Enterprising CIO’s at ACN Summit 2013

At the ACN Enterprise Computing Summit 2013 , held at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, around 90 CIOs, CTOs and senior IT managers were present for some in-depth discussion of the trends and trials of their industries, as well as to examine proven strategies and working examples of the most useful technology and operationally efficient practices in the Middle East. As a staunch supporter of cost- saving and efficient business practices, shown in our Print Smart campaign, OKI exhibited the C301 network colour printer and the MB451 mono Multifunction printer at the event.

The challenges that were considered in the round table sessions obviously inspired the audience who came out to the exhibition area very interested in how OKI could help provide solutions. The excellent quality print samples and range of media shown (business cards, POS banners, CD labels etc.) made it easy for the end-users to see firsthand the benefits of in-house printing on an office printer. A recent study by leading business research body the Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr) has suggested that businesses in the EMEA region could save a staggering $25,000 million by changing the way they manage their printing, and in particular by bringing more of their print requirements in-house.

The Summit provided an excellent opportunity for OKI to explain their principle of printing just what you need, when you want it and where you want it. This not only boosts cashflow, saves storage space and distribution costs, it also ensures accuracy and timeliness, boosts efficiency and greatly reduces environmental waste. So, in addition to stimulating discussions and the delicious lunch that was served, the attendees left with plenty of food for thought from us.

For more information on how in-house printing can help your business, please read Why Switch to In-House Printing?

Ask OKI. You may just find your solution.

Thoughts on your office environment for Earth Day 2013

Today is Earth Day, and all over the world more than 1 billion people are celebrating by driving green initiatives like cleaning, planting and recycling. On this special day activists, governments, and NGOs try to drive more awareness about the current environmental issues and what we can do to help protect our Earth and preserve our natural resources.

Though green issues such as climate change have become a major part of our daily life, many people still find it difficult to sustain it in their working environments. Business Printing is one of the areas where you too can make a difference. We can’t give up printing and in fact it is our duty not to, but how we print is what makes all the difference when it comes to our impact on the environment. So today we are going to show you in three simple steps how your business can score double by cutting down its printing cost and carbon foot print at the same time.

Smarter printing

At first glance it may be hard to see how moving print from a specialist supplier to in-house could have such a dramatic impact both on costs and on carbon emissions. The explanation, though, is simple: if you print in-house then you print precisely what you want, when you want it and where you want it. You might call this smarter printing.

Every business requires stationery: letterheads, invoice blanks and so on. Traditionally this stationery is pre-printed in advance, and because of the economies of scale when using an external supplier, items are usually ordered in large quantities. You pay for a large amount of paper, tying up cash. You spend energy moving it from the print shop to your premises and, if you have multiple locations, to probably pay again to move it from the headquarters to these other branches. You have to provide storage for it and if any detail changes – a new address, membership of a new trade body, an update in the corporate identity, maybe the addition of your environmental certification details – then the paper is just scrap to be delivered (more carbon) to a recycling plant.

So, why outsource when you can do it in house?

Online information

The last few years have seen a marked change in the way that brochures and data sheets are used. Gone now are the days when if someone was interested in a product they called the company who put a glossy brochure into an envelope and mailed it. Today the expectation is that all this information will be available on the web, and while brochures still exist they are formatted to be downloaded and printed out remotely.

Again there is no need to print large quantities of brochures in advance. If you need ten copies to display in a reception area, print out ten copies. If you need 100 copies for an exhibition then print out 100 copies. And if the exhibition is in Las Vegas or Beijing then print them there, rather than shipping them around the world. This provides more benefits than you can shake a stick at. It saves money and it reduces the carbon footprint, but it also means that you can make changes to your document as they happen.

Managed printing

These real savings are realised readily, by taking a managed approach to printing. Identify what your requirements are and install the hardware you need to support it accurately. The network design will ensure that staff has access to the right printer at the right time. Multi-page documents should be routed to duplex devices for double-sided printing to halve the paper cost.

These are simple steps but can deliver cost savings to a business of as much as 30%. By printing what you need exactly when you need it you eliminate waste, and by printing what you need at the exact location you need it you save the cost, and environmental impact, of shipping it.

