Key Trends in Production Printing

No doubt about it, things are tough in the production print arena. Shrinking revenues, consolidation, the rise of digital media and electronic communications -- all this and more is squeezing today's production printers.

Cobb recently hosted a presentation by production print expert Kate Dunn who provided insights into key trends currently affecting the industry and some rays of sunshine for future growth, including reports that the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2010 showed a slight improvement in production print revenues in the U.S.

Key Trends

* Migration of print communication to digital media
- Digital advertising spend surpassed print in 2010
- Half of all printing will be done digitally by 2020

* Explosion of color
- Today, full color represents 59% of print volume
- By 2020, full color will be 85% of all print volume

* Faster and faster turnarounds demanded
- In the U.S., 8% of work is required in less than 24 hours
- That percentage is expected to grow to 30% in 2020

* Workforce evolution
- Revenue mix is changing to include more sales from non-production services
- Strategic marketing and creative services, programming, database services
- Email distribution, tracking and analysis

What to do right now?

* Focus on developing differentiation strategies so prospects have a clear understanding of what you do and and why they should buy from you.

* Niche Manufacturer, Price Performer, Supply Chain Management Consultant, Marketing Services Provider

* Getting the right message to the right person at the right time via the right channel is the future of marketing.

* Growth is in personalized print and shorter run lengths.

Cobb Technologies' team of production print specialists can help with expert consultation on business development strategies and aggressive pricing and financing on today's top production print equipment. Cobb has been named one of the Top 10 Canon production print dealers in the Southeast U.S. and is the leading Canon production print dealer in Virginia. In addition, Cobb was recently awarded the Commonwealth of Virginia Production Print contract. Cobb Technologies is Virginia's #1 source for production print sales and service.

And the Winner is Fax Servers

For many companies, part of their workflow process involves heavy reliance on fax communications to exchange critical paperwork with customers, suppliers, and perhaps agencies at the city, state or federal level. Fax communications are critical to keeping administrative operations running smoothly. Such a heavy fax load can require numerous standalone fax machines. Ask yourself this question: "If our fax goes down, are we unable to process XYZ forms, which could impact many aspects of our business?"

A fax server allows every PC on the network to send and receive electronic faxes, using email, print to fax, or other business applications. The server uses fax-over internet protocol (FoIP), completely eliminating the need for expensive fax hardware and telecommunications equipment. It removes the cost of the fax board and multiple phone lines, along with unnecessary supply expenses for toner and paper. A fax server can provide competitive per-page fax costs against your current telephone service provider.

With a fax server, your business receives all faxes on the fax server, which is definitely more reliable than a fax machine -- never lose a fax again! No more misplaced orders. Respond to faxes from customers or vendors in seconds, turning fax into a more effective medium of communication.

The fax server can be connected to one or many copiers and multifunctional devices in your office. A fax server delivers faxes just like email. And like email, the system can archive every fax that has been sent or received by your company, giving you secure access to any fax, in any form, from your web browser. You'll know what was sent, when, and who received it. This creates an audit trail for regulatory or compliance issues and means critical information is always at your fingertips, not lost in the bottom of the pile or, worse, tossed in the wastebasket.

Plus, fax server technology is the GREEN way to fax. It reduces paper waste since you print only what you need.

Check out fax server technology -- Cobb can help you understand all your options and how they can benefit your specific business.

Help! I'm drowning in a sea of desktop printers!

“Man, do we really need all these desktop printers all over the place around here???”

It seems every office today has a sea of desktop printers, many of which are not being used.

That’s right, they just sit there.

Some are broken.

Some are out of ink.

Some have such low print quality that people wish they would just disappear!

Take control of your printing costs
Research by several leading firms has shown that organizations spend as much as 15% of annual revenue on document production, management and distribution. Assessing your network and rerouting documents to more efficient printers reduces costs, improves productivity and increases efficiency. Upgrading printers can also eliminate bottlenecks and improve diagnostics. By developing a strategy to tackle this prevalent office problem, you can:

• Save 10% to 30% on your total printing costs.


• Reduce the cost of parts and supplies.


• Proactively monitor your printer supply levels and service needs.


