Business Copiers

Copiers in a business environment can be a blessing or a curse.  Fortunately, this is nothing new to the world and there are now many options available that are designed to make sure each business has every opportunity to stay on the blessed side of the equation.

Whether it’s a poorly build machine, that isn’t designed for a high workload, or employees making thousands of useless documents on the companies dime, there is usually some form of waste in any business setting.

This McDonald’s commercial has been on a lot lately and every time I see it I can’t help but cringe knowing that this type of scenario is actually not that uncommon in a business setting.

At just 1 or 2 cents per page, the cost seems small initially, but over several years, the cost of wasted printing can be astronomical.  And add on the wasted energy and lost time and, well it’s enough to make any business manager spring into action.  Or at least it should be.

Easy Solutions

It’s all about analysis.  If detail oriented people ruled the world, things would get done at a staggeringly slow pace.  However, when they did get done, it would be done right.  Since most business management types are more result oriented, it is fortunate that there have been engineers working on solutions for years now that they can grab and use right away.

So what are these so called business copier abuse super heros?

In a nutshell:

• Print Management Software
• Document Management Software

Just the mention of these two solutions and business owners sometimes tuck their tales and run.  Management software systems of old left us the impression that these solutions are always EXPENSIVE, labor intensive, and really not that effective.

Here’s the thing, both print management and document management are entirely different that most enterprise software programs used to be, and they have made huge progress in the market within the last several years.  They are not only surprisingly AFFORDABLE (starting at around $20 per month for most SME’s) but also very easy to integrate and use (installation can take just minutes).

In fact, print management software is usually already built in to most modern business copiers and many don’t even know how to take advantage of it.  Simple employee coding can be set up on a copier to track and manage each employees use and even make print jobs more secure.

The basic print management included with a copier  has limitations, however, and in future posts we will try to explain why we believe it’s critical for every business to invest in these software solutions.

Back to the Basics

When it’s boiled down, these software solutions should easily pay for themselves in the cost savings gained by optimizing document management and production with business copiers.

Here are a few questions to lead into the next post about print management software (document management comes later):

1. How many color prints does your business make per month?
2. How many of your employees are making personal or unnecessary prints on the companies dime?
3. Can 11X17 paper be used to create booklets of documents?
4. Are there any low end machines receiving a high number of prints that could be diverted to a larger, more cost effective machine?
5. Does your business keep a closet full of back up toner?