While achieving best environmental practices can be challenging for a business, particularly in the current climate, there are areas where going green does not inevitably cost money. Taking a fresh look at printing can be good for your business while fulfilling your Corporate Social Responsibility at the same time.

Colour me cost-effective..

With people around the world celebrating Holi, the Festival of Colours this month, see below for some tips on how to make the most informed decision in your choice of colour printer; for whatever size of business you are in.

In the print industry, cyan, magenta, yellow and black are used as the primary colours. Most printers use the CMYK colour model.

CMYK refers to the four inks used in most colour printers: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). The “K” in CMYK stands for key since in four-colour printing cyan, magenta, and yellow printing plates are carefully keyed or aligned with the key of the black key plate. Some sources suggest that the “K” in CMYK comes from the last letter in “black” and was chosen because B already means blue. However, this explanation is incorrect. Of course, as most of you know, OKI was the first to bring out CMYW for white toner based printing.

We once lived in a black and white world. TV was black, printed publications were predominantly black. All of that changed in the 60’s and has created a chain reaction that holds true today. Less than ten years ago, in-house colour printing was still an expensive hobby. Today, businesses in the Middle East are using printers that produce their colour documents quickly, consistently and cost-effectively and are hence able to communicate more effectively with their own customers.

 Studies in a major publication revealed that the use of colour increased readership by 40% or more. A university study showed a 65% increase in the retention of material when full colour was used instead of black and white.

Some businesses are perhaps put off by using colour in their printed documents as it creates a dent in their budgets. This is a misconception. Using colour is not as expensive as you may think. If you need the highest-quality colour pages-say you print out presentations and brochures or you’re an organization who needs top-notch flyers-spending the extra cash for a colour toner based printer makes sense. These printers give you the cleanest and sharpest results. Also, toner based printers print out long documents quickly, at roughly twice the text speed of typical ink jets.

Whether your printer costs $40 or $400, the purchase price is only the first item on your new list of ongoing printing expenses. Over time, buying the consumables or toner and acquiring media (paper, envelopes, card or transparencies) will very likely make a far bigger impact on your wallet. These costs will vary depending on what you print, how much you print, and what kind of media you use.

Shaving cents off  colour printing involves just a little thought, effort, and advance planning. It is a bigger issue than many companies think. With a set of replacement ink cartridges for inkjet printers costing anything up to $55 a time, an office of 20 ‘heavy’ users could be spending over $1,000 a month on ink!

• Know Before You Buy – Saving money on printing starts (ideally) before you buy the printer. Before you begin researching new models, make sure that you’ll be getting the best printer for the types of documents you plan to produce. Once you start looking at specific models, make a point of checking the recommended print volume; if you typically print 100 pages a day, for example, don’t buy a printer that’s rated for 500 pages a month.

• If you do a lot of document printing, don’t use an inkjet printer. Use a toner based printer. Toner based printers cost more to buy but much less to use. With all costs figured in, each document page printed on a typical toner based printer costs from 2 cents to 5 cents; on an inkjet, the cost per page can run from 10 cents to 15 cents, depending on the model. This does not even count the cost of photo printing, which can cost up to a dollar per page on an inkjet when you include the high cost of photo paper and the additional ink that’s used in that mode.

• Know your hidden costs – Choose a printer not only on the basis of its performance and speed but on the cost of the consumables and not on the cost of the printer. Ink costs swallow up all other expenses over a couple of years of use. Even machines using similar technologies can have very different operating and consumables costs. Evaluating the ongoing costs of a printer can produce some surprising results.

• Don’t judge a cartridge by price alone; its efficiency, or page yield—the number of pages it can print–matters just as much. Of course, that figure will vary depending on how much ink you use on a page, but the industry standard assumption is 5 percent coverage per page for each colour. Some companies make yield information available on the Web along with other printer specifications; others will provide it if you ask, either by email or phone. You can use yield information to calculate per-page costs, which can be useful in determining what your printing costs for different printers would look like over time. Toner based printer toner cartridges may cost a lot more than ink jet cartridges, but their higher yields make per-page costs lower.

