Print control and management. Print control and printer control in the company for local and network printers
Purposes of creation- Minimizing the risks of data leakage and loss when printing and copying confidential documents.
- Optimization of printing and supply costs effective use equipment.
- Management of printing processes and optimization of document flow.
- Secure document output and copy control.
- Secure storage and processing of all documents sent for printing.
- Centralized system administration and print policy management.
- Monitoring information flows and obtaining detailed statistics about users and devices.
The growing number of different printing devices significantly complicates the processes of providing information security within the organization. Typically, divisions information technologies and security have little control over critical information during and after printing is completed. Routing errors or loss of documents during printing can negatively affect the security of confidential data, even if information security measures are implemented at various levels of the corporate network. It is very important that the employee who sent the print job receives a printout of the document, and not someone else.
Printed copies of documents are the simplest and most convenient way to obtain personal data (PD) for the violator. According to data from the InfoWatch analytical center for 2013, the main channel for personal data leaks has been paper documentation for many years now.
The ELVIS-PLUS company offers an effective solution to the problem of print control and management. The proposed system is created on the basis of products from manufacturers - leaders in the segment of print control and management tools - Ysoft, Ringdale and ARTI.
The proposed solutions based on the functions performed can be divided into 3 groups:
- copy control system CopySafe (ARTI);
- print control and management system Print-Control Pro (ARTI);
- control and management systems for printing and copying SafeQ (YSoft) and FollowMe Printing (Ringdale).
The CopySafe system is designed to control access and obtain information about document copying sessions. CopySafe allows you to receive an image of the document being copied and statistical information about the session of working with the copy device.
The system is a hardware and software complex. The hardware includes an information capture device built into a copy machine or MFP and a user identification system using a contactless magnetic card. For unauthorized users, the copy function becomes unavailable. When copying a document in parallel with reading the original, its digital fingerprint is sent to the archive (database) and/or to a security specialist, depending on the policies adopted in the organization.
Key features of CopySafe:- Controlling access to the document copying function;
- Formation of an archive of images of copied documents;
- The ability to search for documents in the archive for conducting official investigations and updating the list of confidential information.
The Print Control Pro software solution contains a set of tools for managing, monitoring and ensuring the security of printed document flow. The solution is designed to minimize the risks of information leakage during the printing process and optimize the cost of maintaining office equipment.
Key Features:
- Collecting statistics from local and network printing devices.
- Formation of an archive of images of documents sent for printing.
- Possibility of searching documents in the archive for conducting official investigations.
- Contextual analysis the contents of the printed document for the presence of confidential information.
- Notifying the security service about the printing of a document containing confidential information by a person who does not have the rights to print such information.
FollowMe Printing and SafeQ are comprehensive software and hardware solutions for managing the printing of documents. The solutions work with printing devices from any manufacturer, and also have options in the form of terminals - MFPs with built-in software and authentication tools.
Key Features:
- Print and copy security. The user receives tasks only after authorization on the printing device.
- Only authorized users also have access to copier, fax and scanner capabilities.
- Accounting and quotas. The system allows you to receive detailed reports on printed and copied jobs.
- Routing jobs and printing according to the rules. The user can receive his jobs on any printer connected to the system, which reduces downtime in the event of equipment failure.
The system architecture using the FollowMe Printing solution as an example is shown in the figure:
The printing process does not change for the user when the system is implemented; print jobs are sent from any available applications. The job is sent to the Q-Server virtual print server and stored there until the user logs in to one of the devices using a personal card. Only after authorization are user jobs printed on the printer.
- Username/password in the MS Windows AD domain.
- PIN codes.
- Contactless cards (HID (I, II), EM-Marine, Mifare, iClass, Hitag, Cotag, Legic, Indala, ISO, Deister).
- Magnetic cards.
- Barcodes (QR).
- Fingerprint's scanner.
- Increase data security when printing and copying sensitive documents.
- Reducing the organization's printing and copying costs and increasing the efficiency of equipment use.
- Increasing the efficiency of the company's information security department.
As a rule, very often neither the management of the organization nor the IT service have any idea of the amount of printing costs, mistakenly believing that they are not so large as to waste time and effort on calculating and optimizing them.
