Economic Impact of Documents
If this were an unimportant area of your business, knowing and managing the Total Cost of Ownership would not be important. However, since office printing consumes 1-3% of annual revenues, printing is critical expense area to understand. Given that overall print volumes grow at 11% per year (and color print volumes, costing 3-5X black & white prints grow at 19% per year), managing this expense is vital.
Most companies have no idea about the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of their office printing. With the fragmented way that printers are purchased, supplied and managed, costs end up buried in multiple budget lines. It’s no wonder that discovering the actual TCO is challenging.
What is Your TCO?
When companies discover the actual economic impact their printing environments most are surprised. Consider the multiple areas of expense:
Supplies
The largest cost component of printer operation is the supplies. Print cartridges often cost over $100 each and are typically unmanaged, buried in office supply purchases. Bloated inventories, early disposal of cartridges and easy theft boost the cost of supplies.
Power
In some states the cost of powering printer fleets may soon exceed the cost of supplies. Most printers are used at a fraction of their duty cycle. Redundant devices in areas where printers, copiers and fax machines sit next to each other enhance the problem.
Hardware
Most companies have more hardware than they need. Typical user-to-device ratios of 2.5 people per device are much lower than they need to be. Fragmented purchasing of printers by IT and copiers by facilities without an overall strategy leads to needless redundant hardware purchases.
Maintenance and Repair
Printer repair is typically done on an ad hoc basis. Time and material service calls are more expensive when done outside the umbrella of a fleet-wide service and preventative maintenance arrangement.
IT Support
Up to 50% of IT help desk calls are related to printers. Multiple print drivers for multiple brands and models of printers complicate management, especially when it is time for a system upgrade. Most IT departments are not equipped to do the mechanical repairs that printers require.
When you add up all of these items, you quickly see how the TCO of printing can be a large and growing expense.