• The incredible shrunken ‘starter’ cartridge – Many lower-cost toner based printers come with starter cartridges that last anywhere from 60 percent to as little as 33 percent as long as a regular cartridge. Granted, if you don’t print much, that first cartridge could last you a while; but if you know you’ll be printing at least 100 pages per month, either find a printer that comes with a full-size cartridge or factor in the cost of an early replacement. Of course, if you get a great deal on the printer, your overall cost may still be quite affordable.

• Using standard paper for the job – The heavier, brighter (whiter), or more specialized the paper is, the more it will cost. You’ll generally pay as little as a half-cent per page for typical, 80gsm office paper, or as much as a dollar for an A4 sheet of glossy photo paper. Save the pricey stuff for final prints; for everything else, use decent quality standard copier paper. It will affect the print quality from your toner based printer minimally, if at all.

• Print using “Draft” mode whenever possible – This won’t help when printing photos, but can save a lot of money over two or three years when you print everyday documents.

Do you have any tips on choosing a printer for your office? Let us know!

5 simple tips to getting the most out of your printer and printed documents

1.)    Do your research before buying a printer: You might think that choosing a printer is easy, but its important to do your research beforehand not only to save money, but also to pick the best printer for the types of documents you plan to produce. An office printer that is capable of mass producing different types of documents in a short period of time for instance, might not be suitable for someone who only prints a few pages on A4 paper a day. Read up on various models and make note of how often you print and on what types of media.  A simple tip for those who do a lot of document printing is to go with a toner based printer rather than an inkjet printer. While toner based printers might cost more, each document page printed on a toner based printer will cost a fraction of the price of each document printed on an inkjet.

 

2.)    Know your technology: Understanding the technology behind printing is essential to getting the most out of your colour printer. Things like LED vs Laser technology and the type of toner used can make major differences in the final outcome of your printed document. At OKI, the combination of LED technology and toner technology are carefully constructed for precision placement of toner on the documents to create enhanced images that can be printed on a variety of mediums.  LED printers are also more reliable than laser printers and produce higher resolutions and better colour definition.

3.)    Understand the role that colour psychology plays in business communication: Contrary to popular belief, colour goes far beyond cosmetic appearance. Doing some research into colour psychology in business will give you insight into how colour can be used to influence specific responses from customers or clients. For instance, did you know that invoices printed in red get payed 70% faster?

4.)    Adjust your settings: Know that changing print settings on your computer can actually help you get the most out of your colour cartridges and save energy and money. Make sure you optimize the energy saving settings on your printer in order to consume less energy when the printer is idle. Many people who use printers also don’t know that adjusting the dots per inch ratio on your computer will help you use less ink and get the most from your cartridge. Printing using “Draft” mode on toner printers will also help you save money in the long run.

5.)    Take a little time to evaluate the software that came with your printer: Oki printers ship with hundreds of dollars’ worth of free software to help you manage your printer, optimise performance and simply do more with it – getting more ‘bang for your buck’. Software such as Template Managerr, which helps you quickly and effortlessly print labels, letterheads, business cards, CD labels, fridge magnets and others for a huge range of other useful applications.

Print Smart, Print OKI!

John Ross, General Manager at OKI Middle East recaps his experience at the Oki Smart Business Conference 2012 in Barcelona

Last week, OKI brought together Channel Partners, Press, Industry Analysts as well as senior members of the parent company in Japan, for the first time in a number of years. A total of over 430 people gathered in Bercelona for a key event: Oki Smart Business Seminar. A critical objective of the conference was to address the issues of the recent supply shortages due to the floods in Thailand and to reassure all parties that, to quote Morioka San Deputy President of ODC, “Oki is back in the game.”

The event started with Morioka San advising the audience that in the space of 4 months since the flooding in Thailand, which were the worst for over a century and resulted in about 30% of Thailand being underwater, the Thai factory was back in production catching up on back log and with the increased capacity the expectations are that within the next few weeks all backlog will be effectively reduced to zero and the new products announced today would be in free supply.

Throughout the rest of the conference, attendees were engaged with a number of interesting and insightful presentations covering  topics ranging from the issues facing the SMB sector today to smart printing and the latest statistics on the print industry (Most interesting was the confirmation that the single function inkjet market is declining at around 19% per annum whilst at the same time the toner based multi function segment was growing at over 20% per year). It was also revealed that according to a survey done in December 2011 and January 2012 regarding what is important to the SMBs, environmental considerations such as low power consumption are at the top of their consideration list, making Oki an ever more obvious choice.