At the same time, hardly anyone would argue that one properly selected high-performance printer will cost much less to operate than a dozen personal devices. Maintaining a fleet of equipment consisting of many printers and MFPs with unreasonably high cost ownership, is more expensive and less susceptible to monitoring for abuse (printing extra copies of files or documents that could be done without, as well as the use of printers by employees for personal purposes).
Print audit and optimization begins with monitoring printers and analyzing business processes where printing is involved. It is necessary to ensure that the printing devices used correspond to real loads (both everyday and peak), and to take into account the rationality of their placement in the workspace. Then, based on the data obtained, optimization is carried out, which may include:
- refusal to print paper documents where electronic ones can be used
- reducing the number of copies of printed documents
- replacement of expensive to maintain outdated equipment
- reduction in the number of brands and models of printers
- limiting the use of color when printing
- arrangement of equipment taking into account actual print volumes and user convenience
The solutions we offer for collecting statistics, auditing and monitoring printing will allow you to eliminate problems in your organization such as “forgetfulness” of those responsible for ordering consumables, as well as abuse in the form of printing information not related to work or unjustified use of color printing.
Print control, security and print authorization solutionsMore and more attention is being paid to information security issues. And if control of such leakage channels as mobile media, the Internet, Email etc., in many companies is provided at the proper level, then control of printing and copying still causes headaches for both administrators and the security service.
A dilemma arises: printing large amounts of information on personal printers is expensive, and if you do not use systems and programs for secure printing, then ineffective control over network printing devices can lead to leaks, either due to malicious intent or completely by accident.
On the one hand, a situation very often arises when, having sent a document to a network printer located in a publicly accessible location, after some time you cannot find it on the output tray of the device. On the other hand, users sometimes simply forget about their printed documents. And at the end of the working day, the cleaner collects the accumulated documents, which may contain confidential information. Also, the issue of copy control remains without due attention.
In such cases, an excellent solution is secure printing with authorization, which allows you to limit employee access to devices and printed documents and avoid information leakage or basic confusion. Print control systems are designed to ensure the security of printing and copying processes on devices located in publicly accessible areas.
Print optimizationUsed in Preton Ltd. products. Patented Pixel Optimizer™ technology uses advanced mathematical algorithms to identify and remove redundant pixels during printing, saving up to 70% on toner and ink without compromising print quality.
Reduce ink and toner costs by up to 50%.
IN modern world Companies are constantly looking for ways to optimize their costs, but, as a rule, when cutting costs, companies are forced to make concessions and compromises. PretonSaver Enterprise™ allows you to reduce ink and toner costs by up to 50% without sacrificing quality, thanks to patented Pixel Optimizer™ technology.
Key features of PretonSaver Enterprise™:
- Reduce ink and toner costs by up to 50%
- Easy to install and administer
- Generate reports on usage, printing costs, and more.
- Installed per printer, individual user, user group, and application
- usage parameters such as print page quota, color usage
- print priorities, duplex mode, prohibition of printing images, etc.
- Supports inkjet and laser, color and monochrome, local and network printers
Automatically displays all printers, users, and applications that use printing.
Good day, dear forum users!
The problem of monitoring employees in a photo salon is a well-known problem; it has probably already been discussed here. But I searched the forum and couldn’t find it. Maybe someone can point me in the direction of where to look and where to read, or share their own experience here.
From my experience, employee control:
There is a video surveillance system, but it is not very effective; if you look at it in detail, it takes a lot of time.
At one time I bought the program "Secret Agent" Developer: Leonid Myazin, description of the program "Secret Agent" - a program for monitoring and controlling printing on printers. You will know the actual amount of revenue for the required period. The cost of services provided by the operator is calculated automatically, based on an analysis of printed documents using a price list. With the help of "Secret Agent" you can identify employees who work for their own pockets and increase revenue by up to 30%.
From experience of using it, I can say that the idea was good, but the program was crude and worked haphazardly, so I had to stop using it.
I corresponded with the developer Leonid Myazin, he even tried to fix something, sent updates, but it was of little use, in the end the developer said - accept the program as is (there will be no more improvements) or don’t use it.
I contacted offices selling software and set the task, but they also didn’t offer anything useful.
| Message Sent 09 July 2016 - 11:41 nik_2To a psychiatrist...
