Core Principles

In most organisations the costs related to output are difficult to quantify. Typically the costs are spread all over the general ledger and in many cases are mis-posted or incorrectly described and allocated. As a broad rule of thumb, Lexmark Solution Services (LSS) is finding that in commercial organisations the hard cost of printing is 1% - 3% of total operating spend. Once staff productivity and document management costs are included this rises to 6-18% of total operating spend.

The very act of producing output is inherently an interactive and physical process. The deployment of functionality of output devices has a direct bearing on how well staff can achieve their business tasks and hence has a direct impact on staff morale and productivity. Yet few organisations consider the cost of lost productivity due to staff's interaction with output devices or the cost of moving documents from desk to desk and in and out of filing systems.

LSS research shows that this total cost of output is structured as follows:

Further, LSS research shows that savings in the order of 25% can be made in each segment and are proportional to spend.

Due to the interactive nature of printing and copying and the direct correlation between device deployment and the level of staff labour involved, an over-aggressive approach to savings in one segment can easily lead to far greater cost escalation in other segments.

These fundamental elements of the total cost of printing are the basis of LSS's core principles. LSS believes that the best outcome is achieved by looking at total cost to the organisation, instead of merely examining the capital cost of equipment or cost per copy, "point costs".