The multi-media presentation was slick and contained multiple positive messages regarding Oki’s commitment to both the Channel and Customers, principally SMBs.  With a refresh or completely new set up, products unveiled that results in Oki having updated 50% of its product range, it became obvious why this event was held.

In the words of Takao Hiromoto, President of Oki Data Corporation, “After today you will be in no doubt that Oki is your smart choice as a printer supplier.”

Going Green: Celebrating Earth Day by Fulfilling our Duty toward our Planet

We live in a time where global warming and climate change are critical issue facing the world and generations to come. As the international community continues the discussion on what can be done to confront and solve these issues for the sake of our planet, organizations are also beginning to realize that they too play a role in contributing to a low carbon society. The question is, are ENOUGH organizations taking issues like energy consumption, environmental saving, and environmental protection into consideration?  Our research has shown that UAE businesses are wasting millions of dirhams per year on avoidable energy costs.

Energy efficiency should be a collective effort by organizations and individuals alike to work toward greener communities and a greener society at large. In order to encourage individuals and families to adopt greener habits in their personal life, organizations should increase emphasis on educating employees on what they can do to contribute to a better environment. Taking the environment into consideration should be a critical component of your organization’s value system as a whole. At OKI Group, we consider the mitigation of climate change and the realization of a low carbon society as two critical issues on our agenda. We’ve been active in an ongoing campaign to promote “Green IT.” After all, IT is what we do best.

Our world today is highly advanced technologically. From sending a simple text message to transporting ourselves from home to work, we depend on IT in many aspects of our lives. While it is a challenge, we believe that adopting a green approach to developing IT devices can have a significant impact on energy consumption across the world. Since 1998, OKI Group has made a deliberate effort in conducting environmental assessments in the design phase of product development, comparing each product to its predecessors. We call this “Green of IT.”

On the other hand, the efficient use of IT is also critical to the reduction of CO2 emissions. As a carbon-neutral company, we’ve developed technologies such as CoolClover and Web Sensing which allow users to manage energy as well as track and collect environmental information. In a sense, we use technology to further enhance technology with the aim of being friendlier to the environment, hence why we call it “Green By IT.

Here are some simple tips to consider when going green:

• Calculate your emissions in order to plan where you should start when it comes to reducing your footprint. You can calculate your business’s CO2 emissions at: http://www.climatecare.org/business/business-co2-calculator/
• You’d be surprised to know that many office appliances continue to consume energy even when they are idle. Invest in green office technology or optimize your energy settings to save money and reduce energy consumption in the long run.
• Don’t print unnecessarily. Of course, there are cases when hard copies of documents are required, but one of the benefits of living in the digital age is that it has actually become more convenient to store and share documents electronically. Ask yourself, “do I NEED to print?”
• Keep a recycling bin next to the printer to collect scrap paper. Much of what we print we dispose of, so rather than wasting paper, recycle your unneeded paper documents.

Happy Earth Day to everyone around the world =)

The Forgotten Printing Variable: Paper | Cartridge Save Blog

The Forgotten Printing Variable: Paper | Cartridge Save Blog.

By: James Murray in How To

The type of paper you use can have a big effect on your printing results

Of all the factors that define the quality of your printer’s output, the one that is most often overlooked is probably paper.

There is a vast array of paper out there — specialist, photo paper, textured paper, glossy paper, and all at different quality levels. There are papers marketed for individual uses and specific printers. Some will fade in a few weeks while others will last for decades. How do you decide?

The first part of your decision is easy; are you buying paper for a laser printer, or an inkjet?

Laser printers

Laser printers are not fussy. They are capable, in theory at least, of printing on just about any surface that will make it through the machine’s paper path. The office standard, photocopier paper that you find in convenience stores and supermarkets is perfectly fine for a laser printer.

Lasers do have problems with thicker paper, though. At grades (or weights) over about one hundred and sixty grams per square meter, heavier papers are going to cause more jams in a laser printer’s tortuous paper path. There is also paper on the market that carries a layer of plastic on its surface, and you can just imagine what the plastic is likely to do inside a laser printer: melt. Let’s not even think about it, shall we?