Any printer has a print counter and, if you have the brains, it’s impossible to calculate the state of the cash register (receipt) + warehouse + prints. Any, even a simple accounting system, warehouse + expense + receipt (in fact general view) will completely allow you to discipline and prevent unnecessary effects.
Investments in team building in any business pay off with interest from any point of view. Holding an employee for trash means becoming one yourself... As a rule, completely brainless startups with zero prospects for life are guilty of this.
Smart people install a system for security, if there is a need (!!!) and not to control employees. Feel the difference.
imho
Nik_2 said:
To a psychiatrist...
Now state offices are counting how many have been printed. Then they demand from each employee a justification for why they printed so much. In general, deer, of course, I completely agree. But of course there are users, like eternal correspondence students, who abuse it - and calmly print 5 thousand pages of courses, laboratory papers and other crap after work, instead of doing it on a home printer.
Change the cartridges yourself Vladimir, and then compare them with the volume of revenue and it will immediately become clear who is stealing and who is working honestly. Each cartridge is designed for a specific print volume. You will have a trained eye and there will be no problems at all.
nik_2 Thanks for the clarification.
Yes, you can actually look at the print counter, but some prints cost 10 rubles, and some cost 100 rubles. So how should we count, 10 or 100 each, or, so as not to offend anyone, we count everything on average at 50 rubles?
Receipts, expenses, balances, of course, need to be counted, but the employee doesn’t need a lot of intelligence to beautifully bypass these records and make nice jokes.
Nik_2 said:
Investment in team building
Yes, you can give flesh to a person good salary, show attention, encourage, but do you really think that an employee will never be tempted to steal - and that he will never take advantage of this opportunity?
Nik_2 said:
Holding an employee for trash means becoming one yourself... As a rule, completely brainless startups with zero prospects for life are guilty of this
Do you mean those
Nik_2 said:
start-ups
that oligarchs, deputies, ministers don’t steal? and if they steal (which is not uncommon) are they cattle? Who then are you and I?
You and I do not live in the Stalinist USSR, where for theft you could get 10 years without the right to correspondence...
If everything is as good in your team as you think, I am sincerely happy for you!
Thanks again for your answer!
SCORPIC said:
Change the cartridges yourself Vladimir, and then compare them with the volume of revenue and it will immediately become clear who is stealing and who is working honestly. Each cartridge is designed for a specific print volume. You will have a trained eye and there will be no problems at all.
I have an industrial laser printer Kyosera, which prints on the floor of a high-rise from office plankton. Cartridges for 15 and 20 thousand pages cost 4. There are enough cartridges to replace them - once a year. If I change cartridges more often, it means there is an office rat
It's easy to spot a rat, because... If the toner consumption indicator (set to high ECO-SAVING mode) quickly runs away, then the job and the owner of the print are stored in the device’s logs for some time. A rat that copies all sorts of crap is even easier to figure out, based on crookedness and bad karma
SCORPIC, Thanks for the recommendation!
But again, but check laser printer There is no difficulty at all; printers have a counter. and the cost of printing is the same, whether printing 2 lines or a picture on a sheet, although toner consumption and printing costs are different.
The problem of controlling the printing of an EPSON inkjet photo printer of the P50, L800 series with large volumes of printing, when printing of different sizes and at different prices.
As for replacing cartridges, inkjet machines have a CISS and the replacement takes place as if automatically, so to speak, and if we talk about changing it yourself, and sometimes you would have to do this 2-3 times a day, then there is no need for control systems, sit next to with an employee and wait until the cartridge runs out. Besides. The ink (toner) consumption depends on the print density. At different fillings A different number of pages will be printed.
In any case, thanks for the answer.
SCORPIC said:
And control the level using a ruler
Water will leak through the plume
Brew?
Damn... how paranoid do you have to be...
| Message sent 09 July 2016 - 17:37 Vladimir750
SCORPIC said:
Then everything is much simpler. Locks for CISS plugs. And control the level using a ruler
Ruler ink is an option, I didn’t think of that, thanks! But what if you seriously measure ink with a ruler? , but what about pumping and cleaning?
For accounting, there was an idea to buy piece scales (I think that’s what they’re called) to weigh paper with an error of 5 grams - a sheet of A4 paper 80 g/m, this is better than counting by hand, but then I abandoned this idea, it’s all insanity.
