Managed print service (MPS) is a not so common service in Russia although the situation has improved in the past ten years. Its other name, pay-per-copy printing, describes the service more accurately. Essentially, it is an outsourcing option for the entire printing infrastructure in a company or organization.
What is MPS
Any business needs printing equipment. Documents, invoices, presentations and many other papers require having a printing and photocopying infrastructure. If a company is big enough and has a distributed network of branches across cities and regions, it most likely has printing devices of different series, formats and by different manufacturers. It may be problematic to maintain this entire scope of devices as it requires looking for spare parts and supplies for a variety of models and, if the company bought printers at different times, it is possible that the equipment or printer cartridges have been discontinued.
Unfortunately, this situation is common for most enterprises. To address this and reduce costs, a managed print service was introduced.
What is MPS all about? A company providing printing system services offers external monitoring and optimization of the printing process. This involves installing software that tracks the number of printed copies on each printer, toner levels, device conditions, spare parts life, load distribution within each office, and more. In return, the customer pays only for the number of copies actually printed. It sounds straightforward, but there are many nuances and features to consider.
Having your own printer or renting?
There are two main scenarios for managed print services. The first is using the customer’s existing fleet of printers. The second involves the supplier providing printers for rent. Let’s examine each scenario separately.
1) The company owns its printers and wants to optimize costs. The advantage of this approach is ownership – there’s no risk if the MPS provider exits the market, as seen in 2022. However, there are more disadvantages: optimization is less flexible, maintenance is more complex and costly due to the lack of standardization, and the customer must invest in purchasing the equipment.
2) If the company decides to fully outsource printing services, the pros and cons essentially reverse. The system can be configured and optimized from scratch, allowing it to be built efficiently in several stages. The service will be standardized and cost-effective. This approach enables the customer to predict expenses, optimize internal resources related to document management, and, most importantly, avoid investing in equipment.
Stages of transition to MPS
1) Audit and theoretical cost calculations: a sudden shift to an MPS system can be challenging, costly, and disruptive for employees. Therefore, the first stage typically involves conducting an audit and theoretically calculating the cost per copy. Most company and department heads are unaware of the actual number of pages printed monthly on each device, making it difficult to estimate these expenses accurately. To address this, a comprehensive audit of the current printing system is conducted. Special software assesses the existing printer fleet across all branches, if applicable, analyzing load distribution and the number of prints per device. This thorough analysis forms the basis for optimization proposals, calculating the cost per print, and determining the total cost of ownership compared to the current setup.
2) Test transition or pilot project. Implementing innovations often meets with resistance and concern about potential negative impacts on individual working conditions. Major changes can also lead to “growing pains” and work alignment issues. To mitigate these challenges, it is advisable to begin the transition to MPS with a small department or office as a pilot project. This test drive serves several important purposes:
- Demonstrate economic benefits: it provides a clear example of the economic advantages, which can be scaled across the entire business.
- Build employee trust: it helps alleviate employee concerns by showing that the changes are not disruptive and can actually make work more convenient.
- Establish working relationships: it fosters a smooth working relationship between the customer and the MPS contractor.
- Define service requirements: it clarifies the specific functionalities needed from the service company, from simple printer maintenance and copy accounting to access control via PIN codes or special cards.
- Facilitate adjustments: it allows for easier and more convenient adjustments based on feedback from a smaller fleet of devices.
3) Full transition to MPS. After successfully completing the initial audit and pilot project stages, the company can proceed with a full transition to MPS across the entire organization. This can be a complex process, especially for companies with multiple branches and hundreds or thousands of printers and may take from a week to several months to complete. Once implemented, the organization will be able to proactively monitor all printing resources. The system will enable load redistribution among devices, optimizing the use of the entire infrastructure. Most importantly, it will free up employees to focus on more important and meaningful tasks.
More than mere copy accounting
The name might suggest that MPS includes solely printer maintenance, cartridge replacement and print copy count, while in fact the service is much more comprehensive. First, a print service provider must have a substantial scope of multi-format equipment which would include A4 mobile printers, more complex A3 printers, network devices, and MFP devices of various capacity, both color and monochrome. Those should be sufficient to meet the customer needs, along with a certain amount of replacement devices that can be offered in case previously leased ones undergo repairs.
Second, MPS includes print monitoring and management software compatible with various operating systems and printers from different manufacturers. Such software is rather specific: apart from the basic functions of accounting consumable resources and individual components, the set of tasks to be handled is determined in each case separately. Those could include settings related to the distribution of flows for each printer as well as a PIN code or cards access system used to prevent loss of important documents containing personal data, control the source of potential information leakage, and analyze user rights to print certain data. There is software compatible with Russian operating systems, which is highly relevant for state customers.
Another core competency is directly related to service: the contractor should have a spare parts stock in all regions of the customer’s presence as well as engineers who can promptly arrive, repair, service or pick up equipment for more complex repairs that can only be performed at the service center, and provide gear from the spare parts stock.
When should you switch to MPS?
Scenarios in which the transition to the pay-per-copy printing system is economically justified may differ. On the one hand, this could prove profitable for a company that has over 100 or even 50 printing devices. For larger companies or those that have extensive geographical coverage, MPS would definitely be a more convenient and practical option. Globally, just as in Russia, large banking structures, insurance companies and retail chains that have thousands of branches and require a lucid and uninterrupted system serve as drivers of the MPS industry.
On the other hand, an aspiring business or a startup that has limited finances and lacks clear prospects would be more willing to outsource printing services using one or several devices rather than purchase office equipment.
On average, printing system optimization helps save 15–20% of printing costs, and even as much as 30% in particularly complicated cases. Also, there are hidden costs related to delivery, administration and storage of consumables and spare parts, as well as deliveries to remote locations, arranging purchases, planning and budgeting before making purchases, and personnel costs. Efforts to introduce MPS allow for optimization of our customers’ internal resources related to supporting the company’s document flow and make for the enterprise’s greater efficiency and better performance. Also, it helps avoid risks associated with the loss of confidential information as any employee can print out or copy a document and take it away. Universal printing consumables and spare parts are also convenient for the customer, with a unified printing equipment fleet and universal settings that reduce time and labor costs. Thus, switching to MPS may lead to reduced personnel and payroll fund within the company.
It is up to companies to decide on whether or not to switch to a pay-per-copy printing system. In certain cases, with operational load being low and the service requested once every few months, such move will not be efficient – while in other circumstances, when a business expands to scale up across regions or a startup company has to thoroughly consider its expenses at the very start, this could be a worthy option. Normally, it is beneficial for customers to conclude such service contracts for a period that varies between one to five years; the most optimal duration is two or three years as devices and technologies are constantly updated and print and ownership cost efficiency only increases over time.
By Natalya Zelenskaya, Head, Product and Service Evaluation Department, Pantum Representative Office in Russia