There is special paper on the market for laser printers. It is just a little thicker than photocopier paper, with a slightly glossy surface. While the printer’s output will be exactly the same, it will look and feel of a higher quality.

Inkjet printers

Inkjets are different. Paper can and will make an enormous difference in the appearance and durability of the printouts that emerge from your inkjet printer. If you have been using an inkjet for years, then you have undoubtedly observed this yourself. A lot of inkjet users have no idea why this happens.

Consider first the type of ink you’re using. Check the packaging. The dye-based ink designed for most photo printers isn’t meant to stay on the surface, but instead to get absorbed into the paper. That keeps colours from mingling and maintains images pricisely the way they were intended, with the different elements sharply defined. Dye-based ink, printed on normal paper, tends to pool and run, with the result that images will look fuzzy and letterforms sloppy. They will also look dull because dried ink is not as shiney as the paper’s glossy surface.

The other type of inkjet ink, pigmented, avoids this problem, but the colours will be less vivid. This type of ink will also produce more of a matted look. The general rule is this: Use pigmented ink for printing text on normal paper and dye-based ink for printing photographs on special paper.

The next decision to make is about the grade of the paper, or its weight. If you just want to archive some forms or routine business correspondence, then you can get away with standard copier paper, which has a grade of seventy-five to eighty grams per square metre. If on the other hand you are printing ads or greeting cards with an inkjet printer, then you will want to consider inkjet paper, which has a weight of niney to one hundred grams per square metre. That will include some brighteners, but also special layers to keep the ink from running.

If you are printing display advertising or brochures with high-definition colour photographs, then you need glossy, photo paper. If you want even higher quality, then there is fine art paper, which you can expect to endure for decades. Of course, one thing it is not going to be is cheap. Expect to pay a pound per sheet of standard, A3-size paper and more.

Considering the planet

There are those among us who want to consider the environment as well as the appearance of their printer’s product. For these people there are products like recycled paper and “virgin fibre” paper, whose pulp comes from sustainable forestry. These environmentally-sound papers also have no bleach, which in turn means lower contrast than what you will see from mainstream paper.

Finally, consider the advice given by your printer’s manufacturer. (On the other hand, you can safely ignore that manufacturer’s branded paper — you don’t really believe HP and Canon make paper, do you?)

Finding the best paper for your printer and your work means reading labels, keeping a few of these pointers in mind and then experimenting on your own.

Print Control: How to Manage your Printing Cost

There are lots of ways through which businesses can save on printing cost. Print Control, a utility provided by OKI for free, allows you to track printing operations at the office and provide reports and stats on printing usage. It allows you to monitor the usage of both individuals and groups of people.

Print Control helps you to plan your printing policy and decide who get to print what.  For example; it allows you to grant print access to authorized personals only or restrict printing to monochrome. You could also assign a limited number of printed pages for your employees and also limit the number of pages printed in colours or even limit the time of print use.

Print Control provides various options that help you manage you printing and hence achieve effective cost control. It is particularly useful for small and medium businesses which follow strict budget.

Watch the video below to learn more about Print Control and how it can help SMBs

Printing Policy for a ‘Paper-Less’ and more Efficient Office

A clear printing policy can help you increase business efficiency

As a printer vendor, people get quite surprised when they hear us talking about ‘Paper-Less’ office! But just because we sell printers, doesn’t mean we encourage printing more unnecessary paper.

There are several aspects of the business that, if handled properly, could let you hit two birds with one stone; increase your office efficiency and save money. Printing is easily overlooked when we are considering these two areas and that’s why having a clear printing policy is essential, after all sometimes it is the small things that count.

So what is a printing policy?

A company’s printing policy is a guideline intended for employees to follow in order to apply the best printing practices at the office. It usually covers issues such as restricting the use of colour or ensuring that double-sided printing is used whenever possible. Unfortunately, too many organisations lack a basic printing policy for staff.

In a recent survey which we conducted across EMEA*, we found out that 68.7% of the people surveyed don’t have a printing policy in their companies and only 24% do. Also in companies where printing policies do exist they are often ignored or poorly publicised. This is starkly illustrated by the fact that in  businesses with printers offering a double-sided, duplex facility; only 15% of employees ‘always’ used it. Conversely, 60% of staff with access to colour, ‘always’ or ‘often’ use the colour option, yet in the vast majority of office environments most standard print needs can be adequately accommodated in mono.