Nik_2 said:
Damn... how paranoid do you have to be...
I wouldn’t even want to go near such an office - the aura... you understand
Yes, perhaps my desire for accuracy, control, accounting can be called paranoia, and my aura seems to be forged,
Nik_2 said:
I wouldn't even want to go near such an office
If you don't like it, don't go!
the question is posed to the point, he frowned - well done! nik_2
I understand that without trolls on the forums it will be boring...
| Message Posted 09 July 2016 - 19:59 nik_2
Vladimir750 said:
I understand you are in the status of “specialist”, but there are better specialists than specialists.
link
For some the glass is half full, for others it is half empty.... If you understand what we are talking about - mentality.
Place, follow...
But for some reason I think that the words. The question on the forum(s) will be - why is there staff turnover...
imho
| Message sent 10 July 2016 - 07:18 Vladimir750
As I understand it, those who have taken part in this topic at the moment have not been affected by the problem of dishonest employees, and if they have, it’s easier to close their eyes to it, so long as they don’t run away...
Nevertheless, thank you for your opinions.
I will be glad to hear from other forum participants if anyone has anything to say, even if it is trolling.
Truth is born in dispute.
Actually, the question is simpler than you imagine.
Depending on the range of work, you must build an accounting line and strictly adhere to it. This relationship between employer and employee should not be one-sided, and is based only on fiscal measures. It should be "carrot and stick".
A person works well and receives encouragement (this should be work on a deal).
Works poorly - a reprimand, a warning and then dismissal.
I had to build such relationships with employees and with a very small product range. Accounting is maintained by performing employees and is controlled by you personally.
For this, simple spreadsheets in Excel or Excel are enough, whichever is more convenient for you. Then all this is located in the cloud and is constantly controlled by you personally.
The investment is yours, and the control should be yours.
Have there been any mistakes in farming techniques? Yes they were.
There were dismissals and grievances.
But in the end, a completely capable team was selected.
Did you steal? Yes, not without it. But this was not malicious. This was within reasonable limits. That's just how a person is made. I didn’t intend to re-educate everyone. It is important that the development trend of the enterprise is positive.
Did you steal? Yes, not without it. But this was not malicious. This was within reasonable limits. That's just how a person is made. I didn’t intend to re-educate everyone. It is important that the development trend of the enterprise is positive.
I completely agree with this.
In fact, our team is quite well-coordinated; it has been working for more than one year. I just periodically remember that same program “Secret Agent” Developer: Leonid Myazin, which I wrote about in the first post.
Such a program, working efficiently and stably, would simplify (accelerate the accounting system) the work performed (services provided).
The system for recording receipts, expenses, and the balance of consumables does not always give accurate results.
What I'm interested in is software that can keep, as it were, an intellectual record of services performed - work, if such exists.
There is a 1C system - they click on the barcode - it's submitted - that means XXX rubles at the cash desk, perhaps the software printed such and such a size on such and such a device with such and such properties, the software calculated the cost of YYYY rubles + checking (control) of employees for honesty.
Well, something like this. that's what I want.
Slava2, thanks for the answer.
Printer monitoring and print controls need to be implemented by many large and small companies around the world. Why is this so? Why is it important to monitor printers and their use? Let's say you organize the work of a medium or large company with dozens of computers combined into several local networks. All of these computers can print to local or network printers, with multiple people working on each computer. In this case, monitoring the operation and use of the printer becomes a very time-consuming task. But using a printer control program, solving this problem becomes simple and easy. That's why you should have software to monitor printers in your office.
Another major benefit of a print monitoring program is that with Printer Monitor you can determine how efficiently your printers are being used, how many pages are being printed on them, and what your printing costs are each month. Our program will allow you to find out which employees use the printer too often, and perhaps for their own personal purposes. The program allows you to keep records and generate reports on individual printers and documents printed on them. Data on monitored printers is stored in a common database, so you can identify the employee who prints most frequently at any time.
What problems can Accurate Printer Monitor solve?This program can be used in a centralized printer control system and print cost accounting for all company printers, since it allows you to control both local and network printers. With this program, you can control printing on your organization's printers more efficiently, which will prevent printers from being used for personal purposes and can significantly reduce printing costs.
