TCO and green considerations

In these tough economic times, the strategy for managing an organisation's printer resources is incredibly important. Most companies are having their IT budgets squeezed,
and printers can often be overlooked as a way to help an organisation save money.

Careful planning is required when installing a new or replacement machine in a department, even though the end users may be demanding a replacement printer immediately. For example, does the replacement machine really need to be a colour laser printer? Does this department really need a multifunction model? Is it time to replace this inkjet printer which is consuming expensive cartridges with a more expensive laser printer, but whose consumables are cheaper?

Inkjets are still hugely popular at the low end of the market, but the downside is the cost of their consumables, and so the total cost of ownership angle needs to be carefully considered before a purchasing decision is made.

How to calculate the TCO

You can often calculate a printer's total cost of ownership by combining the acquisition price, the consumables and electricity cost of all the pages you will produce, and all the other incidental costs including service, repairs and replacement parts. Your total cost will depend on the monthly print volume you require from your printer, and that may also depend on what the printer is capable of doing. For example if the printer has the ability to save money by printing duplex, and whether that ability is easy enough that users will bother with it... or whether it can be set as the default mode.

Each printer will excel in one or more areas, but all must be considered when defining TCO.
It is worth remembering that cost is more than the purchase price. If purchase price was the single criterion of TCO, everyone would buy an inkjet colour printer. However, the design of an inkjet printer that keeps the initial cost down raises the cost of ink cartridges and other consumables. After a year of printing, a small inkjet may actually cost more than a colour laser printer when operational costs are accurately counted.

Printers also consume paper. Sounds obvious I know, but does the printer need special photographic paper or can it use standard paper? Also printers need servicing at
some stage. For example, a transfer belt that can print 100,000 pages before needing
replacement, is considered a maintenance item and will usually require the attention of skilled member of staff.

One of the most effective techniques for reducing the cost of printing is to simply add more users to an existing print device. However, the trade-off here is that more users mean more print volume and more maintenance over time. There are also hidden costs to consider for the lifetime of the printer, such as network management.

For example, one or two networked printers will need network connections and a small
degree of network management. However, a larger printer population will demand increased network management time. Networked printers obviously require a network node, but does the company also consider desk space as a cost?

Also, what about the electricity and air conditioning needed? Another consideration is controlling the end-users. For example, using a top-end printer for printing emails obviously will cost a company more for its resources. Also, is the user wasting valuable time using the fancy printer at the other end of the office? Is a small printer being overloaded with too many users, which will translate into increased orders of paper and ink cartridges through stationery?

Finally there is a software angle. Some printing jobs require special software, or even special fonts. And sometime a software upgrade is required in order to take advantage of the latest printer capabilities.

Green considerations

There are a number of environmental charges laid at the door of printers, not least of which is the toxicity of toner. However a much more common issue comes from wasted power and wasted paper.

Will your office printers be left on over the festive period, even when no one if in the office? Yes, printers have a standby mode, but that still consumes a small amount of power.

Proper power management is just one way a company can reduce their electricity costs, as
well as reduce their carbon footprint. In the UK, large organisations in the public and private sectors are facing a mandatory cap on carbon emissions, due to be introduced in April next year under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). But a recent SAP survey of 400 British businesses qualifying for the CRC, found that the majority of respondents were unprepared for the forthcoming legislation. Meanwhile other research has found that the UK is the worst country in Europe for sustainable printing, with companies wasting up to five percent of their turnover in printouts. Paper wastage can be a significant cost to businesses.

Despite this, the Ricoh report found that 32% of companies allow employees to do what they like with regard to% printing (printing on both sides of the paper) and 19% are either still in the planning stages, or have no plans to implement a duplex printing policy. Only 18% have implemented it. Some manufacturers such as Dell, are now integrating management software into their print equipment by default, so that printer access rights can be clearly defined, such as limiting the number of copies a user may print out, or restricting the use of colour to departments that really need it. Also, all modern printers now have a draft quality print mode, which saves a considerable amount of ink and speeds up the printing process.