With all the changes that are happening in how we work and go to school, from virtual meeting to remote working, it’s not hard to see why printers sales have gone down so considerably in the last two years. Some global companies have announced that they are going permanently remote. But lagging printer sales and changing work habits does not mean that printers will go away completely.
It’s a requirement
While it is true that there are many industries that can go fully paperless, there are some industries that cannot. Health care, logistics, and financial institutions are some of the industries that rely the most on print.
Improves workflows and productivity
Printers can automate everything from scanning, with duplex single pass scanning, to printing on both sides with auto duplex printing. Most office printers come with large touch screens with one touch printing, making printing easy for anyone without technical knowledge on printers. Some office printers even come with finishing options that automate stapling, and hole punching and stitching for easy booklet making. Office printers can make file storage and file retrieval so much easier with OCR scanning, which converts printed text into searchable text allowing you to search for text in documents that you can then send to the Cloud for easy document sharing.
Outsourcing is more expensive
Think of all of the billions of pages that are printed annually in offices around the world. If you were to outsource all of that to an external printing company, you would be paying a hefty price since outsourcing is less secure, you have less control of your documents and there is a potentially long waiting time to receive your documents.
Printers are multifunctional devices
Office printers today can do so much more than print. Consider the fact that most office printers are MFPs, essentially combining the features of multiple devices into one machine, and you can see why office printers are not going away.
It’s more popular
When surveyed, people said they preferred print over digital because it captured their attention more, was easier to understand and easier to remember. People overwhelmingly favor print over digital, even at home when they are not at work. 72% of people said reading a print book was more enjoyable than reading an eBook.
Return to work mandates
Only a small fraction of companies around the world are fully remote. In general, workers and companies alike have a favourable opinion of remote working. But some companies are against it and are mandating employees to return to work and requiring vaccinations and social distancing measures in the office.
Consolidating printer equipment
Because of the switch to remote working, offices are generally less staffed, less printing is being done and so it is expected that many companies will reduce the number of printers and consolidate their printer equipment.
Guest Post by Tekburg
Tekburg is a leading supplier of used office printers and copiers in Concord, ON and have helped thousands of small businesses across Canada find affordable high quality office equipment.