Start using Accurate Printer Monitor now!After installation, launch Printer Monitor from the Start - Programs menu. Click on the green plus button and make a list of printers that you want to control. Next, determine which database the printer event data should be stored in. You can then generate reports on printer usage in your organization.
For a printing service, I received a price list and left for a while. A little later he returned and stated that he had calculated the potential costs and it turned out cheaper. That is, he went to Yandex.Market, took prices for office printers, and chose the one he liked. Then I found the service life of the printer - 5 years, or 60 months. I divided the price into months and got printing costs per month. The costs, of course, suited him, but our price list wasn’t very good. Has this ever happened to you?
At the same time, the client did not take into account the cost of servicing the printer, the cost of cartridges, or even the cost of paper. That is, the client has the most superficial idea of what the cost of printing one page in his company consists of. Expectations for the price are extremely low. And in general - can a seal really cost a company anything in the age of the victorious? electronic document management?!
Well, firstly, not a winner - and you will see this. Secondly, maybe. How could it? Let's do the math.
Outsourcing of printing services and what it comes with It’s good if your business is small company, in which one printer or even an MFP and documents are printed from time to time, and only for personal purposes. At retailers, mobile operators, gas stations, state companies, design institutes, wholesale trading companies and many others have a completely different view of this process. They need MPS, aka printing service, aka outsourcing of printing services.Outsourcing of printing services, or MPS (Managed Print Services), - popular service all over the world and in Russia in particular.
There are several definitions of MPS from different analytics companies. One of them is given by Gartner, and its main theses in translation sound like this: Managed Print services - MPS (managed print services) is the optimization and management of document printing processes. This is usually done by an external service provider. He assesses the company's printing needs, makes selective or wholesale equipment changes, maintains equipment, supplies resource parts and accessories for equipment, monitors how printers and multifunction devices are used, and resolves user problems.
In the age of cheap printers and growing electronic document management, businesses continue to spend a lot of money on printing documents. Based on my experience working at the Onlanta company, I will tell you what needs to be taken into account in order to achieve maximum economic effect. You will see a table calculating the cost of a print under various conditions of the contract concluded by the customer company with the outsourcing company (service provider), and you will be able to form adequate expectations from the “Print Service” service.
Office printing costs consist of equipment, consumables, paper and repairs. These costs often disappear among other expenses of the organization. Financial Services are not always able to estimate them, despite the fact that the total amounts can be very significant, especially in large organizations, where printers print a lot. Typical examples of high-load printing are the generation of shipping documentation when loading petroleum products into tank trucks for delivery to gas stations or issuing documents for payment and warranty for goods in retail stores.
If you outsource the maintenance of corporate printing equipment and switch to per-copy payment (payment per print), printing costs will become transparent to accounting and understandable to management. Savings from such a transition can be, according to various estimates, approximately 20-30%.
Printing service: pros and cons In summary, the advantages of outsourcing a printing service.- Reducing the load on the company's IT service - it definitely has more important things to do than repairing printers. All problems related to equipment malfunctions and printing problems are included in the outsourcer’s tickets and are resolved immediately when contacting the service department.
- Printing without failures - in case of breakdowns, a so-called replacement fund is allocated, and the company does not notice any problems.
- Safety. Unfortunately, paper documents are one of the biggest leakage routes. corporate information(deliberate and accidental). MPS provides control over printouts - printing confidential information in the form of a list of clients with contacts or product specifications will not go unnoticed.
- Less paper consumption. A centralized and well-organized printing procedure in a company will save paper, even if the number of contracts, invoices, reports and statements remains the same. It's not magic, it's a basic human factor: when the printer is set up correctly, it doesn't make bad prints. Additionally, when an organization has control over printing, employees are more careful about what they send to the shared printer and print less for personal needs. So, in one of the major Russian companies system administrators could make 2-3 thousand prints at a time - instead of buying books, they printed them. For the company, this personal savings cost a pretty penny: 2 thousand prints (mixed printing and color and black and white) x 2 rubles. = 4 thousand rub.
- Additional savings: on consumables, service, spare parts and even wages. All this is included in the invoice for the services of the outsourcing company, which, due to the experience, wholesale purchases consumables (which are cheaper for outsourcing companies) or, for example, more optimal choice printing equipment will help reduce client costs.
- Significant - managers do not want to print their documents on public printers and strive for confidentiality. This problem can be solved by installing personal printers for employees with special security requirements (but this is not a panacea).
