Printing Companies Oblivious To Real Printing Cost

As 2007 approaches and businesses start to plan for the coming 12 months, Ricoh is urging companies to scrutinise their budgets to reduce leaked expenditure on printing costs.

As 2007 approaches and businesses start to plan for the coming 12 months, Ricoh is urging companies to scrutinise their budgets to reduce leaked expenditure on printing costs.

This call to action comes in the wake of new research showing that over two thirds of businesses are oblivious to how much they spend on printing, making it critical that they bring print costs to the forefront of their 2007 planning.

Over a third of companies surveyed by Ricoh said that the most difficult print cost to quantify was the spend on consumables, including toner and ink (39 per cent), closely followed by the costs associated with printer downtime (30 per cent).

Over 16 per cent of those questioned could not calculate how much they had spent on printer hardware and software in the past year, adding to the mounting cost of printing, said Ricoh.

Chas Moloney, associate director of marketing at Ricoh, said: "Businesses need to stop classing print costs as lost money.

A thorough analysis of their expenditure on print will enable businesses to recognise where huge savings can be made.

Rationalising printers, copiers, faxes and multi-functional devices (MFDs), providing an optimised deployment, will cut the price of printing, whilst all-encompassing contracts ensure that uncapped consumables and maintenance are provided by a single supplier, ensuring costs are controlled and visible so there are no hidden surprises at the end of the month." Moloney concluded: "Gartner estimates that printing costs form between one and three per cent of a company's annual turnover, making it a pressing issue for businesses of all sizes.

Simple steps, such as deploying print software to route print jobs to the most effective printer can dramatically reduce print expenditure.

These steps need to be taken now so that 2007 forecasts can be accurate and realistic." Research results were collated from a survey of 260 businesses, including local and central government, SMEs, national and multi-national companies, added Ricoh.

Back to top