How A Print Audit Could Help Your Business
If you’re running a business, then you understand that reducing costs and increasing efficiency can be the difference between success and failure. Despite this, one area that is often overlooked when reviewing operational costs is the print environment.
Whether it’s outdated printers, unnecessary print jobs or wasted team time trying to fix offline units, inefficiencies in printing can easily drain resources without a business even realising it. This is where a print audit can be really beneficial in helping you to uncover hidden costs, optimise your operations and gain long term cost savings.
What Is A Print Audit?
A print audit is a full assessment of your organisation’s print processes – including equipment usage, workflows and costs. By looking at how, when and why documents are printed, you can gain valuable insights into areas where inefficiency and waste are high.
At Parallel, our free print audits go beyond basic evaluations – we take a thorough look at your print environment and analyse your data to give you actionable insights that can transform how your business operates.
Let’s look at some of the main reasons why you should conduct a print audit for your business: –
Find Hidden Costs
It’s not unusual for businesses to underestimate how much they are spending on printing – between consumables like paper and toner to frequent maintenance and the energy costs of running old machines – these expenses can quickly add up. A print audit highlights these costs and shows where savings can be made, such as reducing unnecessary print volumes or replacing inefficient devices.
Improve Workflows
A poorly managed print environment can disrupt workflows, leading to downtime and frustrated employees. A print audit looks for the bottlenecks and suggests ways to improve these processes so that your team has access to both reliable and efficient printing when they need it.
Sustainability
Sustainability is no longer something ‘nice to have’; it is now a key part of many organisations’ values. A print audit will look at areas where waste can be reduced by implementing things like duplex (double-sided) printing or switching to energy-saving devices. Parallel also integrates sustainability into all of our managed print service solutions through initiatives like PrintReleaf, where every page printed helps to reforest areas around the world.
Security
Printing sometimes involves sensitive documents, yet unsecured print environments can leave businesses open to data breaches. A print audit will identify potential security risks and look at solutions such as print release and encryption to keep your business both compliant and protected.
Tailored Solutions
Every organisation is unique and a print audit ensures that your print solution is tailored to your specific needs – whether you need to optimise your printer placement for a busy office or introduce print quotas to reduce overuse, the insights that an audit gives you are designed to give you the best outcomes for your business.
How Parallel’s Free Print Audit Can Help
Our experience means we understand that one size does not fit all and that’s why our free print audits are designed to provide a personalised analysis of your print environment. Here is how it works:-
- Comprehensive Assessment – we will look at your print fleet, document workflows and associated costs
- Customised Recommendations – based upon these findings, we propose tailored solutions which aim to improve efficiency, sustainability and reduce costs.
- Implementation Support – if you choose to move forward with a managed print service we work with you every step of the way to implement any changes and minimise any impact on your operations
Our clients often tell us that the insights they receive from their print audits are really eye opening and have revealed inefficiencies that they didn’t know existed. By addressing these issues, they’ve been able to reduce expenses significantly while improving overall efficiency. Customers including Gama Aviation and Airbox saw a 30-40% cost saving following moving their business over to Parallel following our audit process.
“Working with Parallel Office & Document Solutions was easy. They understood our challenges and were able to specify a solution that solved all of the pain points our current contracts were causing. The support is great, and we now don’t have to deal with printer issues through the IT department, which frees up my team. The cost and time savings to the business have been huge.”
Mark Rockett | IT Director | Gama Aviation
A print audit isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s about gaining a clearer understanding of your operations and setting your business up for long term success. With the right insights your print environment can transform from a cash drain to a driver of efficiency.
At Parallel, our goal is to help businesses to meet their full potential through smarter print management – if you’re ready to find out about the hidden opportunities in your print environment then get in touch with us to schedule your free print audit.