Ryan Miles, Itec

The MEA region shows an increase in page volume, despite worldwide numbers being on the decrease.

Worldwide page volume from digital hardcopy devices (printers) decreased to 3.09 trillion in 2011, from 3.12 trillion in 2010, according to data from IDC.

However, in the Middle East and Africa region, page volume grew by 5%. In fact, in 2011, over two million pages were printed in EMEA every minute.

Andrew Griffith, product manager for office products at Konica Minolta South Africa, believes the reason for an increase in printing in developing markets mainly relates to socio-economic factors, environmental concerns and technology adoption.

“The Middle East and Africa regions are emerging markets, and both are still in the process of adopting variable data printing, transactional printing, direct mail marketing and sustainability trends in output devices that are already mature and embedded in certain European and American countries. Until all regions are on a par, there will be a discrepancy in page volume,” he explains.

According to Ryan Miles, COO at Itec, there are three primary explanations for this phenomenon.

Firstly, he says, developed markets are finding their way through a financial crisis, which means there is less economic activity and hence less printing. “Indeed, many companies are consciously cutting paper to save costs,” he explains.

Secondly, says Miles, developed countries are further down the line with digitising business processes than developing countries. “As a result, more tasks and transactions are conducted electronically and less paper is generated. In developing countries, we are still doing a lot of paper-based, manual work,” he says.

Thirdly, we have seen organisations in developed markets embrace management software and printing policies to reduce wastage of paper and ink in their workplaces, Miles explains. “The goal is both to save money and to be greener by reducing paper usage.” According to IDC reports, factors that influenced page volume last year in EMEA include: increasing adoption of managed print services (MPS) or basic print services; digitisation of document workflows; environmental concerns; tightening budgets across Europe; disruption in the Middle East; and increasing volume of digital content on different platforms.

Griffith says these factors are a reflection of the differing markets and the economic conditions they are subjected to. “The adoption and realisation of printing as a variable expense in markets plays a role too. Many businesses aren’t yet fully aware of the real cost impact that printing has on their operation. Procurement still sees it as an asset-based expenditure,” he explains. He believes a mind shift needs to occur where printing purchasing decisions include an MPS, and involves both IT and finance decision-makers. However, it should be remembered that not one MPS fits all, and companies must source a tailor-made MPS that will result in real productivity enhancements and tangible cost reductions, he says.

According to Miles, with paper usage growing rather than declining, the paperless office remains an elusive goal. “Trends such as BYOD, mobile printing and cloud computing, where the source device doesn’t matter, will drive printing in the corporate environment. Mobility will also increase printing in the print shop environment: people will increasingly be able to send print jobs to their print service providers via their mobile devices,” he says.

MPS are playing a major role in driving monochrome printing and the demand for A4 printers, says Miles. “There is a growing demand for MPS in the corporate arena. Government tenders now include requests for MPS.”

Counter-intuitively, Miles continues, many of the trends towards digitisation ended up benefi ting rather than harming the printing market. “For example, digital cameras create demand for photos to be printed, while an accountant at an SME may receive invoices electronically, and then print them out to scrutinise them,” he explains.

“And we are also seeing some displacement of printing from print service providers and commercial print shops to in-house corporate print rooms – for example, many companies are now printing much of their own marketing collateral on-demand rather than getting a batch printed professionally,” he says.

SAVING PAPER

According to Griffith, it is too tricky to predict when we can expect SA to reach its printing peak and begin its page volume decline, as it is dependant on myriad factors. “However, since SA follows European and American trends closely, we should see more and more companies adopting the latest printing philosophies and developments, which will drive business growth and steer companies on the right path to page volume decline.”

Miles also believes it is difficult to predict, but print volumes will continue to grow for the next few years. “We are far away from having high enough Internet penetration for companies to stop relying on paper and postage for billing, customer communications, and other documents that companies in the developed world are sharing electronically with suppliers and customers,” he explains.

In comparison to most of the African continent, SA is known as a country of early adopters, says Griffith. “This is seen in the way products and services are marketed and sold in the country, which differs vastly from the majority of Africa. The country is already on track to reduce volume, and to help fast-track this, South African companies need to realise that printing and output devices have long transcended their one-dimensional role as print, copy, fax and scan machines.”

Understanding that printing is not a capital expenditure, but rather a variable operational expense, is key to an increase in productivity, a reduction in cost and a reduction in page volume, he notes. “Since most companies are under pressure to reduce their costs, the fact that printing is a variable expense that can be controlled within a business cannot be overlooked. And, by fully embracing and implementing a managed print service, companies can effectively rationalise their document output devices, while optimising business processes, driving down business costs and improving productivity.”

According to Griffith, the white paper: The Economic and Environmental Case for Adopting a Managed Print Service, by Tom Flockhart, says: “A full MPS, when extended to include electronic document management and workflow solutions, provides an opportunity to eliminate an impressive 30% to 40% of total print costs, while increasing employee productivity by enabling faster, paperless processes.” And recent research by the Photizo Group found that the average cost of a hard copy/print fleet for a firm with 750 employees is over R7 million per year, Griffith points out. According to Miles, the most important step to reducing page volume is to create a policy about who may print, what they may print, and how they should print, and then to enforce it using intelligent management software. “For example, there are software solutions that can allow organisations to track, audit and control all printing and photocopying on a network in a multi-vendor environment. Such solutions can be used to enforce rules such as duplex printing (using both sides of the paper) and follow-me-printing. Some Itec clients have found that follow-me-printing alone can reduce pages printed by 20% to 30%.”

Follow-me-printing ensures prints are only released when the user goes to the printer and authenticates him or herself with an access card or code, he explains. “This reduces wastage enormously, since users often send prints that they never collect and which simply end up in the wastepaper basket.”

This software also allows companies to track pages printed by users so they can keep track of those who abuse company resources for personal printing or who are wasteful in their printing.

“Document management systems, meanwhile, can automate document management so that documents can go straight into the workflow without being printed. A company can achieve massive cost savings and make better use of resources, converting what used to be a job that took weeks into one that takes a few minutes,” Miles says.