Press Releases

The standard office photocopier is in terminal decline thanks to the growth of multi-function printers (MFPs) that encourage ‘intelligent printing’ according to Lexmark.

‘Intelligent printing’ allows businesses to copy, print, scan, fax and email all from the same machine, enabling them to manage their documents more efficiently and save on printing costs, printing time and even office space and admin.  With analysts predicting that sales of MFPs will increase annually by an average of 20.8% in the UK between 2001 and 2006*, ‘intelligent printing’ is set to become standard office practice leading to difficult times for the traditional office ‘workhorse’ - the photocopier.

Lexmark has identified four key threats to the copier from the ‘intelligent printing’ offered by the new breed of MFPs:

Office ergonomics:

Modern businesses are outgrowing their need for the copier.  Big machines take up large amounts of precious office space.  Individual fax machines, photocopiers and printers also take up more space than an MFP, which combines all of these functions.  They also tend to be placed in separate locations around the office, which means it takes more time for users to complete simple tasks e.g.

printing and sending a fax.  Another time saving benefit is that office workers are usually more au fait with printers so can change paper or clear paper jams if required.  Conversely most people

*Source: IDC

when confronted with a copier paper jam will walk away or call a service engineer.

Paper efficiency and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership):

Photocopiers are normally leased on a ‘copy more, pay less’ basis, penalising companies for being paper-efficient as the company leasing the copier may be obliged to pay a penalty if certain ‘clipping levels’ are not met. MFPs actually allow businesses to increase paper efficiency by encouraging users to print less, thereby reducing TCO.  For example, users can print less by scanning documents to e-mail rather than taking a copy then distributing via the mail, or they can save further paper and ink by printing multiple pages to one sheet of paper.  Using the sophisticated management software available free with printers, they can also support and configure devices remotely, saving on expensive engineering time, allocate resources more efficiently and order print cartridges and supplies automatically on a “just in time” basis, reducing the need to hold spares. 

Networkability:

Most companies are moving to networking their output devices for resource sharing and to save space. It is essential for businesses to know that these devices will work on their network and communicate with their systems.  With printer MFPs they have years of experience of connecting printers to the network to give them this confidence as the MFPs use the same connectors and network software that enable printers to connect successfully today.

Jane Cronin, marketing and channels director for Lexmark said: “In today’s e-enabled office environment we are seeing a clear trend towards intelligent printing where MFPs behave as complete document management systems, able to handle input, output and document workflow.  While there is still a place for centralised copiers for high-volume production, office photocopiers may no longer be the ideal business solution due to the ease of use, intelligence and low cost of printer based MFPs and their ability to connect successfully to business networks.”

Cronin continued: “The world is moving away from the simple printing and copying of documents. Intelligent document management is the way forward. It may seem an unusual objective for a printer company, but our goal is actually to help people to print less – more effectively."