- The printing service is aimed at creating paper prints and to some extent slows down the development of electronic document management and electronic communication between employees. However, there are processes and instructions that require paper-based work that cannot be ignored.
- The printing service is “not environmentally friendly” - because even orderly consumption of paper leads to the cutting down of trees and stimulates non-ecological pulp and paper production. For example, in the United States, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper annually. And they panic, draw infographics and generally feel sad. We did not find statistics for Russia: the figure was about 3,200 sheets per office worker, but we believe that the numbers are much higher. And we’re fine, but it’s a pity. By the way, if you think that paper consumption is falling at a breakneck pace, alas, this is not so - although such a trend exists, it is still very weak.
Pay attention to details to avoid failure Some time ago, there was information in the media that a well-known car sharing service in Moscow issued a client a bill of more than half a million for car repairs after an accident due to the client’s fault. It has become a complete surprise for the culprit of the accident, who hoped that insurance for such cases was included in the rental price. His expectations, alas, were not met. Customer disappointment is probably the mildest wording to describe this situation. The car sharing company, by the way, subsequently introduced a new, more expensive tariff that takes into account the possibility of an accident and limits the amount that the driver of a rented car must pay in the event of an accident due to his own fault.
An analogy can be drawn between the car sharing service and the “Print Service” service, which is provided by IT outsourcing companies: in car sharing, payment is per minute, and in the printing service, as a rule, per print. In both cases, the appeal of transparent and understandable pricing can lead to disappointment if the details are not taken into account.
We pay per print The price of one print is the most common indicator of the cost of printing. It gives an integral assessment of all costs, not only direct, but also all kinds of indirect ones, that an enterprise incurs in order to get one piece of paper with the necessary information from the printer. It is this indicator that, as a rule, is assessed by real and potential buyers of printing devices and customers of external printing services. Often, only when switching to per-copy payment is it possible to find out how much a print actually costs.Before switching to this model, printing costs, as a rule, are calculated completely differently - most often by the “cauldron” method with the summation of not all, but only the most obvious costs. At the same time, not all IT managers and IT directors know exactly how many printing devices their company has, how many cartridges they use, how loaded these machines are, how often they have to be repaired, etc.
Another advantage of the per-copy payment method is that it motivates the provider of this service to ensure maximum efficiency of the printing equipment. After all, while the equipment is idle, printing does not occur, therefore, the provider does not earn anything.
Additional opportunities for the customer are provided software monitoring and collection of print statistics, which allow you to automate the recording of the number of prints and monitor the load on printing devices. Based on monitoring data, you can change the operating conditions of equipment and service delivery to reduce the cost of a print. For example, quickly adjust and redistribute the load on printers. In addition, knowing who prints, how much and on what devices, you can break down printing costs by department or user - this will allow you to more accurately plan costs and at least partially reduce the volume of unjustified printing.
One more nuance: the per-copy form of payment motivates the enterprise to abandon devices with a high cost per print (including old ones that often break and are not very productive) and switch to economical MFPs.
The final cost of one print for the “Print Service” service is influenced by several components:
A separate point: the use of non-original or refilled cartridges often leads to problems with print quality, and this again means extra costs.
When calculating the final cost of a print, do not forget about the amount of text (images) on the page. The cartridge resource specified in the specification is, on average, calculated based on 5% page coverage - for example, as a vacation application. In my practice, the average coverage of printed pages was 7-9%. Obviously, the higher this indicator (for example, when printing contracts, commercial offers, instructions, design documentation, etc.), the shorter the service life of the cartridge and, accordingly, the higher the cost of the print.
Resource parts: everything good deteriorates over time Resource parts are parts of printing equipment that have a certain resource or service life: for example, thermal blocks, image transfer units, paper feed rollers. Modern devices have service meters that let you know when scheduled printer repairs or replacement of individual components are necessary. Thus, the cost of a print will include the cost of replacement in accordance with the service life of the parts being replaced.
The mouse is also spoiled
Replacement fund Replacement fund is equipment provided to the customer for the period of repair or to replace faulty printing equipment.As a rule, the replacement fund is approximately 5% of the total amount of printing equipment (for a distributed company this figure is higher, since the operator needs to create a minimum stock of equipment in all cities where the organization operates). This is enough to ensure continuity of the printing service. More stringent customer requirements for the Service Level Agreement (SLA) may also affect the percentage of equipment for the replacement stock.
