Printing is a normal routine for most businesses regardless of size although a lot of them rely on print shops for high-volume or high-quality projects such as brochures, photos, and pre-addressed envelopes. The primary objective of outsourcing printing jobs is to increase efficiency and lower costs. But in most cases, the cost goes higher than printing in-house because outside printing companies have their own costs to cover including employee salaries, energy and supplies, equipment depreciation and other related expenses.
A lot of money is involved in printing. That said, it’s always good for any business organization to find ways to reduce printing costs. As a business owner or manager, you can reduce your printing costs by using the right printing equipment and partnering with a competent managed print solutions provider.
Because modern printers are capable of producing quality output at great speeds, the need to outsource printing jobs may no longer be necessary. With the right equipment and assistance from effective MPS print services, you can actually do printing in-house, achieve the same level of quality of your printed output, and save on printing costs.
Here are practical ways you should consider stopping outsourcing printing jobs without sacrificing quality:
1. Identify Your Printing Needs and Objectives
Your first step towards having an efficient in-house document printing system is to identify your printing needs and objectives. To establish realistic results, you need to provide accurate data to the following:
- The volume of print jobs you normally outsource
- The frequency of large print jobs
- The names and quantity/volume of supplies you need to bring your print jobs in-house
- The capability of your existing printing equipment to handle printing demand
- The finishing capabilities of your existing printing equipment (stapling, folding, etc.)
- The training needs of your staff
- Determine whether project scheduling is necessary to ensure that your normal printing operations are not affected
Additional Notes:
If you regularly do large printing projects that are too much for your current printer to handle, then you need to upgrade to a speedier, more efficient printer.
If doing large print jobs in-house can hamper your daily printing activities, you should consider adding quality multifunction printing equipment to your fleet.
2. Consider Quality
Modern print technology has produced fast printers that are able to perform a lot of different tasks such as copying, printing, sending fax messages, etc. A single device with multiple functionalities can mean lower costs. Printing equipment with these capabilities is really beneficial, but you must be sure that behind those benefits, quality isn’t compromised. The assurance of quality is one of the main reasons a lot of companies outsource their print jobs to printing companies. In order to reduce your printing costs without sacrificing quality, you should consider these simple techniques:
2.1 Buy Toner Only from Legit Sources
Toner is available almost everywhere. You can buy it from a printer supplies store, an office supplies seller, or an online supplier. Be warned though that because the demand for toner is high, toner scams have become prevalent. With that said, don’t fall for cheap, refill toner because it will never provide quality.
The best thing you can do to buy quality toner and get real value for your money is to buy it only from authorized suppliers like a trusted MPS print services provider.
You can also prolong the life of your toner by setting your printer to draft mode and in black and white.
2.2 Save on Paper
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an average office worker in the U.S. uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year.
You can reduce printing costs by cutting back on paper usage. To do this, set your default printing preferences to duplex or two-sided printing. This should cut your paper costs in half. You may also prevent unattended printing by setting up the printer to require permission from the print job owner to ensure that all printing jobs are authorized and necessary.
2.3 Control Your Print Environment
Using the right printing / copying devices and identifying the right locations for them does help you to cut costs. Placing efficient multifunction printing equipment in strategic places can give you the opportunity to stop using inefficient departmental and personal printers. By doing so and with the help of a managed print solutions provider, you will be able to control and monitor your print environment.
2.4 Eliminate Your Need for Outsourcing
A competent provider of MPS print services can help you to assess your current print infrastructure in relation to the volume of print jobs you need to accomplish. This will be the basis of the solutions they will recommend to allow you to print in-house. One of their most likely recommendations would be to purchase an efficient multi-function printing device that can:
- Handle paper of various sizes and weights
- Print in high quality color
- Perform advanced finishing capabilities
You might find these tasks challenging especially during the transition period. But with the expert assistance of a capable managed print services team, you will be able to work things out efficiently – because MPS can give you the opportunity to use the right equipment for specific printing needs.
Contact us at 1.844.633.3050 toll-free for effective managed print solutions for your business.