to true cost I mean the £’s, time, the invisibles which a business can’t really quantify.

Big printer/copier manufacturers have spent vast amounts on promoting to businesses that printing in-house is cheap, fast and more efficient however, this is rarely the case. Printer manufacturers rely on us mere mortals to purchase again and again.

After the initial investment in your chosen printers or MFD’s (multi-functional devices), what about everything else?

Paper, ink/toner, maintenance, drums, fusers, repairs, power and the biggest cost on a company’s bottom line TIME.

Yes, time it takes to evaluate, source and buy or lease your print devices.

Then you’ll need the ancillary equipment, if you’re going to be printing and despatching your invoices in-house then you will need mailing equipment and so the list goes on. Oh, by the way, don’t forget about the training and the personnel required in-house to operate the machinery, then, what happens if he, she/they leave!

Printers and associated equipment bought or leased are often oversold in other words, are of a very high specification and way in excess of the requirement of the company’s needs.

So many times I have seen customers stuck with equipment that is either under used because they have been oversold or not configured or designed for the tasks required by the company allied to that a contract that states in order for them to have the kit at an attractive rate they need to lease hire for something like 5 years+!

Outsourcing by now is looking a very attractive option for the business owner surely?

Outsourcing Print is a viable and cost effective proposition for many businesses.

Big companies are tempted to look at the large manufacturers to provide “managed print services“; in which the vendor takes control of the customer’s production of corporate, office and marketing documents typically owning the machines, providing training on how to use them, maintenance and most likely take a per page or click charge.

In-house printing comes with a pretty hefty price tag when the above are factored in to the equation and then there is the lease hire agreement and the commitment the company then has to make to the vendor to ensure he hits the click rate/nos of pages printed monthly, heaven forbid if he doesn’t!

Some businesses are too small for managed print services to be able to offer competitive pricing but the reality is there are many print management companies who will provide an excellent service at a fair price.

Coupled with the fact that we take the headache away by sourcing printed matter, material, consumables and thus streamline printing costs with ruthless efficiency making it a better proposition to outsource to an independent print manager than purchasing and running the equipment in-house.

One final thought on the above, independent means just that; as a print management company we are independent we aim to deliver a managed print service or print solution and are driven by the customers needs and wants.

Call us for an informal chat and with no obligation and see if what we can do for you!

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Managed Print Services, Managing Print Costs, Outsourcing, Print Management

Outsourcing Print Services. How To Manage the Process of Outsourcing Print?

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Man worrying about print outsourcing

 

How to manage the process of outsourcing print?

Outsourcing whether it is printing, payroll printing or invoice processing, or outsourcing an entire department is about how a company manages the entire process of a particular business function that is or has become a costly, inefficient and time-consuming process to manage in-house.

A truer definition of what is now commonly referred to as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) is the contracting of a specific task such as payroll or billing to a third party provider (referred to as back office outsourcing) BPO is often implemented as a cost saving measure for tasks that a company requires but is now finding onerous and time consuming to manage in-house.

It’s hardly rocket science but nonetheless companies particularly the SME scratch their heads and ponder whether its worth considering because outsourcing any process has connotations such as “It’ll surely end up costing more, you don’t really save money, please don’t tell me its all about non core business” and one our favourites, “I don’t have time!”

There are inherent risks associated with print outsourcing for example “

Outsourcing Print. How to manage the process of outsourcing print?

Outsourcing Print. How to manage the process of outsourcing print?

Who or what company do you choose to manage this process?

How do you find a print management company to facilitate the implementation?

And here’s the real kicker, after you’ve done the research, irrespective of the companies’ on your selection list; and the various case studies of the customers they supply which reads something along the lines of the top 10 of the Fortune 500;  you may choose to do a credit check to ensure that the balance sheet looks healthy, after all, you don’t want to be going through this pain again in another year. Site visits are a must to ensure service provision.

You will, and I am assuming at this juncture, have eliminated a number of wannabee’s; end up with list of say 2 maybe 3 potential print suppliers that you believe understand your future requirements and are actually listening to you not selling what they think you should have!

Will you be able to entrust the chosen one, “the print management company” with managing the process for you?

The answer is Yes, you can!

When you decide to outsource a business function the risk can be minimised by ensuring you select the right partner and I use this term because it has to be a relationship, one that works two ways, it’s not an association; nor is it just the company we happen to use to do our billing, payroll or whatever print function you are outsourcing, it must be a relationship designed to aid your business which translates onto your bottom line.

So how do you achieve this?

Having a strategy that involves the relevant departments employees and company owners. It’s the people involved in the processes who know what the drawbacks or the inefficiencies are in the department currently.

A check list should include some of the following:-

What process/processes are you considering outsourcing?

What selection process/mechanism are you going to use to find such a company?

Who is going to be responsible for managing this task of selection?

What criteria of selection should be used to disseminate the good from the bad?

Please don’t make this solely size of turnover or accreditation driven; there are just as many small and large print management companies doing just a good and bad job of providing services to the end user. If after an initial discussion a potential print supplier can satisfactorily demonstrate quality policy and procedures that are integral to you don’t rule them out!

