Advantages of Managed Document Services

Every company is always looking for a new way or method to cut the overall business costs. In an office setting, document-related output is the most common factor that greatly adds to the total business costs. This is where document solutions come in. One of the most effective ways to reduce the amount of expenditure is by maximising the value of various functions at the office such as printing, copying and scanning of documents.

Although MPS or managed print services have been introduced to the industry not so long ago, there is still an even greater document strategy that is far superior and this is known as MDS or managed document services.

What is MDS or Managed Document Services?

Compared to MPS or managed print services, which is focused only on output, MDS or managed document services aim to provide a holistic approach on the whole document output process. What does this mean? Managed document services are not only looking into the output, but they are making sure that every step of the process is maximised - starting from the capturing of data, up until the  archiving of information, managed document services take care of it all.

This unique document technology is a perfect strategy that makes it possible for offices to reduce output costs of about 30% to 40% in total.  This is a considerable cost savings that can definitely affect the business positively.

How does Managed Document Services work?

A managed document services provider will first make an assessment of the current existing solution. After this step, the service provider will come up with figures on the total costs of company ownership and production. From here, a tailored plan for the business will be laid out to address which issue needs to be attended to right away.

Additional benefits of Managed Document Services

Aside from the big savings that could be achieved from this document technology, managed document services have more benefits to offer a business and these include:

• The probability of lowering the present Total Cost of Ownership or what is also known as TCO.

• A very positive impact on the environment as there will be fewer devices or machines that will be used at the office.

• A much improved document strategy, from a simple output-based strategy, to a more holistic document solutions approach, starting from scanning, copying and finally printing.

Managed document services is a great way to not only reduce business costs, it is also effective in increasing the quality and efficiency of work in the office setup.

What is Docucheck® Consultancy?

EFFECTS OF THE PRINTING COST OF EMPLOYEES

We have mentioned in our previous blog post that an average employee is estimated to print 60 pages per day which amounts to 12,000 sheets in a year.  The figure is surprising because managers give the employees the freedom to print on their own -- giving them the option of printing whatever they want, how they wanted a document to be printed, etc.

What’s unknown to us is that a huge amount of the printing cost of employees goes to printed pages that were never intended to be printed like web printouts that only contain a URL at the bottom of the page or a banner ad at the top or the chain replies of an email.  When analyzed, the waste that was generated by sloppy printing is truly frustrating. Additionally, the number of wasted pages does not only contribute to the large printing cost of the company but to the carbon footprint of the company as well.

In order to hit the two problems stated, Capita Right Documents Solutions designed Docucheck® Consultancy.

WHAT IS DOCUCHECK CONSULTANCY?

Launched in 1996, Docucheck® Consultancy helped Capita and their clients to minimise the printing cost of their company through analyzing the working environment of the business. After the thorough analysis of the problem, Capita Right Documents Solution has generated a way of reviewing the printing cost, usage, user needs and office environment needs of the business. It paved way for the business to better understand how they can utilise the number of equipment that they have. Additionally, proper printing management were learned resulting to defining the best way to support and manage the solution going forward.

Through continues innovation, Capita Right Documents solution has devised a way to reduce the cost of total cost of ownership of their clients from 15% to 40%. Furthermore, Docucheck® Consultancy has provided better environmental working practices for the employees of their client. All in all, it can be concluded that this innovation is a win-win situation for both Capita Right Document Solutions and their clients. Docucheck® onsultancy opened the possibilities for the client to improve its business while having user satisfaction and user productivity.

CONCLUSION

Companies are not fully aware of their true printing cost, volumes and requirements. Furthermore, employees of those companies are not well knowledgeable of the available devices that they have leading them to not fully utilising the equipment. Thus, it can be said that employees doesn’t have a strategy when it comes to office print solutions.

Since everyone is getting active to become a part of an environment-friendly community, Docucheck® Consultancy, one of Capita Right Documents Solutions’ managed document services, can enable companies of all sizes and industries to save money while meeting the growing demand for environmental responsibility and accountability.

Cost Effective Printing Method

The cost of your printing method affects you whether you are just starting a business or have been operating for a number of years already. Knowing the method that is most cost-effective for your company will surely save you from spending an amount of money that can be allocated to other aspects of your business.

WHAT ARE THE TWO TYPES OF PRINTING METHOD?
1. Offset Lithography - This is popularly known as “hot off the press” printing. The text and images are engraved onto a metal plate which has ink applied to it. The plate is then applied to a rubber mat and the rubber mat is the one being pressed to the paper where the final texts and images are being replicated. This type of printing can be excellent because it produces high-definition images which are sharp and clean. However, this type of method cannot be cost-effective for companies that often changes information on their printing. Offset lithography can only make sense if you are planning to print large quantities of materials and when the information on your print doesn’t change. Additionally, an offset machine takes a lot of storage space so finding a space for this machine will be most likely a problem if you are renting a small spaced office unit.

2. Digital Printing - This printing method is a more developed one for it doesn’t require you to print plates before pressing it on a material. The ink that is used in this kind of printer can be inkjet or laser. Furthermore, the material that can be printed on may vary from paper, glass, metal, canvas, photo paper and many other medium. If you are planning to print a number of documents, multi-page printing can be done in seconds. On the other hand, if you plan to print just a small quantity of documents, you still don’t have to worry because it will not be costly unlike printing through offset. To put it simply, the mechanical steps that are done in offset lithography are eliminated in digital printing.

CHECKLIST FOR PRINTING
One cannot argue whether offset is better than digital or digital is better than offset because both has a number of advantages and disadvantages. However, for you to determine the best cost-effective printing method, you should take into consideration the following criteria:

• Quantity - the number of documents that you will print. Offset printer can be advantageous in this criterion than digital. In offset printing. The cost of the metal plate and other materials needed to produce the document will go down as the number of documents printed goes up. As for digital printing, the number of documents is directly proportional to the cost. It’s safe to say that when you only need a few copies of the document, it is better to opt for a digital printer.

• Medium - What medium will you use in printing? Paper, wood, glass, etc? This time, the digital printer is more advantageous than offset. Most offset printers only print on paper and other thin materials like plastic. Printing texts or images in a glass or metal is almost impossible to be done with offset.

• Colour - Digital printing offers four colour process printing while offset offers more variety of colours.

• Proofing - For proofing, digital printing can be more cost-efficient. Why? Because you only need to print a single copy of the document to tell whether it is already approved or not. Offset printers are made for mass production of documents. For you to be able to check a document, a batch of documents must be printed first to make use of the metal plate.

• Customization - What if you need to change certain texts or parts in your document? It’s needless to say that digital printers are more advantageous in this criterion.

WHAT IS BEST TO USE FOR MY COMPANY?
Most companies nowadays use digital printing. Despite of the comparison between the two, companies today use digital printing because it is handy and more modern. However, big printing companies such as newspaper or magazine publishers still use offset lithography because it can cost them less than digital printing.

SINCE DIGITAL PRINTING IS BEST FOR MY BUSINESS, HOW WILL I REDUCE MY COST OF PRINTING?
An average employee is estimated to print 60 pages per day or 12,000 sheets in a year. Company managers do not have the time to check the details of the printed copy like for who was it printed or from which device was it printed or who printed it? But as soon as the user becomes aware that the prints are being tracked, the number of documents that are printed drops significantly.

Print management is about reviewing and controlling the entire print environment -- making the users knowledgeable of the cost of printing that drives them to change their habits to achieve a more cost-efficient printing.

Capita Right Documents Solutions has a unique managed document services that let you manage your printing. Visit our page to know more how our services can save you from a high printing cost.