Digging for Victory: Premier Managed Technologies Plant Woodland for Future Generations

Premier Managed Technologies join Ricoh and other organisations to plant new Woodland in Epsom, Surrey

On Friday 23rd November, a group of volunteers from local businesses in the South-East of England joined Country File celebrity, Julia Bradbury and The Woodland Trust to plant trees in the Langley Vale Centenary Wood. The initiative from The Woodland Trust is part of a UK-wide programme to establish four Centenary Woods to commemorate the First World War. The volunteers, including a Director and Senior Engineer from leading Surrey print solutions provider, Premier Managed Technologies, were split into four teams, to see who could plant the most trees in the time allocated.

The site, on the edge of the Epsom Downs in Surrey is renowned for its 640 acres of rolling hills and grassy fields and the Woodland Trust has taken on the challenge to plant 200,000 trees in the area. These modern woodlands will foster habitats and safe environments for wildlife to thrive, capture Co2 and could stand for the next 2,500 years!

Premier Managed Technologies and other organisations are helping to fund this new woodland by supporting the Carbon Capture programme orchestrated by leading manufacturers Ricoh. The scheme ensures that 2p of every ream of Ricoh paper bought is donated to cause. As a direct result of the support from Premier Managed Technologies, 45 square foot of woodland has been planted, which Premier Managed Technologies Director, Sam Lay, and Senior Engineer Leon Mason helped to plant themselves.

Sam explained, “As a business, we want to work with partners who share our vision for sustainability and responsibility to the environment. This initiative from Ricoh allows us to play a direct role in supporting our local environment and balancing the impact of the Co2 emissions that are produced in our industry. It was truly back-breaking work but a great initiative and a cause we are proud to support.”

But the question on everyone’s lips is, who won the challenge? We asked Sam Lay if his team was victorious in the dig… “Unfortunately we never found out who planted the most, but I guess you could say we all won – because the trees we planted will be enjoyed by everyone and for future generations to come.”

Do I Need a Scanner and an MFD (Multi-Functional Device)?

If you already have an MFD, do you need a scanner as well? We weigh up the evidence:

There’s a good reason why MFD’s or Multi-Functional Devices are so popular: they offer scanning facilities as well as printing and copying in one simple cost and space saving device. An estimated 51-67% of an organisation’s incoming documents are still in paper form. So businesses need a way to digitize these documents and integrate them into their existing applications and workflows. Scanning devices and software provide the solution for this and an MFD that gives you this functionality as well as the usual printing and copying presents an appealing solution. So why would you need a scanner as well as an MFD? The answer is that you may not – but it all depends on what kind of scanning you need to do, who is going to do it and where it’s going to be done.  Let us explain…

Benefits of an MFD

As mentioned, MFD’s save space and can be a more cost-effective solution to buying and maintaining separate devices for copying, scanning and printing. This can also boost efficiencies, allowing people to perform multiple operations at the same time from the same device. Additional functions like stapling, hole-punching or duplexing also make MFD’s really useful solutions to have in your business. Investing in scanning software to bolt onto your MFD, can also help you to turn your scanned documents in to searchable and editable files that can be sent or saved to multiple locations to be easily filed and retrieved. 

Challenges of using an MFD for Scanning

Some MFD’s may not have photographic quality scanning integrated, and this is fine for some businesses and not for others.  Choosing an MFD with good quality scanning like a [provide example] will negate the challenge of having reduced quality scans with an MFD, but it’s not all about quality. If you do large volumes of scanning (or even printing), finding a window of time to do that on a busy machine which is shared by many people is likely to prove difficult. There’s nothing worse than the down time of waiting for other people’s large jobs to finish whilst you only have a couple of bits to do. It can also be a real drag having to get up and walk over to a shared MFD every time you want to scan something, when actually having a desktop scanner would be much more productive and efficient. If you tend to scan sensitive documents including people personal details or invoices, it might also prove more secure to be away from a communal MFD.

Using a Stand-Alone Scanner

Increasingly businesses are finding that it makes a lot of sense to have a stand-alone scanner for individuals or departments that scan regularly. Not only is it a more productive use of time than using a shared MFD in another location, the functionality available is often more efficient and accurate.  Take for example the Kodak Alaris range of scanners; these machines offer:

  •       High speed scanning so you can move through projects fast
  •       Scanning of front and back simultaneously to cut scanning time in half
  •       Clean, crisp images that automatically de-skew, de-speckle, crop and even remove punch hole marks
  •       Smaller file sizes for optimal sharing and saving
  •       Scanning in colour and black and white at virtually the same speed
  •       File saving in a range of formats
  •       Integrations to easily move data to any number of databases and systems
  •       Integrated flat bed or detachable accessories for oversized or fragile documents
  •       Smart Touch Technology to program “just push one button” tasks
  •       Word search capability for simple indexing

 

MFD / Scanner Synergy for Optimised Usage

The reality is that both office solutions can help you to work more efficiently but a combined approach can help users to get more from both. By freeing up your MFD, scanning jobs faster, and utilising scan to print functions directly from the stand-alone scanner, users can stop running back and forth to the MFD and enjoy a more productive way of working using two devices. And with prices starting from just £*** for a stand alone scanner, its more affordable than you may think.

Contact us to find out more, or to understand how scanners can be integrated with your existing MFD set-up.

