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Print.IT Reseller
scanning
12
Research recently commissioned
by Ricoh found that organisations
clearly understand that significant
value lies locked away in paper
documents. Nine out of 10 (89%) UK
business leaders agree that digitising
and unlocking data from physical
documents would improve business
decision-making and 61% believe
that digitising hard copy documents
would save 5-20% of annual turnover.
The research reveals that the
digitisation of hard copy documents
is becoming a business priority for
organisations, as most leaders (62%)
agree that it takes too long to find the
information they need from hard copy
files dispersed throughout filing cabinets,
warehouses, basements and employees’
own filing systems.
Over three quarters of respondents
have spent more time digitising historical
data during the economic downturn and
more than half (52%) expect to have
digitised all such assets within the next
three years. As almost half of organisations
state they have five to 10 years’ worth of
information stored only in hard copy, they
still have a lot of scanning to do.
To charge or not to charge
This is clearly of benefit to the channel,
but only if they start charging for scans.
Balreed Digitec Marketing Director Gary
Downey says that he would be surprised if
many dealers and manufacturers weren’t
already charging for scanned images.
“When MFDs are used for scanning,
there’s less consumable usage but there’s
still wear and tear on parts and the devices
need to be maintained and serviced on
the client’s network. Most of our contracts
include a charge for scans and in the
majority of cases we have been charging
for the past couple of years,” he said.
“As the MFD becomes even more
business-critical as a document capture
tool, the need for maximum uptime from a
clients’ perspective becomes even greater.
What we provide is a scalable, full managed
service experience that includes remote
monitoring, servicing of the equipment,
fleet management, consolidated billing and
comprehensive management reporting.
“The fact remains that the kit has to be
available and clients expect and receive the
same pro-active care and management of
their infrastructure, regardless of how it’s
used. The MFD creates an image, and for
that there’s a chargeable cost – whether
it’s electronic or hard copy. The cost per
scanned image is less than for a print-out
but it’s still charged for on a usage basis.
“We charge at a level our clients find
acceptable and they are happy to pay
this as part of the contract as scanning
plays a key part in how they manage their
document processes,” he said.
Missing out on
margin?
When MFDs are used for
scanning, there’s less
consumable usage but there’s
still wear and tear...
Gary Downey, Marketing Director
Balreed Digitec
Print volumes are continuing
to decrease and scan
volumes are increasing...
Eric Shackleton, Regional Manager
United Carlton Digital Solutions
A topical issue
Eric Shackleton, Regional Manager, United
Carlton Digital Solutions Ltd believes
that the print vs. scan issue is of growing
interest among suppliers and customers.
“Print volumes are continuing to
decrease and scan volumes are increasing,
mainly because users are pushing hard
for the ‘paperless office’ (which I believe
will never happen); they are trying to scan
everything they can and only print if really
necessary,” he said.
“The manufacturers have reacted to
this by installing new MFDs with huge hard
drives. In the past, hard drives were 60GB
or 80GB but now most devices come as
standard with 320GB drives.”
Shackleton says that scanning is
becoming a critical factor in the sales
process. “Historically MFD decisions were
based on the capability of the device.
As the products became very similar,
manufacturers had to make their devices
different. Their research was focussed on
the running of the MFD: they became more
economical to service and the cost per
print charges began to be eroded – the
ultimate winner being the end user.
“However, as the print charge is driven
down, the focus for dealers is to find
another revenue stream and that’s led to
many starting to charge for scans. The scan
cost is a fraction of the copy charge, but
when you have some users doing maybe
250,000 scans a month, it soon starts to
add up.
“Scanning is definitely on the increase,
but by how much it continues to increase
will depend on how much the dealer wants
to charge for each scan on the device,”
he said.
Free of charge
Matt Goodall, Service Director, Office
Evolution added that more and more
suppliers (Develop in this case) are now
offering print archiving software to
further enhance the functionality of their
machines.
“This leads to an increase in use of
the scanning function of the machine and
although this uses fewer moving parts than
the full copy or print processes, it still uses
and wears components in the document
As more organisations benefit from the time and efficiency
gains of automating their document-based workflows and
embracing paper-free processes, are resellers making the
most of scans as a potential revenue stream?
Continued...