Johannesburg, 31 Jan 2017
It's a new year and with that comes a fresh energy that drives planning for the year ahead, on both the business and personal fronts. Morgan Bleasdale, solutions specialist at Taropa Technologies, predicts, "A big driver for 2017 will be budgets that make the most of hard-earned money. While by now, most businesses will have covered all the major aspects of their business strategy for 2017, there are internal operational strategies - such as printing - that can contribute to the future growth of the business."
With this in mind, Taropa Technologies, in conjunction with ITWeb, has conducted a public online survey to determine the future printing trends in South Africa and what businesses need from their printing supplier to improve productivity, reduce costs and streamline their business.
The survey results will be released in February 2017, but in the meantime, Taropa has identified four printing tips that businesses can consider when identifying ways to streamline their business this year.
1. Reduce cost
Businesses are continually looking at various ways to reduce unnecessary costs. "If not properly managed, printing resources can add to the list of excessive company costs," says Bleasdale. Implementing managed print solutions (MPS) can help businesses to achieve document output efficiency and economy through extended compatibility, lower installation and maintenance costs, reduced printing costs and improved printing practice monitoring. All of which will not only save your business money, but also improve its efficiency.
It's also essential to ensure that you select the right array of printers for your office environment to meet your specific requirements. "So, for example, instead of having 10 small A4 desktop printers scattered around the building, rather opt for a single, centralised multi-functional printer (MFP) that can handle higher volumes," he advises.
2. Reduce waste
Not only does implementing a sustainable workplace printing process reduce cost, it also helps reduce time and paper wastage.
In today's demanding business environment, employees need access to internal documents at the click of a button. "We're living in a fast-paced world, so why not look into apps and software that could assist in getting the work done quicker?," says Bleasdale. For instance, saving to the cloud enables information to be readily available anywhere, anytime. It even enables the user to print documents from their smartphone. This frees up valuable time, helping employees to focus on more important things that are core to the business.
Reducing waste has obvious environmental benefits, so, for example an eco-friendly driver can allow businesses to reduce their toner and paper usage by removing images from a printed document, reducing output density.
3. Increase security
Security is a top priority for any business as the threat of sensitive material being leaked is a reality faced by everyone in today's connected world. Fortunately, there are ways to implement secure printing in your business that can add an additional layer to your security.
* Restrict access to MFPs by implementing authentication methods such as employee ID badges, proximity cards and PIN number passwords.
* Data on the device's hard drive should be encrypted to protect sensitive documents.
* Mobile printing can be used to print directly to the device whilst standing in front of it.
4. Increase productivity
A multifunctional printer can assist in increasing productivity in various ways throughout the business. For instance, a document processing system can assist in automatically completing a series of task to scan and send paperwork automatically to various recipients, tailored to your needs. It will enable you to edit documents whilst standing at the printer, for quick changes. You can also print from Google Maps at your device or any other online document.
"When considering your business's printing requirements, all of the above should be taken into account, as well as partnering with a certified provider who can steer you in the right direction for your unique requirements," concludes Bleasdale.
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