Printer fleet management is a lot of work, especially when the system isn’t centralized. In a typical business scenario, the IT department oversees printer management—from maintenance to security—while office management is usually in charge of assigning permissions and rights to use various machines and limit print volumes. Stocking supplies like paper, ink, and other much-needed resources to ensure proper printer function is the responsibility of the purchasing team.

Just looking at this alone, the problem is clear: When enterprise document management is in the hands of multiple departments with different priorities and even more core functions to deliver, the system can easily fall apart and be neglected, resulting in great inefficiencies and losses.

This is why it is best to invest in managed print solutions that are designed to help businesses see through the challenges of managing printing fleets and document handling processes.

A decentralized print management system makes it difficult to get accurate numbers and data on printer usage, preventing businesses to see the real issues holding printing systems back from maximum and consistent productivity and uptime. With the right managed print solutions, organizations can reduce inefficiencies and costs by at least 30% while ensuring a smoother workflow within the organization, ultimately resulting in increased productivity and growth. 

The Future of Printer Management

It has been projected that by 2021, at least 45% of printers to be shipped will be part of printing-as-a-service setups. As interest in managed print solutions increases, this projection isn’t difficult to believe, especially now that more and more IT departments are steering away from legacy technologies that are simply not able to cope with the fast-changing and fast-moving technological landscape. As digital transformation becomes an even bigger movement, companies need to be on the cutting edge of technology in order to stay ahead of the pack or in even more practical terms, to stay afloat in the business space.

Print and document management is a critical component of a business’ daily workflow. Networked printers represent an efficient way to operationalize document management by making sure that networked devices (those that print, copy, scan, and deal with documents) are seamlessly integrated into the business workflow.

Optimizing the Business Environment

The first challenge that businesses typically need to overcome when it comes to enterprise document management is the lack of proper data on the actual status of the networked system. It is crucial to know exactly how much your business is spending on supplies as well as on inventory just sitting around, unused. You also need to determine how much you are losing on printer breakdowns and other inefficiencies. With the right system in place, it is easier to keep track of user activities and other critical system issues that can help you optimize your strategies and make sure that the system is properly streamlined to reduce losses and maximize productivity.

With proper data collection, you are well on your way to a better print management system as you get the real numbers and insights on crucial aspects of document management—such as the actual number of print devices within your fleet, the types, makes, and models of these devices, how these machines are being used, and the overall condition of these devices. You can also track other statistics like page volumes, percentage or distribution of mono and color print jobs, technical issues, and supply usage. All this information is critical in assessing the actual needs of your organization and evaluating productivity and bottom-line benefits of your proposed strategy or solution.

With this information and insights at hand, it will be easier to right-size and custom-fit managed print solutions for your unique requirements—all while avoiding usual pain points in print management like excess spending on supplies, unauthorized usage, downtime, inefficiencies, and bottlenecks, as well as security threats.

Plus Technologies is your reliable partner when it comes to enterprise-grade managed print solutions. The company offers a wide range of document management systems and services, working closely with each client to meet the unique needs of the business.