Office Multifunction Printers are Four times cheaper to run than Desktop Printers
A common dilemma in today’s office environment is prevalent at the Fuzzy Orange Widget Company. It has a Canon copier to make document copies, a desktop laser printer to print documents. In order to send the document to another location, they fax it from a fax machine.
Their paper usage is through the roof, their printers and fax use three different kinds of toner, and three different agencies for maintenance.
Why? Because it is the way they have always done it. Not to mention three suppliers of toners and three vendors for maintenance. Sound familiar?
Desktop printers were introduced decades ago, in the form of dot matrix printers. The early desktop printers were made for IBM and for Epson and used a 6 pin dot matrix to print.
Since that time, printers have evolved into today’s standard of high quality.
With the introduction of these high quality desktop printers the world instantly changed and a new way of producing professional documents with ease was introduced.
Desktop printers are seen in nearly every home that has a computer and desktop printers are largely used in the office environment today.
So why should we compare Office Multifunction Printers (MFD’s) versus desktop printers?
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Why would a company have desktop printers in their offices even though the operational costs can sometimes be 400% more than that of an Office Multifunction Printer (MFD)?
Reasons for having a desktop printer
One good reason for having a desktop printer in the office environment is for confidential printing or keeping the document away from prying eyes or those unauthorized to view it.
This situation is found in payroll or in legal firms where confidentiality is paramount.
Another reason (and this is my favourite) is that having a separate printer to other pieces of equipment is that it provides backup in the event of outage due to maintenance or malfunction.
The third reason I find for having a desktop printer is one of cost. They are significantly less expensive to buy than multi-function devices (easier to get approval to buy!).
Now, let’s take a further look why this argument persists between copiers and printers.
Reasons for having an Office Multifunction Printer
When an office printer consultant advises you that putting all of your equipment together in to a brand new multi function printing device, they are not just doing so to get a bigger sale with a better piece of equipment.
They are actually advising you on how to save time, money and effort!
Confidential printing is an excellent idea and a good office printer consultant should always make sure his clients in specific industries protect their documents through correct document automation.
The latest in technologies for Office Multifunction Printers (MFD’s) provides user authentication security and allows secure-print jobs to be processed.
Any user on the computer network can send a password protected print to the Office Multifunction Printer (MFD) and save the print until that he/she is at the device to enter the correct password (using a mailbox).
This reflects exactly the same method as outlined above (printing a document so that others can not view). But here is the kicker: This method can reduce printing costs in an instant by up to 400%!
Now, about the maintenance issue of having ‘down-time’ on an Office Multifunction Printer (MFD) if a problem occurs? Excellent question!
It is true that when maintenance is required on an Office Multifunction Printer (MFD) that there will be a period when the office printer device will be out of service. How are we to overcome this?
I would recommend having either redundant Office Multifunction Printers(MFD’s) (if your print volume justifies the cost) or having a back-up printer to be used only during maintenance periods, thus ensuring that printing will not stop during maintenance periods or when the occasional glitch occurs with your Office Multifunction Printer(MFD).
In general, printers are reliable devices!
Maintenance can also be scheduled during off hours or during periods of low demand.
Printers are cheaper… to buy but the comparison in cost ends right there. But what is so great about purchasing a cheaper piece of equipment when it costs four times as much to run in consumables?
There is no justifiable cause in owning a cheap desktop printer or even a cheap Multifunction Printer if it is going to throw your Profit & Loss statement into the ditch.
Consider your options when it comes to how you run and set up your office printing environment as you could be losing money by the print.
Which has greater impact on the operation…having to walk a few feet to another desktop printer or incurring the cost of an additional printer or copier that is used only as a backup?
Use the same printer device, print through your Office Multifunction Printer (MFD), copy on the Office Multifunction Printer (MFD), scan to email from the Office Multifunction Printer (MFD), Internet Fax from the Office Multifunction Printer(MFD) & fax from the Office Multifunction Printer(MFD) and you can print from your Smartphone to your Office Multifunction Printer (MFD).