The cost of the replacement stock is distributed over the number of prints corresponding to the duration of the contract.
Why should the customer be interested in the replacement fund? Isn't this a headache for the performer? Unfortunately, if the contractor saves on the replacement fund, the customer will receive downtime in the service, which as a result may cost him more than the cost of the replacement fund.
It happens that the customer already has a replacement fund or he purchases it himself. In such cases, the cost of replacement stock is not included in the cost of the print.
Cost of equipment: how to optimize the fleet of printing equipment Customers with a fairly large number of printers from different manufacturers often turn to the “Printing Service” service. It happens that printing equipment in offices is not optimally arranged and the load is distributed unevenly. The printing infrastructure, which is based on personal printers on employees’ desks, is ineffective: they are not used intensively enough and require a lot of attention, since they all need to be maintained in working order, changing cartridges and resource parts on time.
High-performance devices used by a large number of employees turn out to be more efficient and economical in terms of cost per print. However, there is a nuance: they need to be arranged so that every employee of the company is close to the printer, and there is no queue at the devices themselves. Key Requirement Moreover, the following: correctly selected and arranged printing equipment should facilitate the efficient implementation of business processes (including low cost of printed documents) and not slow them down in any way.
It is wise to leave personal printers in management offices and in places where particularly confidential documents are often printed, for example, in the legal department. Whether a desktop printer is needed in accounting is a controversial issue and depends on the profile of the company.
The optimal choice of equipment and its location in the office is one of the key issues that the printing service provider decides during the pre-design study. Before preparing a technical and commercial proposal, the service provider conducts an audit of the printing infrastructure: collects and analyzes printing statistics, identifies irrationally located printing devices and incorrectly organized virtual queues for them.
Subsequent changes in the arrangement of printers at the customer’s premises and fine-tuning of print queues can significantly reduce the time and financial costs of printing and, in addition, create more comfortable working conditions for staff. Placement plans are selected individually. In this case, it is worth considering several points: technical aspects of placing printing equipment according to the vendor’s recommendations (distance from walls, from batteries, etc.); wishes of the customer (for example, how far the user is willing to go for a printout). It is also not recommended to place equipment in long corridors or in bottlenecks.
On next stage service provider develops detailed plan print optimization: it takes into account audit results, features of the customer’s business processes, as well as the load on existing printers, print volumes and tasks performed by various departments of the organization. Together with the customer, target indicators of efficiency (primarily cost), safety and operability of the printing system are determined, and then an optimal layout of printing equipment is developed. At the same time, the equipment fleet, as a rule, is reduced to equipment from one or two manufacturers.
As a result, by optimizing the printing infrastructure:
- The number of units of printing equipment in the office is reduced - workspace is freed up, and it becomes possible to accommodate a larger number of employees in the same rented area;
- The number of types of cartridges and other consumables is reduced, and, as a result, logistics costs are reduced, equipment downtime due to the lack of the necessary cartridge is reduced;
- The number of required certificates for specialists supporting printing equipment is reduced, which reduces service costs;
- Convenience of warranty service is ensured - there is no need to maintain contractual relations and ensure appropriate logistics with various service centers.
Indirect losses manifest themselves rather as consequences of a disruption in the continuity of the printing service.
When the customer independently maintains his equipment, he pays for failures. In the case of an outsourcing model, the service provider bears serious monetary obligations to the customer under the SLA: firstly, this disciplines the contractor, and secondly, for the customer it is an opportunity to at least partially compensate for losses associated with downtime.
Equipment rental Renting printing equipment by the customer company from a service provider allows, first of all, to avoid significant one-time expenses for the purchase of equipment. The cost of renting equipment will be reflected in the cost of the print. I note that with a longer rental period, the final cost of one print is lower, because the monthly rental amount included in its price is reduced.As an example, I will give a calculation of the cost of a print for different volumes (the figures are taken from a real technical and commercial proposal), for different rental periods of equipment (outsourcing model) and the use of the customer’s own printers (insourcing model). As can be seen from the tables, the cost of a print and, accordingly, ownership per year with the outsourcing model is significantly lower than with the insourcing model, and it decreases as the equipment rental period increases.