• Enable less IT focus on printing devices.

Local document management companies offer Managed Print Services, also known as “MPS”. It’s very effective for controlling office printing costs. Everybody is looking at MPS these days and trying to figure out how to make it work for their company.

How Managed Print Services can work for your company
Here’s a good example of how Managed Print Services can work for your company:

A Richmond-based medical practice had more than 35 copiers and printers from a variety of vendors spread throughout its multiple locations and spent a small fortune annually on toners and supplies. Practice administrators spent too much time barely containing the “mass chaos” of numerous vendors, service agreements and multiple monthly invoices.

The Practice Administrator brought this chaos to Cobb Technologies looking for a cost-effective, highly-productive solution. One that would help manage the practice’s ongoing needs for high-quality, high-efficiency printing and copying of patient records, education materials and billing information.

Cobb experts performed a print audit to assess the practice’s current equipment inventory, supplies usage and ongoing printing costs. They also found out the specific needs and functions required by individual departments within the practice, such as billing, patient records, patient care, etc. Armed with this information, Cobb was able to recommend a cost-saving restructuring of all of the practice’ office equipment.

The results?

• Measureable savings in overall printing costs
• Proactive maintenance and supplies fulfillment on their entire fleet
• A healthier, more efficient fleet
• Less IT focus on printers
• Peace of mind

So, in summary, if you are drowning in the costs associated with all those desktop printers….there is hope! Find a local document management company you trust and let them work to find ways to save you money. Trust me…..they will!

7 Critical Steps to Protect Your Business and Keep It Operating

Having a plan for emergencies is the key to getting back to business with the minimum disruptions. All businesses, large or small, should develop a disaster preparedness plan. Having a disaster plan in place will make the difference between a business being down for a few days or possibly suffering severe financial loss. Start planning now to improve the likelihood that your company will survive and recover.

Step 1: Determine your risk

Check with your local building official, city engineer, or planning and zoning administrator to determine whether your business is at risk from natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires or tornadoes. Other forms of "disasters" include:

• hazardous material incident
  
• winter storm


• communications failure


• radiological accident


• civil disturbance

Step 2: Assess the potential business impact

Consider the potential loss of market share. Assess the impact of:

• business interruption


• employees unable to report to work


• customers unable to reach facility


• company in violation of contractual agreements


• imposition of fines and penalties or legal costs


• interruption of critical supplies


• interruption of product distribution

Step 3: Identify critical products, services and operations

You'll need this information to assess the impact of potential emergencies and to determine the need for backup systems. Areas to review include:

• company products and services and facilities/equipment needed to produce them


• products/services provided by suppliers, esp. sole source vendors


• lifeline services such as electrical power, water, sewer, gas, telecommunications and transportation


• operations, equipment and personnel vital to the continued functioning of the facility

Step 4: Do an insurance review

Most companies discover that they are not properly insured only after they have suffered a loss. Lack of appropriate insurance can be financially devastating.

Step 5: Continuity of operations plan

Plan what you will do if your building, plant or store is not accessible. This type of planning is often referred to as a continuity of operations plan, or COOP, and includes all facets of your business.

• consider if you can run the business from a different location or from your home


• develop relationships with other companies to use their facilities in case of disaster


• make contractual arrangements with vendors for post-emergency services such as maintaining payroll records, equipment repair, or providing customer service

Step 6: Protect business records and inventory

The loss of essential records and files during a disaster is commonplace and can not only add to your damage costs, but also delay your return to normal operations. To reduce your vulnerability, determine which files are most important and take steps to protect them.

• store vital documents (plans, legal papers, etc.) in a secure, off-site location


• regularly back up vital electronic files and store back-up copies in a secure, off-site location

Step 7: Install a document management system

Document management systems allow businesses to back up important paper documents/files electronically and store safely off-site in case of a disaster. The benefits of a document management system include:

• scan large volumes of paper documents and store on off-site servers


• access files from anywhere there is an Internet connection: laptop, satellite office, home


• documents can be emailed, faxed, printed -- so your business can keep running


• index, search, retrieve large volumes of documents electronically


• systems are available that can be customized to any size business -- large or small

Going Green With Your Office Equipment

Going Green with your office equipment is an easy and practical thing to do. There are numerous eco-friendly equipment and practices that can help your business go green and save money.



