Old printers are like old cellphones. Slowly but surely they begin to eat up your budget with maintenance costs, supply costs, service costs and ultimately productivity costs. How do you know when it is time to just throw in the towel and trade those old printers in for a better and newer model? Consider these 4 things before upgrading.
Age:
If your printer(s) are more than seven or eight years old, chances are the manufacturer has probably stopped making and carrying replacement parts for that machine. That single characteristic is one of the most important, if not the most important, factor in deciding to upgrade to a new printer. Without parts, fixing a printer becomes even more difficult and costly. Many printer service companies won’t even continue to sell a service contract for a printer that is more than eight years old.
CPP (Cost Per Page):
Most employees couldn’t even begin to tell you what their cost per page is as it relates to their printers. Some will know how much they roughly spend on toner cartridges, but that is about it. They don’t know their labor costs, costs for service calls or their costs from lost productivity when the printer fails.
If you actually knew your cost per page, it might startle you enough to make you start considering new printers. For example, a 10-year old printer might give you 5,000 pages per toner cartridge; with the latest technology, new printers can give you 20,000 pages per toner cartridge and even use less energy. Did you know that a new printer can cut your cost-per-page by 25 to 50 percent?! That cost alone could pay for a new printer. Knowing your cost per page is an important step to take when deciding if it’s time for a new printer, rather than just focusing on the price tag.
Better ROI with Fewer Printers:
Replacing old printers with new ones, allows you the opportunity to step back and evaluate you printing environment. Do you need to replace all the old ones, or will this give you a chance to optimize and combine your printers? Sometimes less is more, especially with a multi-function printer.
Does it only print?:
Multi-function printers aren’t called multi-function for nothing.They scan, print, fax and make copies. With that being said, one well-placed new printer in a department may be able to replace multiple old printers, cascading a whole pile of technology right out the door. Not only that, but today’s multi-function printers deliver higher quality print jobs and are able to handle bigger files. Especially since PDF files are becoming more common, you need a printer that can handle the big files.
Being smart about upgrading your printers could save you a lot of money, prevent a lot of down time and maximize the productivity of your workforce. With Hilliard Office Solutions, we handle all your needs by finding the correct printer that makes the most sense for your business.