Smarter Not Harder: Our Tips to Reduce Printing Waste and Save Money on Printing

You only have to look at the paper recycling bin in your workplace or school to know that organisations waste a lot of paper! Whether someone printed something in error, printed something and then realised they didn’t need it, or simply forgot to collect their printing from the machine, the amount of wasted paper and unnecessary printing is staggering. And it costs organisations a lot! The average worker prints 10,000 sheets of paper a year – but it is estimated that 45% of paper printed in offices ends up in general waste each year. The reality is that for many of us, we can’t do without printing, but if we can stop unnecessary printing and save paper waste, then we can save money and do our bit for the environment.

But how do we reduce our print waste and save money on printing? The answer is simple: print management software. Print management software is installed on your office printers or MFDs (multi-functional devices) to allow greater control and management of organisational printing. And the results can be outstanding: One school [Link to Marist Case Study]  reduced their paper wastage to just 1% of total printing – now that’s an incredible saving! So how does it work and how can it help your organisation to reduce print waste and save money on printing?

 

  1.   Followme or Findme Printing: Release Print jobs in person

How often do we hit ‘print’ and then get distracted by something else and forget to pick up the document? When we finally remember to collect it, someone else has already picked it up or it’s gone into the paper bin. It’s terrible for printing waste but also a disaster for sensitive documents or the security of personal information. The solution is simple: Followme printing or Findme printing are both brand names for software that only allows document printing when you go to the printer or MFD to release the job. Printing jobs get sent to the cloud then you simply release your print job at your chosen printer using an activation card or pin number.  This also acts as a safeguard for those time when you accidently hit print when you didn’t mean to, as unnecessary print jobs can just be deleted from the queue.

  1.   Set Print Rules for Smarter Printing

Printing double sided can literally cut your paper usage in half, and printing black and white is so much cheaper than printing in colour – but how do you ensure that everyone does it? Print management software allows you to set print rules for smarter printing – so printing is automatically printed in the most economical way. People can still change the setting when they need to, but prompts and confirmations ensure that people still have the option to print differently whilst encouraging economical printing as the norm.

  1.   See Who is Printing What

You know that person who always prints out their emails? Or chooses to print the 100 page sales report every week? Well if you don’t know now you soon will! Half the problem with print wastage is that unless we know where the problem areas are it’s hard to change or address the behaviour that is bumping up the print counter. It’s not to say that this behaviour is wrong, just that there might be a more efficient way of doing it. Once you understand who is printing what, you can highlight wastage and identify alternative ways to reduce the amount that gets printed, encouraging smarter printing.

 

 

  1.   Budget Control and Print Accountability

Once you can see who is printing what, you can also start making people accountable for their own printing and budgets. Print management software allows you to track and charge printing back to individuals or departments. Once people have greater accountability for their own usage they can make a call if it’s necessary printing or something they could keep digital.

With so many print management solutions on the market it can seem like a bit of a mine field deciding which one is right for you. If you’re looking for an all-encompassing solution that offers all of these solutions in an easy-to-install and easy-to-use package then PaperCut MF offers exactly that. Click to find out more [link to PaperCut] or contact a member of our friendly team to talk through other options, including software from leading manufacturer Ricoh:   

What is FollowMe or Find Me Printing?

We ask what is FollowMe and Find Me printing and what are the benefits?

FollowMe and Find Me printing are both brand names for print management software that allows users to print to a shared, virtual print queue which can then be released at any chosen networked printer.

What is FollowMe Printing:

FollowMe is the print management software from Ringdale that has been established since 1997.  It allows users to print to a shared print queue and then release their print job from their chosen output device. It is compatible with print devices from any manufacturer.

What is Find Me Printing:

Find Me printing is a more recent arrival to the market, but it forms an essential part of the comprehensive print management software portfolio from PaperCut. It has the same features as FollowMe printing but it is growing in its popularity as it comes as part of the full software package from PaperCut, offering additional print management functions.

How does FollowMe and Find Me Printing Work?

 

With FollowMe and Find Me printing, users can hit ‘print’ from their desktop, laptop or mobile device, but rather than going straight to a printer, the print job is sent to a virtual queue. The user can then release their print job with a pin number or swipe card, by going to a release station and selecting which printer to print from, taking into account wait times and location. This process has many benefits to both the user and the organisation:

The Benefits of Find Me and FollowMe Printing:

          It prevents accidental printing, as you need to confirm each print job at the printer before it is released.

          It stops printing being lost, as the user will be at the printer when the printing is released. This saves wastage but is also vital for the protection of secure data and information and GDPR.

          It improves user productivity as you can just hit print when you are ready, rather than waiting until you are near a printer. This is really valuable for people who work remotely or from home.

          Productivity is further enhanced as you can see which printers are busy and choose to print to a device which doesn’t have a long queue. It is also possible to have this decision automated by the network.

          As each print job is allocated to each user, printing can be tracked, providing insight to costs and usage which can then be controlled and managed more effectively

FollowMe and Find Me printing will ultimately save organisations money by reducing unnecessary printing, improve document security by releasing only when ready to collect, and improve efficiencies, so printing processes don’t slow people down.

At Premier Managed Technologies, we have been working with schools and businesses in the Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and Sussex regions to help them to reduce print costs and work more efficiently using print management solutions exactly like this. If you would like to find out more about how we can help you and save you money, why not give us a call and arrange a free print consultation.