Did you know print is typically the third largest expense for a business after payroll and rent?

That’s a lot of money, which is why a print strategy is essential to any business. Having a print strategy helps you be more cost effective and put in place more efficient workflows.

Sounds great, right? But before we dive into the essentials of a print strategy, we must first know what a print strategy is.

What Is a Print Strategy?

A print strategy is a detailed overview of your complete print processes. Print strategies are supposed to provide transparent insight into your copier and printer fleet, how your equipment is used and your expenses.

Every print strategy is unique, because they take into consideration your unique needs to provide the best solution with the most value.

There are four essential elements to an effective print strategy.

What Is Your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)?

To develop the most cost-effective print strategy, you need to understand your total cost of ownership, or TCO. Your TCO will establish the current state of your print environment. TCO includes many factors such as cost of supplies (toner, paper, staples), your lease, service agreement and cost per page.

While most of your TCO can be discovered through invoices and receipts, cost per page works a little differently. To calculate your cost per page, you must know the price of your toner or ink cartridge and the page yield, or the number of pages one cartridge will produce before it needs changed.

Calculate your own cost per page by using this formula: price of cartridge/page yield= cost per page

For example, if you bought your toner cartridge for $92. 39 and it yields 40,000 pages, the cost per page is: .002 cents.

Your current TCO is a baseline for growth and savings, because a high TCO takes money out of your budget for other essentials.

How Do You Buy Toner?

Toner and ink cartridges are a major element in your print strategy. Without them, your copiers and printers would not be able to print or copy pages.

When creating your print strategy, analyze how you get your toner and ink cartridges. Oftentimes, we encounter businesses who do not have a toner procurement process. This can lead to supply closets full of unused or even wrong toner. How is toner purchased in your business?

Does one of your employees spend hours searching the internet for the right toner at the right price? This is valuable time, which can be used for more vital responsibilities with the help of a managed print services provider.

Has your company fallen victim to a toner pirate? Toner pirates are phone scammers that use urgency to get you to buy toner at astronomical prices.

What Happens When Your Copiers and Printers Break?

Like any machine with moving parts, copiers and printers need maintenance. Who is servicing your copiers and printers? Do you service them, or do you call a managed print services provider?

Are your copiers and printers up and running quickly, or are you waiting for days at a time to receive service? As we all know, time is money. When your copier is down, your employees can’t complete their work processes, which is why a timely response is so vital to your print strategy.

If you do call a provider, do they have to make multiple trips to fix your equipment? First call effectiveness is vital to copier repair and maintenance. If your managed print services provider comes to your office multiple times to fix an issue, they are increasing your machine downtime.

At Access Systems, 80% first call effectiveness due to our trusted on-site copier repair technicians and remote copier service.

When Can You Upgrade Your Technology?

As your company grows and changes so do your workflows. Work processes impact every aspect of your technology, but especially your copiers. With an increase in printing, faxing, scanning or digital filing, your technology needs to keep up with your business.

Upgrading technology doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg. Added features can make workflows more efficient, saving your employees time and you money.

As your technology ages, your copiers and printers will need more maintenance and start functioning slower. If you aren’t with a managed print services provider, calling your copier repair technician more frequently isn’t a cost-effective solution to maintaining your printing devices.

With the managed print services program at Access Systems, if we are not able to service your equipment according to the manufacturer’s specifications, we will replace the equipment with equal or greater technology at no charge.

Get Your Print Strategy in Check with a Managed Print Services Provider

Building a print strategy and assessing your current print environment takes time and effort, but you don’t have to do it alone. At Access Systems, we don’t just become your managed print services provider. We are your business partner.

We don’t just jump in headfirst with all of the answers. Before any contract is signed, our managed print professionals conduct a print assessment, so we can work together to create the right print strategy for your business.

Not ready to take the plunge? Get a Handle on Your Office Printing with These Eye-Opening Questions.