How do I evaluate the service provisions on offer? This might be what are you asking the incumbent supplier to do for you?

What will my decision making criteria be based upon? We urge caution here as a decision should never be price driven in our experience this has always been to the detriment of the company seeking to outsource and you will end up by shooting yourself in the foot.

Partnering with a company who does it “cheaply” implies that they don’t  have the infrastructure to follow through which means they won’t or can’t deliver what you really want or have asked for!

Finally has a budget been set for the process OR what cost savings might we be looking to achieve?

How many companies over the years have  we visited who don’t know what it costs to process, print and send documents out of the building in which they reside or know what their print spend truly is?

Determining from the outset why you want to outsource will drive your strategy, will empower company owners and employees to see tangible benefits which will ultimately translate into cost reduction and improved cash retention for the business.

Requesting a print audit is the first step along this dusty path, it will cost you nothing and will give you a good indication as to how you manage your print spend.

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Print Management

What is Print Management?

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print management

What is print management?

Print management is the process of outsourcing your print including office and business printing to a print management specialist who will project manage your printing from proofing to finishing, mailing, stocking and fulfilment.

Print management is complex depending on the work involved and is often bewildering to organisations. The internet has made it easier for companies to source printing directly but without an understanding of print and knowledge of what their project requires could mean you spend more than you need to.

Introducing print management.

There is a myriad of print management companies their services differ so it is important to detail what your project entails before you start searching for a print management company.

If you want to outsource your payslips then Digital Print Management offers that service and have the expert knowledge to guide you through the process.

Print management is a mixture of many disciplines from procurement, storage, fulfilment, stock control and distribution of printed material designed to provide cost savings while delivering a managed print solution.

Print management is also about managing the purchase process.

Many companies are deluged with paper, businesses overprint, overstock, over-order print items eighty per cent of UK businesses don’t really know what their print is costing them.

There are real savings to be had by working with an independent print management company. 30% is a real possibility depending on the nature of the work. Why then aren’t companies not beating down the doors of print managers?

Print is a diverse product it covers anything from a business card to a printed USB stick, mouse mat, cardboard boxes through to the supply of office furniture/equipment to web design, e-commerce and e-marketing such is the diversification of a print manager’s toolbox.

Print is purchased from one department to another with no autonomy forcing the cost of office print upwards, therefore the true cost of print is absorbed by different cost centres.

Print is a diverse product

Although print is perceived as a necessary evil rather than a business process that can or should be improved it is overlooked in terms of tangible benefits it offers a business.

In my experience, many companies continue to define print as business cards, letterheadings and company brochures but it is more.

It is an area of a business that is perfect for outsourcing but often it is overlooked because companies don’t have the time, expertise and knowledge to do so.

Print falls into the ownerless category and ordering daily and discreetly in company departments is a common occurrence; with multiple suppliers, inconsistent quality and often shortfalls in critical printing such as a company’s transactional documents.

Print management

Print management is a multidisciplinary approach to managing and sourcing print for you. Including management and purchasing of print, finding solutions to problems and reducing the flow of paper

This is where a print management company comes in.

A Print Management’s business is print and we know about all things print.

It is a specialist discipline in sourcing and providing bespoke print solutions and printed matter for the customer.

Your core business is providing a service or product not printing so why get involved in print when a print management company can facilitate all your print requirements including project management saving time and money!

Many businesses will benefit from some form of managed print solutions because they don’t possess the knowledge, the time to develop the internal infrastructure to physically manage the purchasing, lack resources and the supplier base that a print manager will have developed and cultivated through many years of trading.

4 Things a Print Management company will do to assist a company’s need to centralise print purchasing:

1. Analyse and carry out a print audit of all printed items used by the company

2. Understand the paper flow i.e. who orders what, when and why, how is the product used

3. Review the supplier base to ascertain with a view to providing a more streamlined and sustainable approach to managing print

4. A detailed proposal which will provide an effective, more streamlined process which in turn will show a reduction in total print spend

Top Tips to assist companies with print outsourcing

1. Engage with a proven print management company that can bring the expertise you are looking for specifically whether it is print management, payroll or e-billing.

2. Identify the key personnel internally who will run the process; who will oversee compliance and conformity

3. Identify key areas of spend (this will have been highlighted during a print audit by the print manager) and this should be across all departments, payroll, marketing, credit/billing.

Print management

4. Keep any design/creativity spend separate from print i.e. if you work with a design agency that has a completely different skill set required by your company

5. The business needs to be ready to face change management, there will undoubtedly be some internal resistance to outsourcing print by being transparent and open will cause less confusion and resistance from employees

6. If the costs regarding the current print spend are unquantifiable then don’t be overly concerned; the Print Manager will start to create relevant management information on stock, print type and spend.

The print manager will be responsible for giving you up to the minute information on print spend and within 3-6 months you will have a bank of data to work from to help you set a more concrete print budget for the next 6 months.

What do you think? How are you managing your print costs? Do you know how much your organisation spends on print each year?

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