Do you know the details of how print is used in your office? Most companies do not have a full understanding of their print environment which can lead to unnecessary and increased spending. A print assessment is a detailed analysis of your print usage. With this data, you can look for opportunities to save money and increase productivity, improving your bottom line.
Types of Print Assessments
A print assessment can be done in a variety of ways, depending on the size and scope of your company’s print environment. Each can provide valuable data about your print usage to help aid your decisions on how to manage your printing.
A walk around assessment consists of manually taking inventory of each printing device in your office. A configuration sheet is printed at the start and end of the day for one or more days. This sheet allows you to calculate the print usage during the day. From this information, you can extrapolate out to estimate your print usage on an average day, week, and month.
With a software deployment assessment you can get a more detailed analysis of each printer on your network. Tracking software is deployed across all networked devices to collect specific data on each print device. A walk around is then done to assess offline devices. This type of assessment can provide data that leads to as much as an immediate 30% reduction in spending.
For larger, multi-office print environments, you may find an on-site professional assessment more useful. With trained personnel on hand to conduct the assessment and analysis, you can get a better idea of how your print environment works in each office and across all locations.
Print Assessment Results
Regardless of what type of assessment is done, you can expect certain kinds of data from your assessment. This may include:
- Print device inventory
- Black and white print volumes
- Usage of each device
- Usage by department or user
- Print costs by device and page
- Energy consumption.
All of this data can help you spot problem areas for your company, allowing you to enact policies that will help reduce your costs and increase your productivity. A periodic print assessment can also help you see how your policies are working to keep your print spending low. This important tool is essential to a well-managed print environment.