While the cost of a printer or multifunction device (MFD) may seem fairly reasonable, given the important role it will play in your business, have you considered the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a printer or MFD?
By Total Cost of Ownership, we mean how much it will cost you to run and maintain your printers and MFD’s throughout their life. You may be surprised to know that the cost of running and maintaining your printers over their lifetime will typically exceed the original purchase price several times over.
For many businesses, printing is often the third highest business operation cost – only exceeded by staff wages and building rent. One of the biggest costs of printing is consumables, such as ink, toner and paper. If you are considering buying a printer or MFD make sure you do your homework and research the cost of consumables before you commit.
What Factors Impact a Devices Total Cost of Ownership?
There are many factors that can impact on the Total Cost of Ownership of a printer or MFD, these include:
- Cost of consumables (e.g. ink, paper, toner etc)
- Business printing levels – how often will you need to replace consumables?
- Electricity consumption – how much electricity will your device use and what is its energy rating?
- Maintenance costs – will this be managed in-house (additional salary) or outsourced (supplier contract)
- Amount of user intervention needed – i.e. to deal with paper jams or other device malfunctions
Understanding the factors that can contribute to a printers Total Cost of Ownership ensures you are well equipped when doing your research. Your business will likely have an accurate measure of your printing and consumable levels, the cost of consumables and cost per print will vary from device to device so make sure you are clear on these before purchasing.
Also, looking for a device with a good energy rating can help reduce your electricity consumption costs, many modern printer solutions have energy-saving features that can help reduce your energy usage.
Calculating Total Cost of Ownership
Working out the Total Cost of Ownership for printers and MFDs allows you to place a single value on the devices complete lifecycle to help you make an informed decision about the solution that is best for your business.
There are three factors to consider when calculating a printers Total Cost of Ownership, they are:
- Physical hardware costs – this is the cost of printer or MFD
- Printing costs – what does it cost to print a page? For example, if your cost per print is 5p per page and you plan to print or copy 1,000 pages per month over a period of 5 years, this will cost £3,000.
- Cost of consumables – low-cost consumables may not be the most cost-effective solution. Cheaper consumables may need to be replaced with an unacceptable frequency which in the long run will cost your business more.
Alternative to Owning Printers
A Managed Print Service or MPS as it is otherwise known, is a service offered by print providers to manage all aspects of your business printing. From devices, such as printers, scanners, faxes and copiers, to maintenance and servicing and support.
An MPS partner can also help track how the devices are being used to optimise print management, document workflow, office productivity, print security and reduce operational costs.
Benefits of MPS
An MPS can enable businesses to improve their efficiency, productivity and information security. There are many benefits of partnering with an MPS provider such as CRS including:
- Saves time and improves efficiency
- Reduces operational costs
- Boosts productivity
- Lowers capital expenditure and improves cash flow
- Helps improve your environmental footprint
- Enables your business to be more agile
- Achieves better information security
Why CRS?
Whether you’re running a small office with a single photocopier, or a multi-site enterprise with a fleet of multi-function devices (MFDs), you can expect the same levels of ongoing customer service from CRS. This is because ours is a business built on long-term relationships, not quick sales.
Our technology-led solutions streamline businesses, helping save money and improve office productivity. But as well as looking after the financial interests of our customers, we also aim to make life so much better for their workforce.
To help optimise your print environment and boost your office productivity, we make it our business to learn all about yours. Indeed, before any solutions are specified, it’s the role of our experienced account managers to gain an insight on how you work – by listening to you, engaging with key stakeholders and seeking the input of your IT team and equipment users.
Talk to CRS about how we can help you optimise your office printing and reduce your operational costs with our Managed Print Services.
We help businesses in Oxford, Reading, Abingdon and the surrounding areas ensure their offices are environmentally friendly and running as efficiently as possible. Get in touch with us on 01235 555531 or complete our enquiry form and we’ll get back to you shortly.