The global printing market is expected to top $980 Billion by the year 2018, according to a report by Smithers Group. This growth is despite the fact that many consider print to be dead, as we move towards an expanding paperless world. Consider, for example, the items and events in your life that are now paperless. Parents all around the world are required to fill out a multitude of forms before every school year, many containing pages upon pages of legal speak. Most districts across the US and beyond have moved to electronic forms for this annual ritual.
When was the last time you walked through airport security? Did you notice more and more passengers displaying their smartphone to TSA for scanning rather than presenting a paper ticket? Or how about at concerts and sporting events, where patrons are no longer presenting paper tickets, but using their iphones to carry their entrance pass. Not only does this cut back on printing costs for consumers, it has significantly reduced illegal scalping.
With all this reduction in paperwork, where is the increase in the printing market coming from? In short: labels. Food labels, clothing labels, and all sorts of other product labels. Thermal printers and thermal barcoding are the new heavy hitters. With global populations rising, and global demand for more goods growing, more labels are needed. Think also of the increase in laws that require product labels to contain more detailed information about the contents within.
With the increases in thermal printing required, especially in the manufacturing sector, it is no wonder that associated goods and services related to these thermal printers are expected to see growth. CNBC released a report earlier this year that the Managed Print Services market is expected to experience continued growth at a compound annual growth rate of 10.1% over the period of 2015-2019.
Managed print services is a professional service usually provided by a third-party service provider. It helps organizations manage their print environment with a cost-effective solution. Providing a well-managed imaging and printing environment for manufacturers and others who use print significantly is paramount to the company to deliver their goods and services efficiently and effectively. MPS involves monitoring a company’s print environment, as well as regulate and improve their print network.
While Managed Print Services requires a monthly fee, companies find significant cost savings in their annual printing spend. Performing a free print cost assessment is a great first step. With MPS, companies are no longer forced to pay for maintenance on machines and costly repairs, as well as extreme savings on toner and ink cartridges. The downtime component of a broken printer is nearly eliminated with Managed Print Services, as Service Level Agreements are put in place to repair in a timely manner.
The argument for Managed Print Services becomes even more compelling coupled with these statistics. 80% of the Total Cost of Ownership of a printer is from costs incurred after the purchase. Gartner Group found that most companies are spending around 3% of their total annual costs on their printing system, and that the mismanagement of output fleets (copiers, printers,fax machines) can cost an enterprise somewhere between 1 and 3 percent of revenue annually. Further, managed print services operation can save businesses in the region of 28% on their printing budget.