10 Simple Ways to Save Paper/Electricity At Your Business


1. Power down: Copiers consume the most energy of all types of office equipment and use power even when sitting idle. Turn copiers and printers off at night and on the weekend.


2. Print duplex: Electricity is not only used to create documents, but also for the production of the paper on which it is printed. Set your printer and copier to automatically default to making two-sided copies.

3. Re-use: Reduce paper usage by printing on the back side of used paper.

4. Preview before you print: Cases of paper end up in the dumpster due to documents not printing as the user expected. Use your "print preview" to reduce the number of unwanted prints.

5. Sleep to save: Copiers and printers are on all day but only used for a small part of the day. Use the "stand-by" and "sleep" modes available on the device.

6. Don't print it: Save electricity and paper by reading an email or memo from the monitor; you can always print it later if you need to.

7. Get the right size: A mid-volume (20 to 44 copies per minute) copier in a low-volume office can use 70% more energy per page than an efficient low-volume (under 20 copies per minute) copier.

8. Strategic placement: Place printers and multifunctional devices strategically around the office so several people or groups can use the same printer.

9. Get out of the heat: Put printing devices in areas with natural ventilation and good airflow to reduce the need for increased air conditioning.

10. Energy Star: Look for the Energy Star logo when buying office equipment to ensure the device has automatic power-management features and therefore a better use of energy.

Let's all do our part to reduce the impact of today's office technology on our environment, starting with these very easy to accomplish steps.

Local news now exploring copier security issues

CBS News aired a report in April on copier hard drive security risks that caused quite a sensation throughout businesses and the copier industry. Now local news stations are picking up on the story and doing their own versions geared toward alerting their local audiences on the potential for important information being left on a copier's hard drive after it is sold or returned from lease.

Technical experts from Cobb Technologies were recently interviewed by a Richmond area TV reporter looking for information on what businesses can do to protect their data from being stolen from their copiers. View video

"The real only way of getting rid of the information permanently on a hard drive is either sanitizing it or overriding or destroying the hard drive," Tracy Short, Cobb's Richmond service manager, told the reporter.

"The bottom line is it's kind of their (copier owner) responsibility because it's kind of their information," Short continued. "From a dealer or a vendor standpoint it's our responsibility to educate the customer and assist them in getting that information taken care of."

The reporter concluded that business owners are cautioned to make sure they have a company like Cobb Technologies sanitize their hard drives to keep the documents they have copied from being duplicated by a hacker.

This story will continue to churn throughout the airwaves for a while, no doubt. Security is on everyone's minds these days and the continual cautions to safeguard sensitive information have never been more important.

Copier Hard Drive Security Concerns

A recent CBS News report titled, "Your Office Copy Machine Might Digitally Store Thousands of Documents That Get Passed on a Resale," has caused quite a sensation in the business community. The report indicated that potentially private, sensitive data can be left on the hard drives of copiers after they are returned at the end of their lease period. The report also state that businesses and organizations need to be aware of the need to "wipe" the hard drives clean prior to returning the equipment.

A follow up CBS News report indicates that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Congress have now gotten involved and may initiate an investigation of the copier security issue.

What the report failed to mention is that there are numerous automatic security measures already in place on today's office equipment. For example, automatic overwrite, in which the information temporarily stored on the copier hard drive during printing or scanning is overwritten with information from the next job that is sent to the device. Not all information from every individual job is stored permanently on a copier's hard drive, as most of it is constantly being overwritten with each new job.

There are also many options available to maintain security on existing copy machines or to utilize at the end of lease or reallocation of a copier: sanitizing the hard drive, replacement of the hard drive, and installation of data security kits on existing machines that allow for the erasure or encryption of information on a continuous basis.

Regardless of which option a business selects, the best protection against data theft is to prevent unauthorized access to all equipment capable of storing data digitally. This includes not only office copiers, but also personal computers, laptops, mobile "smart" phones, and digital telephone equipment.

View Cobb Hard Drive Security Options.