Many companies lose significant amounts of money and productivity each year just because their document management and printing processes aren’t optimised. For example, 60 per cent of small- and medium-sized organisations want to reduce paper usage1, and 90 per cent of organisations have suffered at least one data loss through unsecured printing, according to Gartner.

Mike Dooner, Marketing Manager – Managed Content Services, Konica Minolta, said, “A health check will expose areas for improvement and highlight opportunities to save money.

“The first step is a detailed print and document management audit. This could highlight potential financial savings as well as opportunities for greater operational control, increased understanding of operational systems and cost drivers, and improved productivity.”

Konica Minolta has identified three key areas where most businesses can save:

1. Moving away from paper-based processes
The cost of time spent looking for documents or working on the wrong versions of documents adds up quickly. It could cost a business thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars per year.

Mike Dooner said, “For every minute an employee spends looking through filing cabinets for the paper-based documents they need to do their jobs, they are not adding value to customers, closing deals and bolstering the bottom line.

“Version control is also a significant issue for organisations. Employees often waste time updating or working on documents that are outdated, simply because there was no clear way to tell that it was the wrong version. Many companies even report losing or accidentally destroying important documents or files.”

2. Manage the risk and expense of manual, time-consuming processes
Creating standard documents like contracts or letters manually is time-consuming and error-prone. They require careful proofreading, which adds even more time, to detect and rectify human errors.

Mike Dooner said, “As well as the time it takes to create these documents, there is the risk that an error will go undetected until the customer, supplier or partner receives the document. This can cause embarrassment to the business and, in some cases, give customers an excuse to take their business elsewhere.

“Automation systems can use a logic-based system to create these types of documents automatically with pre-approved text and data.”

3. Find and eliminate the hidden costs of inefficient print and printer fleet management
An unmanaged print environment can cost more than $650 per employee per year, according to Gartner.

Mike Dooner said, “Managing a printer fleet effectively means being on top of things like: the age of the equipment; maintenance procedures; visibility into costs; having a fleet that is the right size; who to call for support; sustainability; mobility; and security.

“When companies have visibility into these issues, they can manage them more effectively, and achieve cost savings and other efficiencies. For many companies, managed print services is the answer.”

Managed print services (MPS) essentially outsources printer fleet management to an expert. It can significantly reduce the time it takes to manage print devices, lower capital and operational costs by consolidating and streamlining printer fleets, and free the IT support team from printer-related enquiries.

1 Quocirca’s 2012 SMB MPS study: http://quocirca.com/sites/default/files/reports/112012/768/Quocirca%20Channel%20MPS%20Market%20Summary%202012%20Final.pdf