Introducing better print management techniques at the office would have a greater impact on the corporate bottom line, with potential savings of up to $19,600 million.** With the right management and infrastructure, printing tasks can be done faster and with less waste; saving precious manpower and materials not to mention increasing the business efficiency.

Here are just few points you could include while planning your printing policy

–    Proofreading: Always make sure your staff proofread the documents before printing for spelling mistakes or any errors to avoid re-printing
–    Double-Sided printing: Set double-sided printing as default and where possible advice staff to print two or four up (printing two or four pages on one sheet, works best with power point presentations)
–    Colour Printing: Restrict printing in colours except when needed and set black and white printing as default.
–    Print Range: Don’t print a 10 page document when you only need a couple of paragraphs or pages. Make sure you set your print range before printing.
–    Recycle: Reuse single sided sheets  and incoming faxes for notes
–    Disclaimer: Apply the ‘think before you print’ email disclaimer on all your outgoing e-mails.

These are just a few points to help you get started but the most important thing is to involve your staff in the development of the printing policy; ask them for suggestion to give them a sense of ownership. The key here is to put in place a pragmatic and enforceable printing policy, each individual user will be able to operate in a way which remains convenient to them yet takes account of the cost to the broader business and the environment.

*OKI Printing Solutions Survey: ‘So what exactly do you print?’
**cebr Survey: ‘Outsourced printing- A waste of paper?’ – An analysis of cost savings achievable around EMEA from in-house printing and improved print management

Business Efficiency … Your Key to Success

By: John Ross, GM

Smart printing is the key to print savings

We recently held the OKI Business Efficiency Seminar in Dubai to discuss ways to boost efficiency in the workplace and enhance productivity. The seminar also saw the launch of our new range of OKI colour printers, the C300 and C500 series. The event covered the areas of new efficiencies in finance, resource management and innovation and took a practical look at tools to help businesses drive for greater efficiency. We brought in expert speakers from different parts of the business world to look at the whole scope of improving business efficiency.

It’ll come as no surprise when we reveal that Oki’s contribution revolved around print, but there are some very real savings to be made by conducting a relatively fast and simple analysis of business printer usage.

Let’s look at some independent research on printing in the UAE alone.

• The annual print bill for UAE businesses is around AED 6,238 million
• Some AED 1,136 million is spent every year on outsourced printing
• The average office worker, according to the US Environmental Energies National Laboratory, responsible for printing 10,000 pages a year, using 12kg of paper (source)

So the main question here is how to make printing effective and efficient at the workplace.

Smart Printing is the answer, the recent Centre for Economics and Business Research (cebr) report commissioned by OKI showed earlier that a country like the UAE can save up to $110 million and spare the environment 9,000 tonnes of CO2 if business printing was more efficiently managed.

Management doesn’t know what is printed at the office, how often it’s printed or how much it cost, so the first step towards achieving efficient printing is to investigate the printing process at the workplace. You need to ask yourself the following questions:

–       How many pages do you print?

–       How many in color and how many B&W?

–       How can print be controlled?

–       What can be printed in-house rather than sending out to a print shop?

Nowadays and thanks to advanced technology several printing vendors provide you with the tools that can help you improve your printing process and increase business efficiency. At OKI for example, within every network printer and MFP box we supply, free of charge, solutions to increase your print effectiveness.

Tools such as; Print control, print supervision and secure print, can help you control who is printing what and how, which can help you control your costs. Also tools like Template manager allows you to print stuff like business cards, flyers, brochures and banners which helps you to shift a major part of your printing in-house.

Here are some of the cost savings that can be achieved by business sectors in the UAE with smart printing

© centre for economics and business research ltd,

In conclusion we can say that smart printing is good for business, environment and the economy, if best practice was applied across the UAE, businesses can save between AED 238 million and AED 540 million and the region’s economic output would rise by AED 724 million.

So the next time you start reviewing your business and identify ways to boost your efficiency and productivity; don’t overlook printing!

If you have the time, please take 3 minutes to answer our survey on Business Efficiency

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NKTX6KF