A few clarifications about the cost of printers. Table 1 and Table 2 show calculations for the same type of printers different models. For obvious reasons, we do not indicate vendors or printer types. The first two types of printers by default cannot provide maximum savings. These are small personal printers with a small resource, consuming “liters” Consumables. They are ideal for home purposes and in some cases are also used in the office. Printers of types 3-5 are already serious machines with a large supply of resources.
In Table 1 (rental options) we present the calculation for the printers that we offered to supply to the customer to optimize the printing fleet.
Table 2 shows the calculation for printers that a specific customer had (and in our practice, such printers are often found among customers).
In total (if you multiply and add the costs of printers), it turns out that all the customer’s equipment is cheaper, but at the same time, savings on printing services are still achieved in the rental option.
Leasing the same printers that are working for the customer, but new ones, and at the same time making the service cheaper is unrealistic. If the customer says - I want to rent equipment and receive an effective copy-to-print service, then, as a rule, we agree on a vendor of printing equipment. And then we must select the “right” printers in the right places - and only then can we talk about a full-fledged service.
Table 1 (clickable)
With a contract period of 1 year and printing 229 thousand prints, we receive a benefit of 670,051.07 rubles per year.
compared to the insourcing model (when the customer manages his own fleet of printing equipment);
- With a contract period of 2 years and printing 229 thousand prints, we receive a benefit of 842,575.47 rubles per year. (for 2 years 1,685,150.94 rubles) ;
- With a contract period of 3 years and printing 229 thousand prints, we receive a benefit of 900,083.60 rubles per year. (for 3 years RUB 2,700,250.80).
This is due to the fact that replacement and rented equipment is “spread out” over the duration of the contract and the longer the contract period, the less visible the share of printers in the print (the cost of 1 print decreases).
The most profitable was and remains a long-term contract for printing services with the customer for at least 3 years.
Renting also makes it easier to optimize the equipment fleet, since the service provider leases printing devices and it is not profitable for him to use outdated equipment. In turn, optimizing the fleet and reducing the range of equipment used turns out to be more profitable from a support point of view. In any case, money and prints must be counted; the conclusions may unpleasantly surprise you.
Human resources An equally important cost item that the service provider includes in the cost of a print is human resources: specialists are needed to change cartridges, configure and block repairs (that is, to replace resource parts), as well as to monitor statistics.This expense item consists of the cost of a specialist’s standard hour and associated expenses, such as travel, the cost of which depends on the availability and number of objects. Customers who service printing equipment on their own incur the cost of training specialists, while the staff have to pay for all the time they work in the organization, and not just the standard hours spent on work.
You also need a project manager for a printing service or, if the organization maintains equipment independently, a department head or a responsible IT service employee who organizes and controls the work of printing specialists. In a printing service project, he acts as a “single entry point” for the customer; his work is also taken into account when calculating the cost of a print.
We draw conclusions The cost of a print consists of the cost of cartridges, resource parts, rental of printing equipment (if used), replacement stock, human resources(specialists and project manager) and is generally defined as follows: Listed expenses per month / Number of prints per month = Cost of one print.On different types printers, the cost of prints can vary greatly, and therefore it must be calculated separately for each type. Calculating the average cost is about the same as calculating the average temperature in a hospital: this indicator will not tell you anything in particular and, moreover, is highly likely to be misleading. Depending on the printer model, the cost of a print can vary widely: from 0.2 to 4 rubles. The difference is achieved due to the fact that for different printer models the cost of cartridges and resource parts will be different, and their service life can also vary greatly. As you can see, the average cost of a print can give a false impression of the real cost.
You should not be content with approximate estimates of printing costs - they will most likely turn out to be erroneous. To estimate the real costs, you need to carefully take into account all the components of the cost of printing. It can be improved through fleet optimization and proper placement of printing equipment, as well as the use of a monitoring and statistics collection system - this will help achieve real, not illusory, savings.
I told you how the cost of the IT outsourcing service “Print Service” is calculated when switching to per-copy payment, and I set reference points against which you need to base calculations and negotiations with the service provider. As in the case of car sharing described at the very beginning, you need to carefully study all the nuances of calculating the cost of a print offered by the service provider. I hope that my article will help with this.
